What Is The Stock 240 Ride Height?

[dhayes5]

What is the stock ride height of a 240Z? My Z is 27" at the front wheel well fender lip and 26" at the back (measured through the center line of the wheel). I am not sure if this is due to spring sag in the back or the pressure of the new Tokico gas struts in the front. At any rate, I have totally redone the suspension sans springs. I have also just mounted 16x7 Panasports with Kuhmo 205/55/16's and in that 26" back wheel well they are perfect so I only want to lower the front 1" not the back. Any thoughts?

[2ManyZs]

Your question needs a little clarification. You say the pressure of the new strut in the front, did you replace the rear struts too? If not, then that could be a small part of the rear sagging a little lower than the front.

About the only thing I can think of to lower your front to the height of the rear is to cut maybe 1/2 coil off the front springs, but then you might end up being nose low. The lowering springs in the front would do the trick but then you would have a bit stiffer springs in the front compared to the back. That's the way it should be anyways, so if you could find a pair of just the front springs it might be worth a try. However, before you consider this just as a warning. Not all lowering springs have the same amount of drop, in fact it has been my experience that some lowering springs will leave you in the same position (rear end low) when putting the lowering springs on all four corners. Perhaps the best alternative would be a set of rear lowering springs on the front, that way the spring rates would end up close to the stock variation.

BTW, I have a 72 sitting on my trailer, with stock springs, and stock size tires and wheels and I measure 26 1/2 inches front and rear.

[jcdozier]

My '71 with the "dealer option" slot aluminum wheels is 25" at all four wheels - no wonder I bottom out on the higher speed bumps!

[2ManyZs]

jcdozier, what springs have you got on your car?? My 280 ITS car is only an inch lower (24 inches) on 225/60 14's.

Now I know why you have a urethane air dam.

[dhayes5]

OK - A little clarification here.

When I posted the original message above I had just put the Panasports on but had not driven the car. The left rear tire scrubs when I hit a high speed bump. The left rear wheel well is also about 1/2 inch lower than the right. The point -- I now think I do not want the car lower at all but rather returned to whatever the stock height is supposed to be.

I contacted Motorsport And they told me the stock ride height as measured from the top of the bumper is:

Front: 479mm (18.9") and Rear: 516 (20.3")

My car measures:

Front 20" and Rear: 19 7/8" so I am an inch too high in the front and 1/2 inch too low in the rear.

Front and Rear struts are brand new Tokico (Blue) non-adjustable. The springs are stock (even have the stock undercoating on them).

I am now thinking of going to the european springs instead of the Eibach's as they do not seem to lower the car. The Service manual says (and this makes sense) that "Vehicle level is adjusted by changing the springs". However, as a kid in the early 80's I had a '77 Toyota Celica in which I installed Bilstein gas shocks and the front end lifted. That is why I wonder if the Tokico's lifted the front end. If they did, than new springs will not help.

My gut says to change the springs (they are 30 years old and have 70,000miles). Nismo sells two types of euro springs, A Stage I that has 101F/112R lb./inch and a Stage II that has 122F/140R lb./inch. Stock is 83F/103.6R lb./in.

Based on your statement that the fronts should be stiffer than the rear, what are your thoughts on going with 122F/112R combo?

By the way, watch out for those poly bushing kits, my caster was way off on the right side front after installing these. I had to trim 3/8" from the front radius rod bushing and put it on the back side to get the caster back. Also, my rear toe alignment is out a bit, not sure how I am going to address this yet.

[jcdozier]

2MantZs:

I put Suspesion Techniques (Stage 1's, if memory serves) on the little darlin' last year, replacing the original springs. Eyeball only, without actually measuring the ride height, neither my son nor I could tell any difference in the before and after height. Guess the original springs were pretty tired after 30 years.......

The son and I also did a complete "polyurethane replacement" along with swapping in Tokiko non-adjustable strut inserts.

Right now, the car has no front dam or spoiler. I would prefer the smaller "BRE spook" type that tucks under on the front valance, but I have only seen them in fiberglass. Looks like I will be going with a larger air dam to get urethane, unless I can find a source for a urethane spook.

[dhayes5]

How is the ride quality with the Stage I's compared to stock?

I am planning on using s BRE type spook as well. I like to keep the looks of the car period correct.

[2ManyZs]

Well, before I say anything more I better apologize for making a mistake on my post about the front vs. rear spring rates. I didn't proof read my post very well, what it should have said was that this is NOT the way it should be. Guess I should stay off this thing after work when I'm trying to stay awake.

The rear springs are stiffer than the front for a reason. It allows the car to handle more neutral. A Z is an understeering car (plowing) so the rear springs should be stiffer to keep the understeer under control. With stiffer springs in the front than the back it would plow even more, while considerably stiffer springs in the rear than the front would make the tail step out more (oversteer) which could get a little scary at times.

Now, you say you want to keep the car at the ride height it is now so you won't be happy with the Nismo springs if they end up lowering the car more than it is now. What you want is to level the car at the height it is now, correct? Not only that but the lowering springs will ride a bit stiffer than the stock one. If you want to try to keep the ride quality you have now you might consider the progressive rate Eibach springs, the more suspension travel you use the stiffer they get. So during everyday driving you wouldn't use the travel and not sacrifice the ride quality. Or maybe the best thing is to find a set of new stock springs and see how that looks, perhaps yours are sagging a bit. The bad part about that is the fact that a pair of stock springs will cost almost what a set of 4 lowering springs cost. Ouch.

As far as the rear toe problem, the only way I know to correct that would be to use the adjustable camber bushings whereby you can adjust the rear toe in.

And no, I haven't seen a BRE style chin spoiler in urethane either.:tapemouth

[jcdozier]

dhayes5:

Sorry, but I can't directly compare the ride quality between stock and stage 1 springs. Concurrent with replacing the springs I also put in new strut inserts and did a complete replacement of rubber bushings with polyurethane. I can tell you that the ride has been significantly improved - feels "tighter" on turns, no more steering wheel wobble on low-speed braking, much less rear dip on acceleration and front dip on braking.

As far as I can tell the springs I took off were the thirty-year-old originals. The strut inserts were in sad shape as well - more like trombone slides than shocks. I suspect any spring and insert replacement would have resulted in an improved ride.

[dhayes5]

Well I had ordered the Euro Stage I's two weeks ago but NISMO hosed me -- took them two weeks to let me know the fronts were no longer in stock so I am back to square 1. They still have the rear's but I want the same all around (maybe that's silly).

I will probably buy the Eibachs (what I wanted in the first place) but I have a concern. With the sagging springs I have now, my left rear tire scrubbed (slightly) on high speed dips and sharp left turns. I was concerned that the Eibachs lowering the car would make this worse. I just put Kuhmo 205/55/16's on 7" panasports. I was running 195/70/14's before so there is only a slight increase in tread width and the diameter is virtually the same. But, I never scrubbed with the 195's. I went with the 205's because I thought 215's or 225's would be too wide. I do not want to roll the lip or cut it out. These tires are not the widest tires being run on a 240 by a long shot! I thought I was being fairly conservative.

Is anyone running 205/55/16's with the Eibach or Tokico springs and if so did you have to roll the fender lip?