Evening Out The Stance

[rossiz]

a while back i did a suspension re-fresh with eibach progressive lowering springs, staag struts, beefier sway bars, new bushings, tc arms w/ball & socket. the car handles infinitely better, and i love the feel with body roll all but eliminated. this is my DD, not a track car, so i wasn't looking for the ultimate cornering weapon, just a fun sports car for spirited street driving.

 

the one thing that's always bugged me since is that the stance was just a little higher in the rear. i picked up a set of the shorter 240z rear spring isolators and finally got around to doing the swap. it was done in a morning and i'm happy with the results. it's subtle, but it feels just right now (visually - i don't drive it hard enough to feel any difference in ride or handling).

 

i pulled the rear wheels, un-bolted the half-shafts, and using a set of spring compressors, i was able to get the entire strut assembly to pull out of the well and swap out the isolators without pulling the control arms. you need to remove the spring clamp that holds the break line to the body, which gives it just enough stretch room to drop the control arm down the required amount to pull the strut out of the tower. it's easier as a two-person job for sure, but here are some tips to do it alone:

• with the car up on stands and the rear wheels off, remove the nut that holds the strut into the center of the isolator first, leaving the isolator in place. this lets you pull the strut & compressed spring out without dealing with the extra height of the isolator.
• unbolt the sway bar at either end to get a little more swing from the control arms.
• after the strut is pulled out, support the wheel hub on blocks so it doesn't hang on the brake line.
• with the rear hatch open, standing outside the car, you can push the new isolator up into place with one hand, reach over the top with the other and put your finger into the center hole of the tower to feel the isolator as it comes up and spin it until the 3 bolts line up w/the tower holes and it pushes through. keep the 3 washers right on top of the bolt holes (stick 'em there w/a little grease) and they will slip right on, then have the 3 nuts ready up on top of the tower to spin on and hold the isolator in place. you can torque them up afterwards from the back hatch area.
• use a floor jack under the wheel hub to raise the strut assembly up into the tower - you can operate the handle with your foot as you guide the top of the strut into its hole in the isolator with a screwdriver. once its in, drop in the nut and you're good to go.

280 isolator on the left, shorter 240 on the right

 

before:

 

after:

[CanTechZ]

Nice subtle change, I like the new stance.  Mine sits about 1/2" lower in the rear when measuring the distance from ground up to the underside of the fender lip at center.  With this set up the body line near your body side molding is quite parallel with the ground.

[jonathanrussell]

Looks really good. I have a 75 and am thinking of the eibach setup and your results here are encouraging. 

[rossiz]

i haven't driven any other performance setups, so i can't compare to the ride of tokikos and single-rate springs, but i am very happy with how my setup rides and would recommend it to others.

 

first off, the biggest single handling improvement factor was from the fat torsion bars - they virtually eliminate the body roll and the car instantly feels much sportier. then the lowering springs bring the center of gravity down a bit, which you can actually feel. the progressive springs keep it supple over the road surface and the heavier coils kick in to stop bottoming - i didn't want a harsh, short-travel suspension and also didn't want to be worried about scraping off my exhaust and undercoating on every speed bump or driveway apron i cross, and so far i haven't hit anything in normal driving to cause that. the staag struts seem fine and are a noticeable improvement over my +35 yr old blown-out oem struts, but again - i have no comparison against other options. the price was a no-brainer to try 'em out though.

[jonathanrussell]

I really like the strut mount insulator idea for lowering a bit more to even things out because it doesn't impact travel.

[73str86]

I just took a decent set of rear strut insulators off my '73 240z if anyone wants them. The threads need to cleaned up a little. I posted them for sale on the Datsun Parts and Needs Facebook page.

 

I'll give them to any of you who are willing to cover shipping and maybe a couple bucks for gas/time.

 

And rossiz that is an excellent write-up. And you're right about the stance...it's just enough to forget that it was a little high.

Edited July 18, 2015 by 73str86