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S130 Suspension Tech


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The question should be what do you need them for are you building a competitive racer ?

 

There are lots of telltale warning signs if you are a PRO racer on the Ksport's and D2's page:

 

* simultaneous compression and rebound adjustment -- never a good thing

 

* referring to shocks as "36-way adjustable" when they're really 1-way adjustable with 36 settings

 

* repeated references to "dampening" (i.e. making things wet) as opposed to "damping" (i.e. controlling forces)

These, along with Tri-Point's dyno test, suggest that the shocks were designed by poseurs, not race engineers.

 

Also the shocks on a 'dyno'all turn out a diffrent plot, with fairly large difference between the rates on the same settings.

 

Are they good on the street or weekend warrior? Yes they would be, just be very carefull not to go TO low if the strut bottoms out they are wasted. (~150 usd buys you a new strut)

D2, Ksport, etc etc are all the same generic stuff. They are known to be to stiff or to bouncy

 

I doubt most of the users know how to properly setup their suspension for the correct damping matched to the spring rate. Theres no such thing as a comfy ride with 9kg springs.

So if you want a less stiff or bouncy ride and you use it mainly on the streets, get a lower spring rate.

In my experience, the vast, vast, vast majority (90%+) of people don't have the slightest clue what they're talking about when it comes to suspension. Most are upgrading from / comparing to worn out OEM shocks and have little to no competition experience "stiffer is better" and "it's pretty and/or cost more than OEM, therefore it must be good" are the prevailing attitudes.

 

I have them on my track car and the ride is definitely stiff as hell. But better then paying €1400 per strut for now, as im a rookie when it comes to all out racing.

Although dailing them in is a pain.

But for a spirited street car the prize is right!, and no they wont last much more than 50K but then again what 'peformance' strut really does?

 

OK concluding, they are not by any means a qaulity product like the REAL brands (INTRAX, KW, TEIN, KONI, SPAX etc) BUT for the money they are fine.

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So you have the Ksport/D2 coilovers on your car right now? How did they work, like the Ground Control setup? I'm mainly just wondering... lol

 

Well yes and no, Ground control has full race kits for i.e. BMW's they would be the same 'set up' minus the quality, ground control in my opinion is a MUCH more reputable brand (hence the prize)

But if you reffer to the sLeeve type set up then No, it is not the same, it is a full coil over.

Only it has a generic strut just diffrent mounting hardware, meaning the strut catridge itself is not set up for diffrent car weights as far as i can tell. But agian the prize is 'right'and it is great starting point to find out what i really need for my track car.

And i guess for must guys here that dont really built full out race cars it is fine. BUT that is my opinion.

 

KSP-CAC07-KP.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

So how do they mount up to the 280ZX strut tubes? do you have to cut and weld like on a 240SX coilover install?

 

The S13 stub axle bolts straight on if you don't want to weld. I posted some pics of a mates car that he did the conversion on earlier in this thread. Gives you different choices for brakes as well. ;)

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Trust me, I have no fear of cutting or welding lol

 

I just wanted to know because my curiostity senses were tingling...

 

And on that note (damn curiosity senses again), I thought that doing the conversion that way would put the ball-joints at the wrong angle or something? what about hweel placement? are they in the stock position, or are they moved farther out in the well or too far back/forward? (problems when doing the swap in a Z31)

Edited by PurePontiacKid
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Trust me, I have no fear of cutting or welding lol

 

I just wanted to know because my curiostity senses were tingling...

 

And on that note (damn curiosity senses again), I thought that doing the conversion that way would put the ball-joints at the wrong angle or something? what about hweel placement? are they in the stock position, or are they moved farther out in the well or too far back/forward? (problems when doing the swap in a Z31)

 

I don't know for sure but I'll ask him about the camber and offset and get back to you. I do know that he still used spacers to fit +40 offset 18"x8" rims. Not sure how big but they look like 25mm spacers.

 

Steve

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Well yes you will be needing to cut and weld (there needs to be a threaded sleeve to mount the coil over on in my case)

Ill shot you some pictures next weekend and post them here.

Apart from the set available there is not much aftermarket for the 280zx outside of japan. Im sure the JDM has sets due to the increased popularity of the s130 Compared to the US or Europe, but im sure or friends from 'down under'should be able to pitch in on that.

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The 280ZX and Z31 are basically dead in AU, they are usually robbed of their good bits by S30 owners. Main reason is that Nissan only sold the 2+2 here, people see my 2+0 280ZX and want one though.

