deja Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Yesterday was suspension lowering day on my LT1 280Z. My choice was TOKICO HZ3012 and HZ3013 springs and shocks, bump stops 88-715 from Black Dragon and spacers 23-4186 from zcarparts.com. After the recent threads about Tokico kits dropping the car to the ground I was more than a little worried about this swap. But it all worked out perfectly. Thankfully Nullbound volunteered to help me install all this stuff. At 9:00 AM Ryan came over and we started tearing the front struts off. It all went every well with a small detour with a stubborn brake caliper on the first side. The second side went very smoothly. After a break for lunch we moved to the rear. It's much different back there with the sway bar being unbolted and the brakes out of the way whole thing, arms and all come out. Everything was going perfectly and it looked like were an hour away from finishing when I heard Ryan say "uh oh". One on the bolts holding the rear differential mounting member was stripped. It looked like a previous injury and not something we did. After a trip to the bolt store to get a slightly larger 7/16" bolt and a tap we were ready to install again. At least we thought so. Seems I tapped the wrong hole, DOH! Ryan went back to the bolt store for a second bolt while I tapped the correct hole. After that it all went back together with the only issue being the top washer for the sway bar, that last piece to go on, mysteriously disappeared. It took us 10 minutes to find the damn thing sitting on the trailing arm where we both had looked at least twice, damn garage gremlins! It took 9 hours to do the whole car with including the two unforeseen problems. The car looks so much better sitting lower. The bottom of the rockers are sitting at 7.5" at the front with a nice little rack of 8.5" at the back. Unfortunately I didn't take measurements before the swap. I can't wait for my first test ride. I can't thank Ryan enough for this, he did most of the work and without him I would have been lost very quickly. The shop manual tells you what to do but there are a lot of little tricks involved in this, not to mention some of this stuff is heavy and cumbersome to attempt doing alone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TONY C Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 SWEEEEET!! looks great! you will be very pleased with the ride and the increased handling. An alignment is in order though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78zlt1 Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Very nice , Looks Great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted July 15, 2007 Author Share Posted July 15, 2007 SWEEEEET!! looks great! you will be very pleased with the ride and the increased handling. An alignment is in order though. Alignment for sure. Gotta get a few things done first, like a dash, tail lights and an exhaust! I actually moved it this morning for the first time under its own power. A whole 5 feet forward and back but at least it moved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiZZZin 78 Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Nice lookin set of wheels you got there. Specs on wheels/tires please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted July 15, 2007 Author Share Posted July 15, 2007 Nice lookin set of wheels you got there. Specs on wheels/tires please! Thanks. ADS 17"x7 wheels I found on Eaby of all places and Falken Ziex ZE-512 215/50/17s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nullbound Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 After that it all went back together with the only issue being the top washer for the sway bar, that last piece to go on, mysteriously disappeared. It took us 10 minutes to find the damn thing sitting on the trailing arm where we both had looked at least twice, damn garage gremlins! Seriously... I checked the top of that control arm at least three times. Gremlin, leprechaun... maybe your cat got out, I don't know. I can't thank Ryan enough for this No problem, man. Glad to have helped! Ride height looks good and it'll still settle down more as you get the rest of the car back together. And I'm jealous of your garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Look's good! I like the color/wheel combo! Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buZy Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Nice ride deja! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmaster Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 I was wondering how many inches did thekit lower your car, and did you have to trim the wheel lwells to fit the 17x7 tires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift00 Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 i have a 77 280z as well and i was wondering if when you put the springs on the stock perches if the spring was really loose after tighting the nut? thank joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift00 Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 btw the part # on my springs were 5022 and the shocks are the same as yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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