auxilary Posted November 30, 2002 Share Posted November 30, 2002 so, having my car being smacked into by a BMW made me think. The front spindles on the 240z are relatively weak and have a rather weak point that can bend. My car was hit from the side, the other guy's bumper hitting the top of my (well, davyz's actually) rim, and the whole wheel acted a giant lever and bent my spindle. My wheel is now at about neg. 10* camber, with spring partially folder and my illumina likely gone as well. Anyway, back to the point. I have realized how weak the spindle attachement is to the strut tube, so I was thinking - there's copious amount of space betwee the spindle/brake mount and the strut. Granted, 3200lbs of metal hitting the side of a Z is the most extreme measure... but what if that region was filled? This would prevent eventual wear and possible cave in from hard cornering and maybe that occasional time you catch unwanted air and toast your bearings and possibly bend the spindle. This would also aid those running wider track from wheel spacers. The poorman's way of doing it would be to buy JB weld putty and form a shape to fill that gap. This would prevent the spindle from moving up at all, as there would be a solid piece of steel (or equivalent). JB Weld way would be about $15 worth of jb weld, and an hour work of work including waiting for it to harden. of course, a piece could also be designed to be welded in, which is how it should be done. I understand that nissan engineers intended for the piece to fold in in case of an impact, which is why the unit is not a solid construction. This would also imply that in case of an accident similar to mine, the brake would also be ruined upon impact, instead of being completely intact as mine was left. Is this a relatively stupid idea, or is it worth putting some thought into? the weld-in spacer would go where the red tint is on the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlsoRanFPrepared Posted November 30, 2002 Share Posted November 30, 2002 Personally, I would leave it alone. I would rather have the easily removable and easier to repair piece (strut) absorb as much of the impact as possible which may leave the unibody and control arms unscathed or worst case less damaged. If you do decide to go forward with this modification I would recommend welding as opposed to JB weld. Also, from a weight standpoint you could likely just triangulate the upper part of the brake mount to the tube as opposed to the entire shaded in area. Again, I personally would not mess with it. -Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted December 1, 2002 Share Posted December 1, 2002 Agree with Mark.. JB weld in that quantity would crumble off >You could have a plate heliarced in the area you want but...you may actually want a little flex in this area to absorb all the road shocks. Just keep the car out of harms way is your best bet for the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted December 1, 2002 Author Share Posted December 1, 2002 of course, i don't condone use of JBweld in such use, which is why i said that best way would be to weld a piece in, how it should be done. i see the valid point you guys make, i just wanted to run the idea by to see what responses it gets. heliarcing would also be more beneficial, obviously an easier and lighter mod than my idea. although, i don't see how it would absorb road impacts since the spindle assmebly is welded, not bolted in with flex in mind. if it flexes, it won't bent back on its own, and constant heavy duty abuse would yield worse bends. as far as i can tell, it's not a flexible rebound construction piece. Mark, i see your point clearly, which is why i said earlier This would also imply that in case of an accident similar to mine, the brake would also be ruined upon impact, instead of being completely intact as mine was left. along with what you stated. this would be quite suitable for a car running time trials at a local road track, provided no accident occurs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted December 1, 2002 Share Posted December 1, 2002 Aux... I suspect the strut tubes are of an alloy mix similar to spring steel that has (a little bit of )"memory" to return it back to the same position after encountering a road shock. Not much "alloy memory" but enough to keep it returnning strait under most all road conditions. Bed frame steel is a alloy steel that has memory to return after deflection. You may want a definitive answer from others but I never have heard of this to improve handling in racing applications. If you did not have some kind of rebound memory.. you might begin absorbing the shock in the spindle and possible breakage in other parts every time the wheel was curbed. Either way, I am not a supporter of welding suspension parts even with heliarc which may mix dissimilar metals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted December 1, 2002 Share Posted December 1, 2002 Leave it. How's that for succinct? Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted December 1, 2002 Share Posted December 1, 2002 I've never seen the type of bend you're describing above and as part of your accident. The more common failure mode is bending or breaking of the spindle itself. Adding material in the area you highlight would only add weight to the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted December 1, 2002 Author Share Posted December 1, 2002 john, here's what it looks like now (photoshopped pic) White area is the original angle positioning of the spindle. i photoshopped it and moved it to the location it's at now. Notice, the whole assembly bent, not the spindle itself. in fact, the spindle is still in tact and the car is drivable (no, i'm not driving it anywhere but the shop!) DavyZ was with me, he can vouch for the damage since he stuck his head in the wheelwell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted December 2, 2002 Share Posted December 2, 2002 OK, the casting didn't fail, the strut tube partially collapsed. If you peer down inside the strut tube with a bright flashlight you should see a bend in the tube wall down by the casting. I've seen that failure mode fairly often. Throw the part away or save it for later use when you go to install Penske racing shocks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted December 2, 2002 Share Posted December 2, 2002 Sorry to hear about the damage Aux, but I'd leave it also. You'd have to strengthen the entire tube. Think about it this way, if it were stiffer you coulda bent the frame or something else. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted December 2, 2002 Share Posted December 2, 2002 Later models have heavier strut tubes. My guesstimation is that any suspension flex is more likely to occur around the wheel bearings, strut (shock) internal shaft and the suspension pivot points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted December 2, 2002 Author Share Posted December 2, 2002 gotcha. thanks for the input, guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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