sonomaz Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Hi gang, J and I have been discussing our installation issues of the kit we got from JDMWorks13 on ebay. I thought it was time to include the rest of you. Sorry for the long beginging but here is what was said so far. I have cut and pasted so down is in chronological order. Quote: Originally Posted by sonomaz J, I also recieved my struts and springs from JDMWorks in Aug and started installing them two weeks ago. I started at the back and had some issues that I was able to solve but wanted to know if you had the same problems. If you wouldn't mind drop me a line at blank@blank or here and let me know. Thanks, Paul aka SonomaZ Quote: Originally Posted by J__ hey watsup, i have yet to install them. as im redoing all the undercoating and sandblasting repainting the suspension parts.... but what kind of problems did u have? thnx -J Quote: Originally Posted by sonomaz As you noticed the rear struts have extension tubes attached to the bottom. The problem I had was they made the strut to long and I ended up cutting 1.3 inches of the extension. I'd be curious if you run into a simillar problem. Also the rear springs went on without having to compress them. They are slightly loose whith out weight on the wheels. This does not concern me that much but I haven't had it on it's wheels yet so I'll see how much it squatts. I would feel better if someone had done this installation already and could impart there great knowledge upon us. Paul hmmm i can imagine it happening. what car do u have? i have a 78 280z apparently the struts are diff length i believe 280z is higher. (or the other way around) i was told u didnt have to cut the "spacer" on the strut, but i will see as soon as i find a vice to be able to take out the gland nut.... i dont image it being a problem buy cutting though. my main concern is for the shocks to not bottom out.... did ur springs come with F & R on them? mine are marked and i believe the rears are longer than the fronts maybe u had the backwards? (i knw i assumed the longer ones were on the front because my other car and every other car ive seen is like that) i was suggested with this setup from another member. he said hes friend has these setup for drip and is very happy with them without cutting anything. i didnt want to go coilovers because i didnt want to lower it too low to save the hastle of sectioning. but ross (modern motorsports) told me ppl havent been happy with jdmwerks illumina/tokico setup ... but i thought he was just trying to sell me his products so it didnt worry me that much. i will put mine in and let you knw how they turn out. also keep me updated on ur progress too. thnx and good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonomaz Posted October 19, 2005 Author Share Posted October 19, 2005 J I should have included this before. My car is a late 72 (built in Aug) 240Z. It has the original six. The suspension will have the enrgy suspension poyurathane bushing kit along with the Tokico struts and springs. All else will be stock. The springs are marked with a part number followed by an F or an R which I'm assuming means front and rear. I didn't notice a length difference but if there is it is very little. I did notice the front springs are progressive. I did some searching here and discvered that the Tokico kit does use progressive springs up front. The progressive wind is very slight and not noticable unless you compare the fronts to the backs. I intend to install everything as intended to find out how it works. It may be awhile, I'm guessing February to be on the road agin (after six years!) If anyone else has installed this kit, would you please post here whith what you think? Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 There's been lots of discussion of the Tokico springs. Search for that info. The rear struts are taller than the fronts, and the rears will have a spacer under them where the fronts do not. The problem with J's struts is he got the ones for a 280Z. The 280Z has a 1" taller spacer than a 240Z, approx 2" for a 240 and 3" for a 280. The struts are identical even though they have different part numbers, so that isn't a problem. What does worry me about that situation is that it sounds like he cut the spacer so that the gland nut bottomed out. It's not supposed to bottom out, and when the nut is fully tightened there should be a couple threads visible. Simple fix if he cut too much is to put a washer under the strut to space it up a bit until the nut fits correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J__ Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 There's been lots of discussion of the Tokico springs. Search for that info. The rear struts are taller than the fronts, and the rears will have a spacer under them where the fronts do not. The problem with J's struts is he got the ones for a 280Z. The 280Z has a 1" taller spacer than a 240Z, approx 2" for a 240 and 3" for a 280. The struts are identical even though they have different part numbers, so that isn't a problem. What does worry me about that situation is that it sounds like he cut the spacer so that the gland nut bottomed out. It's not supposed to bottom out, and when the nut is fully tightened there should be a couple threads visible. Simple fix if he cut too much is to put a washer under the strut to space it up a bit until the nut fits correctly. ? i havent cut anything yet. i have yet to try to fit anything. sonomaz cut his, i was thinking he might of gotten the wrong one since he has a 240z. perhaps got the 280z so it was longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003z Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 ? i havent cut anything yet. i have yet to try to fit anything. sonomaz cut his, i was thinking he might of gotten the wrong one since he has a 240z. perhaps got the 280z so it was longer.That is probably the case, as I have illuminas and springs that I know came from a 280z on my 240. The springs barely lowered the car at all, and I had to cut some of the spacer to make them fit my 240 housings. Originally, I was going to use the 280 strut tubes all around (fronts were cut down to 240 height), but the left side ones were bent. I guess the PO got them from a wrecked car. Anyway, to put the rear 280 illuminas in a 240 strut tube, I had to cut exactly 1 roll of duct tape width off of the spacer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 240Z/260Z 1970-74 1/2: HZ3015 HZ3016 :BZ3015 BZ3016 - 260Z/280Z1974 1/2-78: HZ3012 HZ3013 :BZ3012 BZ3013 - Check your part numbers.... A 240z should have BZ3015 fronts and BZ3016 rears... