question about Coil-over spring setings

[Guest ON3GO]

Hey everybody.

I was about to order a set of coil-overs and it asked about what spring seting.. like it asked for LB/IN... im lost on this. and it also asked for Strut Tube Type.

Any ideas as to what to go about this?

Im sorry if this sounds all wacko but Im lost.

 

thanks

 

Mike

[slownrusty]

You want a spring that is rated at 200psi for the front and 250psi for the rear. The stiffer spring is required in the rear of our cars as they squat so badly under hard acceleration, especially from a standing stop.

 

With this set-up, the car will be very streetable but stiff enough to eliminate major body roll if you do hobby type weekend racing or really spirited driving.

 

If you were putting a V8 in your Z, add 50psi to each of the numbers above.

 

The springs you want will be 2.5" in diameter.

 

Hope that helps - Yasin

[Bob_H]

Mike,

You have already made it clear that you are not going to race this car, and a big maybe that you might attend an open track event,(since they run ~$250+).

You are just wasting your money getting coil-overs. The stock setup with a good set of shocks and springs is great and is what our resident hot shoe,(whoops, might give him a complex..), Dan Baldwin runs. He is winning his class without coil-overs or fancy stuff on his car. The Arizona Z springs and the ones Motorsport Auto offer are a good improvement. Shocks? Depends on your intended application. Drag racing? Stay away from the Tokico illumina's as they are too stiff. Read through this forum to get more ideas.

Coil-overs cost a bunch and offer no real benefit other than the ability to corner-weight, which you will not ever be doing.

You already have a big money eater in the engine, why waste it on coil-overs?

-Bob

[Bob_H]

and just to clarify, that is pounds/per inch, not pounds per square inch as in psi. lb/in, not psi. minor detail but important.

[katman]

Not to mention the fact that a Z suspension is already a "coil over". Now if you're anticipating a lot of spring swaps looking for the ultimate AutoX or road race setup, then an adjustable spring perch with 2.5 ID springs and camber plates, blah, blah, blah, makes a lot of sense. But for a street car I've made some great handling cars by whacking a few coils of some 280Z rears for a grand total of zippo dollars.

[Guest ON3GO]

Well The reason why i was looking at these was because iheard you can run a wider size tire in the rear with them.

Im going to running 16x10 rear and 16x8 front, with only the ZG bolt on flares.

I do want this car to handle real good though, i hate body roll, and i love a stiff car.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[pparaska]

While I agree that cutting the stock springs can work, I prefer coilovers for the abilty to source different rates.

 

I have 225 lb/in and 300 lb/in (front and rear) springs on now. Too stiff a ride for me, horrible for drag racing, or just hammering the gas. I'm going to 175 front and 225 rear as soon as I can get the round tuit's to work on the car.

 

Try doing that easily without coilovers!

My point is, if you goof on selecting your spring rate, you can get springs in 25 lb/in increments to play with.

 

I agree it'll give more room for wide tires in the rear as well. Try 17x9 and 255/45-17s under a stock fender! But a sticky 225 or 235 would be as good or better.

[slownrusty]

Bob H - Yes my bad! The spring rating is 250pounds per inch not per square inch - thanks for the catch.

 

Pete P - Great point about getting new springs in 25pound increments if you accidently get a too stiff spring.

 

For me, I wanted the adjustablitiy with the coil overs plus also wanted a more modern suspension. Lowered springs and good struts would have been easier and excellent too, but I guess I wanted the challenge of the coil over conversion.

 

Regards - Yasin

[Guest Anonymous]

Get the coilovers...Get the wheels... try Hybrid members Ross C (Corrigan) or SCCA (Mike) for all your coil over needs.They can meet any one's price and provide you with the best customer support. I have not their business web page/emails.. Could someone post for modern motor sports and fonebooth. Pete's #'s are close for street machine coilovers. It is all a preference just stay about 20 #'s heavier in the rear and stay under 250 #'s. Get em in 10 inch free height

[Guest ON3GO]

Thanks guys.

well the motor im putting in the car is a RB26DETT.

So would that be the same setup as a Z with a V8?

Like i said before, the car wont be a Drag only, or Road Race only car, its a daily driver that can do abit of everything. i do want no body roll at all really and i like stiff rides but nothing that would make the car not comfy for everyday use.

 

mike

[Guest silverbullet]

I think the more that I read the more confused I get, I was thinking of rebuilding my suspension with Tokiko illumina inserts and Tokiko springs(approx. 1 inch lowering, the ones advertised in the MSA catalog) and all urethane to turn my 77-280 into a killer street car(no track, RARE strip) now I am beggining to wonder , any ideas on this combo?(was also thinking on 16" wheels aftermarket anti-swaybar kit, & strut tower braces)

[Guest Anonymous]

Silver... what you are reading is different opinions about preferences and anyone could get confused..Nothing wrong with lowering springs and illuminas,polyurethane bushings and heavy sway bars... Read the suspension section in JTR.. it will get you started.As mentioned before members Ross Corrigan and Mike Gibson are suspension experts.

[Guest silverbullet]

Thanks Tee Zee, I didn't know that the JTR manual had a suspension section in it, I will definately get one before I decide as I will need one down the road anyway, will also check out Ross C. and Mike G.