 

samen in Holland mostly 2+2 belguim got slicktop coupes but they ar far and few between..(and rotted beyond repair at that!!!) Here they are mostly stock or modified in ghetto way making you want turn around and walk away!!

Edited by frank280zx
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My setup works really well if you can handle scraping your car on the ground. I have coilovers that I fabbed, with 300lb/in springs in the front, 350lb/in in the rear. Very stiff, but well balanced. Dropped probably 6" from stock height, but not really sure. Frame rails are probably an inch from the ground. Have camber plates up front, as well as bump steer spacers, T3 tension rods ( I received the very first set ever made for free). Also, because the car is so low, the tie rod ends became to long, so I had to make shortened ones. They are now about an inch thick steel with heim joints for the end. Extremely beefy, no play whatsoever. Also, they lay completely flat when the car is on the ground, so there is virtually no bump steer. Let me know if you want me to post any pictures of the setup.

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Yes, post pictures, because I have a hard time believing that your car is that low, unless you sectioned the strut tubes like I'm doing. When I first got my coilovers put on, I set them at no suspension, the strut body was up against the strut bearing, and I was running short little 185/60-14 tires, and my frame rails were still more than an inch off the ground...

 

That will be fixed when I get my car back on the road, however, I'll be able to set my rails on the ground and still have some shock travel to go lol

 

it's also weird that you had tie-rod problems, I dropped my car, and I didn't even buy bumpsteer spacers, and my toe was still in check (didn't have it aligned, but the tires didn't wear funny lol) maybe because your car has power-steering?

Edited by PurePontiacKid
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My setup works really well if you can handle scraping your car on the ground. I have coilovers that I fabbed, with 300lb/in springs in the front, 350lb/in in the rear. Very stiff, but well balanced. Dropped probably 6" from stock height, but not really sure. Frame rails are probably an inch from the ground. Have camber plates up front, as well as bump steer spacers, T3 tension rods ( I received the very first set ever made for free). Also, because the car is so low, the tie rod ends became to long, so I had to make shortened ones. They are now about an inch thick steel with heim joints for the end. Extremely beefy, no play whatsoever. Also, they lay completely flat when the car is on the ground, so there is virtually no bump steer. Let me know if you want me to post any pictures of the setup.

 

I wonder how well it is weighed out? what kind of struts are you running ? how did you measure your roll center? I guess it is fine for a mainly street show car, but dropping 6"(what i did aswel) made me have to move pivot points of the a arms, and I’m in the process of figuring out the modifications to the rear.

On my zxr I fabbed up some coil over myself aswel I had to section the struts etc etc. and it is far from perfect for track use (it is ok and far better than stock, but not what it CAN be)

 

the springloads you post here are WAY to stiff to be balanced. but roughly what i have on my ZXR. I dont know the best springrates for an s130 yet, as the old isma cars.. wel it has come along way in suspension tech since!

Given the Ksports are junk aswel ;) But do show pictures !! ill shoot some of my rides aswel !

Edited by frank280zx
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T3 tension rods ( I received the very first set ever made for free).

I'm the one that asked about them and the owner made some shortly after telling me they were the first set he sold. :D So you got a test set for free!? ...well, at least you were the one to make sure they didn't break.

 

Are yours red or silver? I got a silver set and everyone else that I have seen buy their tension rods had red.

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Hi I would like update my suspension soon and would like to lower the car a tad bit..Ive been looking around a lil bit and just curious as to how well the tokico strut and spring combo preform on the s130, Iv read they have can cause problems on the s30 and just wanted to know if they were decent and if they are fairly priced.

 

Thanks Andrew

Edited by abc_was_here
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I'm running the tokico kit with full poly bushings and its pretty stiff for street/daily driving. Borderline uncomfortable on a daily commute. I have pushed it pretty hard canyon carving with a friend of mine(99 legacy GT) and I found its limits... The car(with the tokico/poly setup) running 50 series rubber has a good solid feel when being pushed moderately to mildly aggressive. That being said it tends to give way pretty fast when pushing the car "hard" . What I mean is that it feels real good and then hits a point where the handling deteriorates very quickly. I'm talking 85 to 90 mph in some serious turns. The tires begin to flex at the sidewall quickly followed by the rear end abruptly rolling out. All in all I think for the Dabbler the Tokico kit is a great start on the s130. I will be doing some fabrication and suspension work and getting better tires before I consider re-vamping my springs/struts/shocks from Tokico. I am happy with the Tokico kit bang for buck, its just enough to make you say...How far am I really gonna go with this suspension stuff?!?!?

Edited by Smokescreen
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