Lowering my Zed

[Aussie260z]

I was just wondering about ride heights of the 240 & 260z,

I have a 260z which im pretty sure sits at stock ride height, there is about 3" between the tyre and the guard, seems to sit kinda high,

And i was reading through arizonazcar website which says that the stock ride height of the 240z was 1.5" lower than that of the 280z,

http://www.arizonazcar.com/springs.html

I know this website is not saying "260z" but my 260z sits awful high...............if anyone can tell me how to upload some pics i can show you all,

Would this mean that if i wanted to lower the ride height of my Zed i could just get myself some springs and shocks that were intended for a 240z, bolt them into my 260z and lower the cars ride height by 1.5" without loosing any suspension travel?

Or do the 240z and 260z share the same factory ride height?

[jmanz6]

I think the 240 and 260 share the same parts. The 280 was different because it was quite a bit heavier. You should be able to just get a set of springs (I used Suspension Techniques) and lower your car 1.5". If you want a stock-like ride, them you could get the Eibach progressive rate springs.

[thehelix112]

Aussie260z,

As jmanz said the 240 and 260 share the same bits, in fact they are both termed the S30 chassis they share so many. King springs make lowered springs for the rear and lowered progressive springs for the front. I just installed these on my zed and I'm much happier with how it sits. It lowered the car a good 2" I'd say, the wheels fill the guards nicely at the moment. It looks almost factory, and doesn't attract unwanted cop attention which is also good. And for a few hundred bucks you can't go too far wrong.

While you're under there you may as well do the shocks as well (ATF the standard ones if the seals are in good nick or perhaps new inserts), and maybe even consider adjustable sway bars to give yourself something else to play with.

Dave

Dave

[Ed]

lower the cars ride height by 1.5" without loosing any suspension travel?

You can't lower the car without loosing suspension travel. Unless you modify the strut tube.

[hls30.com]

What Ed said!

Will

[Gav240z]

I have a few questions about lowering a car myself.

thehelix112 do you know if King springs make any other type of spring for the 240z? Are the ones you got the only ones available?

I ask because the previous owner of my car told me they were king springs in the car and they are coloured yellow .

I do not know if he modified the strut housing to accomodate for the suspension travel if I indeed have the same springs as thehelix112. This i will look at when i install my new Tokico Illuminas I bought. I also plan on eventually installing a coil over set up with new springs.

I guess my main question here is with regard to roll centre adjusters or bump steer spacers as they are also known.

If someone can explain to me exactly why you need them after lowering your car and the advantage of installing them I'd love to know. I know where I can get some and was tempted to buy them but I have no idea how important they are?

Cheers,

Gavin. :pirate:

[mrdatto]

thehelix112,

Which shock inserts did you use with the king springs? Any trouble with the travel being too much with the much shorter kings?

Also, you got a photo of the back height, mine still sits a little high, but I'm not to worried yet as it's still just a shell with no weight in it. (I have the lowered kings and Tokico's)

gav, you're sig has absolutely got me sold on bolt on flares.

[Aussie260z]

I have been looking into suspension stuff for ages and havent really come up with anything that im that keen on,

At the moment, because i just cant justifty the expense of going to coil-overs, i was thinking of going down this route,

From DATRALLY in Mebourne,

1.5" lowered springs,

Strut Spacers,

Adjustable Koni Shock absorbers,

Adjustable TC rods,

Adjustable Lower Control Arms,

New urethane bushes,

All for about $1500 or so,

And they said you a spec sheet of how it is all to be setup when you go in for a wheel alignment,

Then go over to "Speed Technology" and get adjustable Front & Rear Sway-bars,

So you would end up with 1.5" lowered riding position and the ability to adjust caster and camber, and thickness of the sway-bars,

Then if you wanted to at some later date, you could switch to a adjustable coil-over setup,

And then you could adjust everything..............

[thehelix112]

Gaz,

Err.. king springs are yellow dude. Mine are. I have POS gabriel shocks in mine, just because I had them sitting there and the existing ones were 100% fooked. King springs also make standard ride height springs for the 240Z I believe.

Roll-centre adjusters/bump-steer spacers are designed to return the control arms to their original angle, and hence return the roll-centre back to its original place. I haven't done this as yet. When you lower the car without doing this though the roll-centres will be moving downwards, which means that the distance from the roll-centre to the centre of gravity will be increasing, which means that as you corner you get more body roll as the weight transfer as the centre of gravity acts about the roll-centre to create a moment (torque). The bigger the distance between the roll-cetnre and CoG the larger this torque will be. This can hence be counteracted by adjustable sway bars (which I did do).

Mrdatto,

No trouble with bottoming out/reduced travel that I know of. Sorry no pic atm, still tuning the mongrel.

Aussie260z,

Sounds good, though I seriously doubt you will be adjusting the thickness of the sway bar. How much are these bump-steer spacers? Are they just for the front? How thick are they?

Dave

[Gav240z]

Just for the front and about $80 US which i thought was a pretty good price.

[Aussie260z]

Sorry made a mistake,

They are 1" lowering King springs and 1" strut spacers,

and non-adjustable Koni Red Shock absorbers,

The adjustable Koni shock adsorbers were quite a bit more expensive

[Nacks]

Hi,

I priced some 1" spacers to correct my 260Z after installing King springs, from Steve Newing at Speed Technology in Melbourne. They were around $130.00AUD but there are two types of strut, with a different diameter raised ridge at the bottom of the strut. Unfortunately, mine has the wrong type of struts (late model apparently) for these spacers so I'm still driving around with it lowered 1.5". Must say I haven't noticed the bump steer but then again, I have the adjustable sway bars front and rear (around $200.00 each) that are cranked up a fair bit. That might explain me not noticing.

RE: Koni reds, I have some are adjustable, but only for rebound. Non-external adjustment which means fully compressing the shock and turning the shaft one way of the other. Their compression damping is very average and it didn't take long for them to get that way unfortunately. Can't say I'd recommend them but maybe I'd just set them up badly with the springs I've got.

FWIW, a matched set of springs/dampers or first-hand advice are worth their weight in gold. Steve at Speed Technology is a good operator, his work is pricey but the end result is well worth it. He built a motor for me and every time I drive it, I know I made a good decision.

Hope this helps.