Increasing track width through suspension

[Guest Anonymous]

I've seen this done a few well done Fiero based kitcars, where they had custom suspension setup to increase the track, rather than running superwide wheels with tons of offset. I'm looking at a possible widebody Z and am wondering if the same could be done to a Z? I don't even know where to begin with something like this, however...like what shops to contact, etc...any help is appreciated.

 

Andrew

[blueovalz]

I would guess the simplest way would be to change strut tube angles (kingpin), with the additional lengthening of the control arms (this would seem to be the most painless way). A wider rear could be accomplished with the "insertion" of a wider entire rear assembly such as the 240sx, 300zx or the T-bird IRS, with their attending subframes.

[johnc]

Its hard to increase the track width of a strut suspension without creating horrible side effects. You basically have to move the entire strut assembly as a unit, retaining all the stock angles and relationships. A while ago I got to look at the front suspension of the BMW E36 GT3 and that's basically what they did to get 2" more track width in front.

 

I have seen spindles offset outboard small amounts but I don't know how effective that is.

[Guest John Adkins]

Would it be possible to use 240SX struts and control arms in an earlier 240-280z without huge amounts of modification ? I was thinking that swapping the front and rear suspension from a 240SX (if feasible without too much cutting and welding) would be a really neat way to get modern suspension technology under an older Z....

[blueovalz]

The front SX suspension strut tube is more upright than the Z, plus the distance of the tower to the edge of the fender lip is much shorter. This would entail, again, the mandatory moving of the entire mounting points outward (lots of reinforcement and fabrication). The rear on the other hand would seem to be a much simpler approch of fabricating mounts further outboard a couple of inches to mount the SX rear assembly. This is prefaced with the comment that many other parts of the subframe may need to be modified first. If a 'Vette rear end can be put into a Z, then certainly an SX can to, which make one ask, why not put the 'Vetter rear end into the Z in the 1st place.

[blueovalz]

Pardon my horrendous spelling and grammar (was repeatedly distracted)