260chiles Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 I have had my Z for about 2 yrs now and since I got it the suspension has been really stiff. A few months ago, me and a buddy of mine changed the shock absorbers and I decided to go back to stock springs, as it had thicker aftermarket springs. The suspension improved very little. I know this is a sports car and it should be stiffer but it feels as if it has no suspension at all. Even my friends say it is very rough compared to their Z's. At this point I wanna know if there is a manufacture that makes airbags for a Z. I also want a low Z but dont want to scrape every single time I hit a dip or driveway which is the reason for airbags. I heard some cars use a strut like suspension with an airbag inside instead of the shock absorber. If anyone has any info please let me know. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.INSANE Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Theres none that i know if it would probally have to be custom and IMO airbags suck ass I would go with a set of lowering springs or maybe even an entire strut kit from Arizona Z car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Is it lowered??? Is it resting on the bumpstops... Some people don't realize that a stock s-30 Z does not have much travel to begin with.. you lower it a couple of inches and you are sitting on your bumpstops... that will make it feel like it has no suspension at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260chiles Posted September 11, 2006 Author Share Posted September 11, 2006 The ride height when I bought it was probably stock and it was pretty high. After we swaped out shocks, we cut the springs but I dont know if it's hitting the stops. I guess it bothers me so much because my friends just run over speed bumps like nothing and I have to slow down if I wanna keep my teeth in tact. The guy I bought it from though upgraded the suspension with thicker springs (which I got rid of) and a thicker sway bar (thinking of tossing that too). I know they may be good parts because he wanted to take it out to the track, but that is not my intention and I would prefer a car I can drive on the street without clenching my eyes and bitting down on my teeth everytime I hit a bump or pothole. Thanks for the info guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Thicker sway bar shouldn't have too much effect on the speed bump situation. The point of a speed bump IS to get you to slow down, though...How is the ride otherwise? Is it only the speed bump thing getting you down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.INSANE Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 I think your hitting your bump stops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleaf Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Yeah, cutting springs is not good.. LOL . I'm drunk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 You shouldn't cut the springs man... You are, as others said, probably hitting the bumpstops all the time, or even, riding on them. I would highly suggest putting springs of the correct height back in. You can't just slam an S30 to the ground, they aren't meant to be ridden like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 I had thought about it a long time ago. Still might do it on an all show Z. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=106709&highlight=air Hope it helps, Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 I don't think its the bumpspace in this case. Bump space makes you loose grip under suspension compression, it "shouldn't" affect the stiffness of the suspension. I think you may have to bad struts. Struts failing to compress can be the issue or a belt strut(s), if they are belt even a mm, that could cause the shaft to bind against the cylindar. Are they stock? Springs ususally get floppier, not stiffer as they are used, so I don't think its that. EDIT: I've thought about doing some sort of air ride suspension before. The closest thing I could find for cheap would be from a Lincon MK 7 or 8 (don't remember). the problem would be figuring out how to comtrol the individual struts to adjust and buying/wiring all the solenoids to open and close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 AK-Z, are you talking about bumpSTEER? If his car is on the bumpstops, it would have 0 suspension compression capability, which would make for a super stiff ride every time he hit a dip/bump in the road. It would be easy enough for 260chiles to verify this, just go look at it and see if you can see the rod portion of the strut or not. A bent strut would probably exhibit the same behavior, but I've never experienced that so I can't give any advice on how to check for that. I would guess it would leave a mark of some kind on the bent part of the shaft? It would probably make a loud clunk or something like that when it hit the bent part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 After we swaped out shocks, we cut the springs but I dont know if it's hitting the stops. Cutting coils out of a spring increases its rate. You made the stock springs stiffer by cutting them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Dan Baldwin had once figured out that by cutting the coils on his springs he had increased the spring rate 5% or something like that. The jist of it was that the increase in rate for a "reasonably" cut spring is pretty minimal. I think it's much more likely that he cut too much off and is slamming into the bumpstops. Even more likely that there aren't any bumpstops anymore and it's smacking metal to metal. As my friend used to say of the slammed Hondas around our town "They cut the spring, throw the usable part in the trash and drive around on the unusable part." I bet that's what is happening here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260chiles Posted September 12, 2006 Author Share Posted September 12, 2006 Maybe I did cut too much on the springs and therefore I saw no improvement on the ride comfort, but it had upgraded thicker springs and it was still very stiff. And it's not only on bumps and potholes, it's every little rock and you should here and feel this thing on the less than perfect freeways and the lane deviders. Should I tear the whole suspension down and start from scratch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 AK-Z, are you talking about bumpSTEER? If his car is on the bumpstops, it would have 0 suspension compression capability, which would make for a super stiff ride every time he hit a dip/bump in the road. It would be easy enough for 260chiles to verify this, just go look at it and see if you can see the rod portion of the strut or not. A bent strut would probably exhibit the same behavior, but I've never experienced that so I can't give any advice on how to check for that. I would guess it would leave a mark of some kind on the bent part of the shaft? It would probably make a loud clunk or something like that when it hit the bent part. Ooops. yeah I ment bumpsteer:flamedevi. Thats what happens when I'm up at 3 in the morning.lol my bad. I just glanced through everything and got bumpsteer and bumpstop mixed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 Maybe I did cut too much on the springs and therefore I saw no improvement on the ride comfort, but it had upgraded thicker springs and it was still very stiff. And it's not only on bumps and potholes, it's every little rock and you should here and feel this thing on the less than perfect freeways and the lane deviders. Should I tear the whole suspension down and start from scratch? If you want it lowered, I'd get some lowering springs, then don't cut them when you install them. Tokico, Eibach, Suspension Techniques, Motorsport Auto, and Arizona Z Car all have springs for the Z. Take your pick. You should install bumpstops as well if you don't have them. If you still feel the car is too high, then you should section the struts (read the FAQ about sectioning struts to find out more about that). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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