Ride height problem

[z-ya]

Short story:

I had these linear rate spring in my 72' 240Z, and the ride height was about 2" lower than stock. I took them out a few years ago and put in Eibachs for a smoother ride.

A few people in my local club are building a track car, and I had these springs, so we put them in. The problem is that the ride height is way too high (about an inch higher than stock).

The club car is a 73' body, with 72' struts. We have Koni strut cartriges installed.

Any help appreciated.

Pete

[2ManyZs]

Now that doesn't make any sense at all.....:stupid:

Camber plates or stock "top hats" (insulators) ?.... The only thing I can think of is I believe there is a difference in the thickness of the insulators between the early(pre-74)and later cars... maybe you guys grabbed the wrong ones?

There's no difference in the length of the strut housings between a 73 and 72 so that's out.......and you used those springs before on a 72 and it was lower.... something here just doesn't make sense....

Only reason I mentioned camber plates is that some are designed to mount on the underside of the strut mount, while some are designed to mount on top in the engine compartment, but even that shouldn't make that much difference.... maybe an inch but that should be about it......

This one is a head-scratcher for sure Pete... and Ken can tell you I can't afford to scratch too much or I'll be wearing a hat all the time.....

BTW, love the paint scheme on the car.... hate to be the first one to put a scratch on it.....:devious:

Thinking about it a bit more... do you have the sway bars hooked up or not? I got to thinking, you guys plated the frame rail where the sway bar mounts which would lower the bar itself... maybe that could be what is trying to hold the car up, too much tension on the bar itself? As you can see I'm kinda grasping at straws here.........:disappoin

[z-ya]

Hey, thanks for the response.

Never figured it out. Everything on the strut is stock except the springs and struts (Koni adjustable). Yes, we did add large plates to strenthen the sway bar mount. We also have a 1" sway bar on the front with hiem (sp?) joint style end links. The rear sits too high also, so I am perplexed st this point. We have a solution though, COILOVERS! We are starting the swap this weekend.

Really weird, I ran these same springs on my 240 with Knoi inserts, and they were close to 2" lower than stock, and way too stiff for the street. Here are some more recent photos:

http://www.zccne.addr.com/Race_Car/01-2004/DSC00001.jpg

http://www.zccne.addr.com/Race_Car/01-2004/DSC00002.jpg

http://www.zccne.addr.com/Race_Car/01-2004/DSC00003.jpg

http://www.zccne.addr.com/Race_Car/01-2004/DSC00004.jpg

Pete

[Ed]

When I was stripping down my car I noticed that the ride height progressively increased. As the car lost weight it kept on growing. Maybe that's what's going on?

Just a thought.

[2ManyZs]

Hmmmm.. what I find the most odd in all this Pete is the fact that the wheels are showing very little positive camber considering how much higher it's sitting. Or, did you dial that out with camber plates or bushings?

Almost looks like my first 73 did when we tried putting 260 2+2 springs on it trying for some "cheap" stiffer springs..... we then had to cut a lot off the springs to get the car back to it's normal ride height due to the lenght difference in the springs....

[gundee]

I have seen this once before. I suspect one of two reasons.

First you may have a set of the old long discontinued race struts sold thru Datsun Comp Dept. One thing different about these was

that the lower spring perch was 2" higher than the stock version.

Reason was to create tire clearance just as the reason for coilovers is. If you were to put your springs on those struts that is the result you would get. If you have them keep them they are rare!

Second some guys got the same idea years back and cut off their stock spring perch, raised it 2" and rewelded back on. This again would give you the same result installing your springs. In fact people do not to this day have to go to coilovers for tire clearance, raise the perch and cut the spring.