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonomaz Posted October 21, 2005 Author Share Posted October 21, 2005 My 240Z is mostley stock. The package I bought was the Tokico ILK252 from JDMWorks13 on eBay. The box came factory sealed with 2 front BZ3015 struts and 2 rear BZ3016 struts. The springs have the number on them and I will retrieve that tonight. When I inserted the BZ3016 strut into the strut housing (strut tube), the body of the strut (not the shaft) protruded about 1.5 inches. the only way that gland nut was going on was if I stretched it 1.5 inches! I searched this site and read half of what I found (which was a lot) but it focused mostly on the springs. I carefully read all the material that came in the box and looked at the Tokico web site several times (tokicogasshocks.com) I finaly decided that if they were going to fit The spacer needed to be cut. Measuring everything, strut, strut tube, spacer, gland nut, I finaly decided to cut 1.3 inches from the spacer. After, the strut fit perfect. The gland nut tightens against the strut body and there is a 1/10 inch gap before the gland nut bottoms. So... what do people think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonomaz Posted October 21, 2005 Author Share Posted October 21, 2005 If someone tells me how to past pics on a thread, I will put some up tomorrow. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 Sounds like a good workaround. As long as the gland nut doesn't bottom before it tightens you're fine. The struts are all the same as far as damping, just the spacer on the back is different and the front number is different just for customers' sake. Somebody evidently made a mistake at Tokico with yours, but your solution will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 As I recall the 240 had a different size for struts than the 280. In the VB catelog (only used as refference) they have them listed as different part numbers as well. I could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 The fronts are exactly the same. The rears have a 1" taller spacer. The damping is exactly the same according to John Coffey, who got that from Tokico. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003z Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 but the tubes on the 240 are about .2" more narrow than on the 280. The struts themselves are the same diameter though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonomaz Posted October 21, 2005 Author Share Posted October 21, 2005 OK I'm working on how to paste images . If you look at the picture you see the gap between the gland nut and the strut housing (strut tube). What I want to know is why I had to cut the spacer to make this fit. Also has anyone else had to do this. By searching through HybridZ it is obvious these struts are very popular, so someone has experience putting them in a stock 240. By the way the springs have the number 5020-F and 5020-R printed on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J__ Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 maybe he sent u the wrong shocks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olie05 Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 if you look at the paperwork that came with the tokicos, there is a specified length that that gap is supposed to be. It is not supposed to be flush with the top of the strut tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 OK I'm working on how to paste images . If you look at the picture you see the gap between the gland nut and the strut housing (strut tube). What I want to know is why I had to cut the spacer to make this fit. Also has anyone else had to do this. By searching through HybridZ it is obvious these struts are very popular' date=' so someone has experience putting them in a stock 240. By the way the springs have the number 5020-F and 5020-R printed on them.[/quote'] You're very close on your attempt to post the image. Basically you want to click on the image. Once it is full size, then right click and go to Properties. Then you can copy the image location from there and put it in your (img)(/img) tags (note I had to use () instead of []) By the way your struts look just right. That's exactly what you want, just a thread or two showing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonomaz Posted October 24, 2005 Author Share Posted October 24, 2005 Thanks, Mr. Mortensen. If you look above you will see I can be taught!!! Also thanks for your vote of confidence in my instalation. I think it will be just fine I just can't figure out why I had to cut the spacer. I guess I'll put a call in to Tokico on Monday and see what they say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed260Z Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 I'm going to get the same Kit in a few days, and i'd like to know just how much it lowered the car. I've read on some posts that it dropped so low they couldn't even drive, and others said it dropped the 1" I'm looking for. I've got 205/60/15's on the car now (because I wanted to keep the stock tire size.) This car is a daily driver until I get my new company car. Next spring I'll be dropping an RB motor into her to replace the stock L26 that's in it now. So the weight up front should be about the same. Anyone have an answer about how much the car will drop with the Tokico Spring Set? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J__ Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 it all depends on ur previous springs and shocks and how they are. i mean these are 30 yr old cars and i dont imagine any being similar to factory "stock" height... i knw mine were very worn shocks and springs in the back and the back was sagging alot... so with these ones it probably wont lower the back at all... where as the front will be slighty lower. pretty much everyone i talked to that have these on the same car as me said it lowered approx 1'-1.25' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Sonomaz, I purchased and installed one of these kits except that mine had the HP strut rather than the Illumina. I didn't encounter the same problem on the rears as you did, makes me think the PO had put spacers in your strut tubes the last time the struts were replaced. Either that or you got a set of 280Z struts that had the 240Z part numbers on them. I agree with Jon, it looks to me like you got them installed correctly so I wouldn't stress it. I also didn't have to compress the rear springs to install them and ended up using tie-wraps to attach them to the upper perch so they won't shift when they are unloaded. At first I didn't do this and found that the right spring kept shifting on the lower perch and clunking. I was very upset to find the fronts were progressive and the rears linear (this is not documented anywhere by Tokico) but have since decided to keep them for a while to see how they do. So far they are ok, but I haven't really driven the car much. They also seemed to lower the car much more than I wanted, this still an issue but I'm learning to live with it. The car is not so low I can't drive it Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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