Ride height

[AZ-240z]

I was told that the GR-2s are best used with old stock springs to compensate for the 40 years of wear on the springs. I am installing my new rear GR-2s in the morning. The struts I pulled out last weekend were Mullholland - interpart and it was riding nice and low in the rear but I could tell they were not doing thier job when I hit even a modest bump.

I expect the rear to ride a little higher after installation.

John

John, let me know how the GR-2s changed the ride heigth of your car. My springs are the new reproductions for our domestic imports so no sagging springs here. The Mulhollands on my car put the ride heigth right at the stock profile as described in earlier threads and measurements posted by Carl Beck and others. Are your springs stock originals or aftermarket?

Dan

[woton121]

intresting, I will try slacking the bolts and see if she sits down a little. this may give me a a good chance to torque everythig as well.

On a side note, I am doing the fronts now and both of the struts are dented, the first one came out okay, but the drivers side WOW what a battle, I ended up using two forklifts to pull the strut out of the tube! It was an intense moment, they did come apart, but I have never seen anything like this before. My helper said I should have filmed it and put it out there, I think he was more shocked then I was.

Now I am looking at new ball joints, anyone out there have a hot tip on who to get these from?

Agin, thanks for your help guys, all info here is such a help!

[Arne]

John, let me know how the GR-2s changed the ride heigth of your car. My springs are the new reproductions for our domestic imports so no sagging springs here. The Mulhollands on my car put the ride heigth right at the stock profile as described in earlier threads and measurements posted by Carl Beck and others. Are your springs stock originals or aftermarket?

My car also sat at the "correct" height with the stock springs and non-gas Mulhollands. (Which also groaned and stuck.) The GR-2s with the stock springs raised it 1/2" or so. I currently run the GR-2s with a set of the repro Euro springs, which need to be cut down when used on US spec strut tubes regardless of the struts used. So I just cut them down a bit more to bring the height down to stock again.

I'm glad I have a set of springs that I didn't mind trimming for my car. Gives me a lot more strut options. But like Dan and his set of stock repros, no way I want to cut my originals. If those were all I had, I'd also be looking at Konis.

[JohnnyO]

I didnt get my struts installed today. Hopefully tomorrow. I am using the stock springs and have no plans to cut them down.

I will get you measurements when done.

John

[olzed]

AZ- 240Z

I have Konis in the front of my 72. I run them on the very softest damping setting as they are too firm otherwise.

[JohnnyO]

I installed my GR-2s on 41 year old stock springs this past weekend. I am not sure what the stock ride height is (and I didn't measure before removing the old struts) but my current ride height is 26 3/8". It appears that it is a little higher than with my mulhollands but I think they were worn and riding low (although I did not notice the noises and sticking described above).

Looking at the profile the ride height seems to be balanced from front to rear and not too high in either the front or rear.

Does anyone know the correct ride height with 195/70 X 14 tires?

John

[AZ-240z]

I installed my GR-2s on 41 year old stock springs this past weekend. I am not sure what the stock ride height is (and I didn't measure before removing the old struts) but my current ride height is 26 3/8". It appears that it is a little higher than with my mulhollands but I think they were worn and riding low (although I did not notice the noises and sticking described above).

Looking at the profile the ride height seems to be balanced from front to rear and not too high in either the front or rear.

Does anyone know the correct ride height with 195/70 X 14 tires?

John

John,

When Carl Beck had the OEM stock springs reproduced with the help of Courtesy Nissan, here are the stock factory ride height numbers he came up with. With 195HR70x14 tires:

Ground to front wheel well arch 26 5/8 "

Ground to rear wheel well arch 26 1/2 "

Ground to bottom of rocker panel front and rear 8 1/2 "

Is the 26 3/8 " ride height measurement you came up with measured at the wheel well arches? Please let us know what all of your ride height measurements are.

Thanks, again for your follow-up on this.

Dan

[JohnnyO]

The measurments I gave were at the rear wheel arches. I am working until 10:00 CST tonight so I will have to get the rest of the measurements tomorrow afternoon. I appreciate you digging up Carl's thread with the details. Mine are pretty close to that in the rear with the old springs. I am running Sumitomo HTR 200 tires and they are brand new (maybe 300 miles on them) on aftermarket Enkei knockoffs that were on the car when I bought it.

[AZ-240z]

The measurments I gave were at the rear wheel arches. I am working until 10:00 CST tonight so I will have to get the rest of the measurements tomorrow afternoon. I appreciate you digging up Carl's thread with the details. Mine are pretty close to that in the rear with the old springs. I am running Sumitomo HTR 200 tires and they are brand new (maybe 300 miles on them) on aftermarket Enkei knockoffs that were on the car when I bought it.

So, I guess we will need the measurement from one of your wheel centers to the ground so as to adjust ride height to compare to the use of 195HR70x14 tires on stock steel wheels.

[JohnnyO]

Here are the requested measurments. Tires look a little low but I didn't have time to fill them before work this morning. I would add about 1/4 inch to my numbers.

Center of wheel to ground=11 1/2

Front; ground to wheel arch=26 3/8

Rear; ground to wheel arch=26 3/8

Front Rocker; bottom to ground=7 3/4

Rear Rocker; bottom to ground=8

Rocker measurements were from the flat surface, not the final lip that points down. (if that doesn't make sense let me know)

John

[AZ-240z]

Thanks, John. With original stock springs and KYB-GR2 inserts, your measurements are averaging about 1/4" less than stock. With this combination, others have had results that increased the ride height an average of 1/2".

The variable is spring sag which may be the prime mover with your results.

Thanks, again, for your information which will a help in anticipating results when using GR-2 with original springs, new, or reproductions.

Dan

[JohnnyO]

Dan, I thought mine seemed to be sitting nicely. Do you know the distance of Stock wheels, center of hub to ground? Were mine similar?

John