240Z Street Suspension Setups

johnymd

Club Member
I would fully agree with the above. I now have 3 road going cars to compare and they are all different. I believe the main differences are not due to the springs/dampers but with how freely the rest of the suspension moves. My blue car runs 350lb springs all round and the ride comfort is superb. I put this primarily down to the full rose jointed suspension that moves freely with no resistance. The other 2 cars have conventional suspension urethane bushes. These bushes have an amount of resistance to movement and this is what causes the bumpiness of the ride. I was so unhappy with the BC's on the ratlook car that I pulled all the suspension apart and looked at all the joints and which surfaces needed free movement to each other. I made sure that these points were well greased and retained the grease. This transformed the car and it now rides great. I still need to do this with the red car as this will improve it further.
 

PBJ

New Forum User
Thanks a ton guys! Since my Z will be mainly street driven, this is all very helpful. I also have poly bushings on the way so I'll make sure to grease the appropriate points well.

As a short term test, I ordered a set of Stagg Shocks and Vogtland springs (2.7k front / 3.1k rear) for approximately $300. After driving on blown shocks for while, I need a better baseline to help me choose a suspension upgrade that would best fit my needs.


Just checked out your site johnymd. Wow, what a collection!
 

Jay.

Club Member
I would fully agree with the above. I now have 3 road going cars to compare and they are all different. I believe the main differences are not due to the springs/dampers but with how freely the rest of the suspension moves. My blue car runs 350lb springs all round and the ride comfort is superb. I put this primarily down to the full rose jointed suspension that moves freely with no resistance. The other 2 cars have conventional suspension urethane bushes. These bushes have an amount of resistance to movement and this is what causes the bumpiness of the ride. I was so unhappy with the BC's on the ratlook car that I pulled all the suspension apart and looked at all the joints and which surfaces needed free movement to each other. I made sure that these points were well greased and retained the grease. This transformed the car and it now rides great. I still need to do this with the red car as this will improve it further.

My "suspension" feels awful, every bump in the road makes me wince. I was looking at dropping a bunch of money on some nice coilovers, but after reading this maybe I should start with the bushings! (There is currently some cheap coilovers from an S13, but they shouldn't be THAT bad)
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Thanks a ton guys! Since my Z will be mainly street driven, this is all very helpful. I also have poly bushings on the way so I'll make sure to grease the appropriate points well.

As a short term test, I ordered a set of Stagg Shocks and Vogtland springs (2.7k front / 3.1k rear) for approximately $300. After driving on blown shocks for while, I need a better baseline to help me choose a suspension upgrade that would best fit my needs.


Just checked out your site johnymd. Wow, what a collection!

Now worries. The only thing to remind you is I also have T3 control arms with solid joints so I imagine with a stock setup and bushes the BC's would actually be a little more compliant than what I'm experiencing!
 

johnymd

Club Member
I’ve just removed Every bush from my red car and reinstalled with plenty of grease. It now rides much better but still not as planted at speed as the bc’s Or GAZ.

With your t3 suspension the car should be more compliant due to the lack of sticksion.
 
Now worries. The only thing to remind you is I also have T3 control arms with solid joints so I imagine with a stock setup and bushes the BC's would actually be a little more compliant than what I'm experiencing!

It would be, I don't understand why there's not any bushed adjustable arms around? you can add a bit of 'angle' to bushings fine, you could also make it so that you shim them.

I know i've said it before, some of the very quick HSCC cars aren't even fully polybushed, just new OEM bushings.
 
I’ve just removed Every bush from my red car and reinstalled with plenty of grease. It now rides much better but still not as planted at speed as the bc’s Or GAZ.

With your t3 suspension the car should be more compliant due to the lack of sticksion.

It wouldn't make it more compliant as there's massive solid joints in where they're should be bushings. On the road (ie most bumpy uk roads) it'd feel less planted also due to all the small high frequency movements not being taken up by the bushings. Its relying on moving all that through whatever joints T3 etc supply, thats why they should be lifed as they fail on cars weighing 600kg on the road, that then gets moved to your chosen make of damper, that also increases with smaller firmer sidewalls.
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
It would be, I don't understand why there's not any bushed adjustable arms around? you can add a bit of 'angle' to bushings fine, you could also make it so that you shim them.

I know i've said it before, some of the very quick HSCC cars aren't even fully polybushed, just new OEM bushings.

If there was a product that could utilize OEM bushings then I would have utilized it however sadly there's nothing available. I agree it would be more compliant and appropriate to road use, I do have some slight concerns over the use of anodized parts with our climate but we'll see.

It doesn't look like that is going to happen though, everyone seems to be too busy going for Apex Engineering's latest offerings....
 
If there was a product that could utilize OEM bushings then I would have utilized it however sadly there's nothing available. I agree it would be more compliant and appropriate to road use, I do have some slight concerns over the use of anodized parts with our climate but we'll see.

It doesn't look like that is going to happen though, everyone seems to be too busy going for Apex Engineering's latest offerings....

For what reason are they? I'd say just because they're new and people don't really know why they're buying them.
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
For what reason are they? I'd say just because they're new and people don't really know why they're buying them.

No idea, they claim they've moved things along in a big way however it all looks much of a muchness to me...
 
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