Pharaohabq Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Would there be any real advantage to installing the suspension out of a 78' 280Z into an early 240Z? (aside from the R200 diff of course) I know the 280 has thicker strut tubes, but what would the result be? I seem to remember reading that the 280Z also had a higher ride height. Reasoning I'm asking is with the R200 diff in the 280, has thicker spindles(axles) which may handle more torque, though the L28 engine likely would not break one. I'm sure someone must have done this as some point, but I didn't find it in the search. Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Would there be any real advantage to installing the suspension out of a 78' 280Z into an early 240Z? (aside from the R200 diff of course) I know the 280 has thicker strut tubes, but what would the result be? I seem to remember reading that the 280Z also had a higher ride height. Reasoning I'm asking is with the R200 diff in the 280, has thicker spindles(axles) which may handle more torque, though the L28 engine likely would not break one. I'm sure someone must have done this as some point, but I didn't find it in the search. Phar The 280Z stub axles fit in the 240Z housings. There's no advantage to running 280Z strut tubes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Hey John, What about labor? My thinking is swaping the stub axles is a lot of work. If the bearings are good in the stubs of the 280z, why not? Strut tube thickness aside, isn't the only difference the top hat height? I think stock 280z springs may be a little longer too, but don't recall? OP didn't state his plans, coil overs, etc., so not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Hey John, What about labor? My thinking is swaping the stub axles is a lot of work. If the bearings are good in the stubs of the 280z, why not? Strut tube thickness aside, isn't the only difference the top hat height? I think stock 280z springs may be a little longer too, but don't recall? OP didn't state his plans, coil overs, etc., so not sure. ` If your goal is to do as little work as possible, then you're on the wrong site. Swapping stub axles gives you a chance to inspect them, replace the bearings and seal, and generally clean stuff up. IMHO, that's a bit plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 The 280 strut tube is also longer, and the whole assy is heavier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 Yeah, I was just wondering if there was any advantage to swapping the suspension over. There's a lot of rusted out 280z's that I could basically have the suspension out of for free, so I was just wondering if there'd be any advantage. (Yes this qualifies as a hybrid project, it's 2 different models of car.) I wasn't saying I was going to do it, though I will be putting the R200 into my 240Z. If there was any advantage to moving over the rest of the suspension then I would consider it since it's not a lot of work, and newer parts. Of course everything would be torn apart cleaned etc before install. So far we've just established the the struts would be too long, so that's a - on that. as is weight a -. I know the stub axles would fit, but doesn't the 280Z axle housing have bigger bearings than the 240Z (not that I think I'll be heating them up much. ) I will likely go coilovers at some point. Is it better to do that on 240Z strut tubes or 280Z tubes? Either way the 280Z tubes would get cut down. Are there any design advantages that Datsun improved on the housings from early to later S30? Main reason I'm asking is I hate junking old parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 The entire suspension under my 73 240Z is from a 77 Farilady Z Coupe. Why? Because it was all new and I knew the componentry---the guy what did the work on the 73 wasn't keen on proper assembly so the best bet was to find another, and just swap the whole mess over at once in order to know it was all complete. The P.O. left out things like the steel spacer in the T/C rod bushings, and swapped from late to early Brake MC lines because he "didn't like the look" of them crossing under the MC... Nothing like having no brakes until the last 1/4" of travel then suddenly hearing a "THUNK!" and having the wheel jump out of your hand---and the guy next to you saying "Your wheel just moved back in the wheel well like 5 inches dude!" Otherwise, meh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted April 19, 2011 Author Share Posted April 19, 2011 Whew! scary brake experience, - good to know there Tony, Glad it wasn't bad... No problems when you were making the swap on your 73'? I'm pretty sure my 240 is complete sans tranny, so likely I won't do the swap. Z31 stub axles are too big to fit in the S30 hubs right? Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stav2201 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I have 1975 280z suspension with ground control coil-overs that i may want to swap over to a 240z. If the strut tubes are longer doesnt that mean you should use the 240z strut boots to lower it that extra inch? It also seems like you guys are saying that the suspension will just bolt right up, i just want to be clear on that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I don't know if the shock itself in the front of a 280Z is the same size as the shock used in a 240Z, but I do remember when swapping in my Illumina strut/spring set that the rear shocks had a spacer that I believe was longer than an inch on the ends of the rear shock to fit in the longer strut tube and be proper height for my 280Z. I'm not sure on whether the spring is longer or not. If I had to guess which is not the best thing to go by, I would say the front 280Z/240Z strut assembly should all swap over fine. I don't know if the boot is different for the fronts, but the back will probably be sitting too high. You can probably lower it some by swapping to the 240Z boot, but like I said if I remember that spacer on the shock was definitely more than an inch long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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