gretchen/jason Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 So i bought me a running 77 280z all stock even the spare tire and can of air are still in there hold downs with the factory stickers on them . 500$ for the whole car hasnt run since 92 fired up and drove nicely . Onto the question i swaped my tokico setup from my 78 to my 77 AZ car controll arms etc etc . Now when i installed it on my 78 it lowered the car about 1 inch . Well when installed on my 77 it lowered it 3 1/2 inches !!!! . I cant figure out how that can be . Well i put the 77 stock suspension on my 78 as it has a twisted fram from the blown 350 i installed in it . Well it raised the car up so high it looks like a rail buggy . The 77 is so low the outer tie rod ends are higher then the steering rack itself . Was the something different between the two cars . Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trwebb26 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 What do the upper spring perches look like between the two cars? How do the springs compare? FYI - you can sell that can of air on ebay for like 40 plus shipping... I don't know why in the hell people buy them, but they seem to be a hot item? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators BRAAP Posted July 5, 2007 Administrators Share Posted July 5, 2007 The ’77 and ’78 suspension should be exactly the same, (maybe the rear brakes are a little different due to wheel cylinders, but that should be it). Sounds like you may have mixed something up front to rear etc. or your old car ahs some non OE parts in it. You might check the upper rear spring perches. They “should†be really tall. Some guys with the 280 cars will swap those out for the 240 style which is shorter, i.e. lowers the car without cutting springs etc. I’m not 100% sure on this, but I think that on the earlier cars, the lower spring perch that is welded on the strut tube may be at different positions on the strut tube so if the previous owner swapped out strut tubes?… Let us know what you find.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zwannabe Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 i'm using complete 240 suspension on my 280, subframes and all. how much shorter are the perches? jw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 i have a 77 and i have put on the ebach progressive rate lowering springs. i know that there is no difference from those years that would cause that problem. there is a rubber spacer that fits under the isolator. i had to replace some of the parts that literally fell apart when i started messing with it. might be something like that. did you get something switched from the front to the back? might be that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretchen/jason Posted July 6, 2007 Author Share Posted July 6, 2007 Well what i did was sit each car side by side and removed one entire set up controll arm and strut all in one piece then took it off the 78 " my tokico setup . And put it on my 77 from which i removed the stock set up and put it on the 78 . Its of no issue except the front of my 77 now is very very low the 78 is going to the bobe yard twisted frame . I was just curious as the 77 didnt sit up as high with stock suspension as the 78 does now that it has a stock setup on it . It could be though i have the MSA camber adjustemnts on top of my struts the eurthane ones . I have the stock strut caps but need the bearing for the fronts that go under the cap maybe then it will raise it up a bit . Thanks for the info Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nscason Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 you say you are going to send the 78 to be scrapped? would you be willing to cut off a certain section of the body off, box it and mail it? i need the section where the gas door is. not the door itself just the inside part where the boot going to the tank is and the outside section of the body around the gas door. mine rotted out and i planned on changing some stuff. send me a pm if you can. thanks. i did forget to mention that there are bearings on the front of the car for the struts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 It could be though i have the MSA camber adjustemnts on top of my struts the eurthane ones . I have the stock strut caps but need the bearing for the fronts that go under the cap maybe then it will raise it up a bit . That's your problem right there. Those urethane "camber plates" are a lot thinner than the stock insulators. They're also hard on the strut shafts. Just like the broken TC rods with poly bushings, putting poly at the top of the strut requires that the poly flex in order for the suspension to move. Just like the TC rods, the strut will eventually weaken from this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretchen/jason Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 They cause the strut to weaken huh that could explain why my tokicos " struts " in the front are shot after only 2 years . Ive got the stock caps just need the bearings . That is all there is isnt there just the stock cap/bumper for the strut with the bearing underneath that which all sits on top of the " spring perch " upper piece ? Seeing as i have AZ Cars controll arms i dont need those camber adjusters the controll arms have them built in i bought them before the control arms just never got rid of them . Oh the 78 is in the bone yard sorry read the replies to late . Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I would be willing to bet that you're right and that the poly camber plates killed your struts. Technically you should only adjust your AZC control arms from the rod ends in the full in position to the rod ends extended out 5/16". That's probably going to change the camber something like .4 degrees or thereabouts. Any farther than that and you're actually putting the rod ends in a potentially weak position, because they are supposed to have 1.5x the thread diameter (15/16" in this case) engaged in the threads. Since the AZC arms don't have enough threads to meet that requirement, I think that moving the rod end out puts even more stress on the end of the arm than would otherwise be there. You might want to read these: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=123263 http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=120668 I don't really know what the stock strut tops are supposed to have in them, it has been years since I was using one, I'm sure someone else will jump in and answer that question about the stock strut top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretchen/jason Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 Very nice threads i have about 1/2 inch of thread on the joint showing on the AZ cars rear controll arms which therefore i have about negative .30 degrees of camber . I try to get dead zero camber for better traction in the straight line . As for the front i have AZ cars aluminum controll arms no problems there but i am running 1 degree neg camber so as to help the front end bite in the corners . Thankfully my rear controll arms dont have any cracks in them i did read about future arms being made stronger . i bought mine around feb-March of 2006 so im not sure if i have the stronger arms or not . Hopefully they dont break on me . Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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