[Guest Anonymous]

My JTR 7th Edition maybe a little out dated but still a good resource especially on the bump steer modification.

[Bob_H]

And all of you,(sliver and Mike), should price out what the options are. Mike, that is not a cheap proposition, esp. with your stated goals. You have to at a min. cut the spring perches off, and there are other things associated with the mod. It can be done for less money, but you need to know what you are doing.

I would spend your money on the motor, brakes and suspension bushings and diff. I would then spend money on safety equipment such as a roll bar, better seats, belts, etc.. Once you get it running/driving,(key word, running/driving), then worry about the suspension itself. The stock setup is very good, and with proper selection, you can run 16x10's with ZG flares. The ZG flares give you a few inches a side, and you know 7-8 inch rims will fit with stock springs and fenders. You need to be creative, but you can fit 10 inches under flares.

-Bob

[Guest ON3GO]

Will do bob.

Im going to order the Tokico shocks soon, gonna shop around on the best price.

also what struts should i look into?

 

And RB26 guys...what are you doing about a Front Strut bar? will the MSA one work with this engine?

 

And im getting a roll bar made for me very soon, my good friends dad makes them and will only charge me for the metal.

Seats are Corbeau CR1's, got them for 800 bucks for the 2, and i also have the Corbeau 4-point harnesses as well.

 

not too sure on brakes yet.

 

Mike

[Modern Motorsports Ltd]

Lots of thoughts and ideas out here Great to see so many active enthusiasts and minds contributing! (my apologies I haven't been more present on the forum in recent months/busy with R&D and general work but all email inquiries are always attended!).

 

I'm glad Pete spoke up on some often missed advantages of coilovers. I've seen more 2nd hand non-coilover springs for Z's sold off than short skirts on today's music video's.

 

For a tight handling/minimal roll ride used in the 0-150mph range my father's LT1 240Z is very enjoyable for ALL uses with the following:

swaybar upgrade

coilovers/175f/225r

Illumina 5 ways

16x7, 225/50/16

 

Tires provide a comfortable yet tight handling experience and the Illumina's allow '2' street driving and 3/4/5 track if desired.......they've done several 1000mile+ trips and he's enjoyed some events and I've also very much enjoyed driving his car All bushings have been done on his car as well (1st item I recommend to most).

 

at the 200lb/inch rate you reduce a LOT of rear squat, typical range is 200-250 for high torque Z's I've worked with. NOONE yet has complained their spring rates were wrong but they can be easily altered if another rate is desired.

 

Higher front spring rates will help minimize nose dive (which should be more of a quick/shock function but it does come to springs as well) with stronger than OEM braking systems like my Xtreme stuff or even the Toyota Vented setups.

 

Tube size of your struts is important as your struts may have been swapped out and the threaded tubes I'd set you up with are specific to your strut tubes. My site has the OD's listed for the strut tubes to allow you to check to see what you have. If you don't have a dial caliper you can also easily measure out your strut tube diameter by measuring the circumference of the strut with a premarked piece of paper/string etc. A 51mm OD is a circumference of 160mm and 55 mm OD is 175mm. Both measurements are so different (~5/8") you can't mess up this simple measurement (do clean up the portion of your strut you're measuring if it's dirty/heavily corroded etc).

 

I have spring options listed on my site with tube options, as well you can select "I'm not sure, let's discuss" and we'll personally nail down your appropriate spring choices. At rates of 225 and higher I often step to 8" springs for those clearing maximum wheel width.......at that spring rate it's quite unlikely they'll see full coil bind. Lower rates and they're typically 10" springs....buyer's choice.

 

The install is quite easy with only one small item to weld on each strut and lately I've been supplying custom lower threaded tube mounts to make that part even easier and tidier than all other's I've seen while allowing max wheel/tire width.

 

Spring rates noted in a prior post of 250+ and higher are excessive IMO for a combined street/track car and will rattle your car even more so than you're already used to leading to MANY items loosening and requiring some attention/regular maintenance (ask me how I know ). I'd start at 175's for front and 200's for rear and alter accordingly up or down if you're non-track or more track oriented or more torque/braking etc etc.

 

Keep the shiny side up (and thanks for the compliments guys, really appreciated!) Please check out the new website AND leave a review if you have experience with any products presently listed to aid others in deciding on various parts. I've got tokico's/coilovers/CV adaptors/wheel adaptors/quaiffes/KVR pads/ES bushing sets listed at present with a longer list of what's coming on their as well. The Xtreme brakes are done and in use, just not listed yet. Pics available Email for any non-listed parts as they're still being shipped/only so much time to go around and getting parts out priorizes over web..want a Xmas break on shipping costs for larger packages...just email.

[Guest ON3GO]

so with all that said what would u guys say is the best suspension setup thats not really that much money for a daily driver that will be street racing all the time and will do some road racing also...?

would be rolling on 16x8 and 16x10 rims, with 265-50-16, and 235-40-16 tires.

 

Mike

[auxilary]

with those tire sizes, your overall rear tire diameter will be far greater than the front, as well as your sidewall is going to be a lot taller (ie. more flexible)