280zx strut swap

[SRSANDS]

So I picked up my 280zx struts tody. Started the spring perch swap and wanted to ask a few questions. With the 280zx strut how far lower did you place the 510 perch than the original stock z perch? I have lowering springs in there also so I am curious if anyone has done the swap with lowering springs and where to weld the lower perch......it seems to me that one to one and a half inches should be good and still clear the tire. What rim and tire combo are you running to clear this set up also would help? Thanks

[DISLEXICDIME]

how low are you going?

[SRSANDS]

Well, it had lowering springs in the stock struts. Removed the perch and welded one and a half inches lower than the stock zx perch. With that relocation, the diffrence in the strut length, an the springs being techniques lowering springs should be nice and low. Dont have any test riims to fit but im thinking I would be able to run any bigger and 15's without tire rubbing the perch

[Icehouse]

Shawn you gotta make sure you always say ZX struts, the Z and ZX are way different I guess in your case strut hehe

[SRSANDS]

Thanks ice....my mistake...I get a little confused when I pull up images of the Z and the ZX they look the same.....hope I got the right ones!!!! The rotors are slotted on the edges.....are they the right ones and whats the diff between the two. I will be grabbing the other one tommorow that sucked.....rip offs. I am going to undo the calipers and use my 13 inch wheels when I am done just to see the stance! Thats after I order the new strut cartridges darn it cant wait

[zuum510]

with 195/50/15 or bigger you will run into clearance problems unless you do coilovers...

[SRSANDS]

Thanks zuum510, I like the front of your wagon, what do you have setup in there?

[zuum510]

lol thats not mine, just one of my favs. thats a bagged wagon from japan.

I did the 280zx struts in my first wagon with some accord coilover sleeves, I welded on a steel ring for it to sit on and it was a good setup, total I spent with new pads (didn't need rotors or bearings) with the coilovers was roughly $240 on the road... on my second wagon I used 280zx struts and cut them in half then welded on some 240sx S13 FULL coilovers with 24way adjustable damping, adjustable spring preload, and serperate adjustable ride height... I bought the coilovers second hand and paid $500 for those (believe me that a good deal) and on the road price was about $700. I tested them but took them off and they got sold to a guy in arizona.

YOu "might" get away with an inch off drop by lowering the spring perch but thats a maybe... wider wheels will make this more difficult, best part of the 280zx swap is you GAIN half in more fender clearance on each side so deeper offset wheels are GREAT idea, and THEN you may get more drop with the spring perch. Its your car bro, but if your gonna go through all this hassle you should just order up a set of the weld on ground controls in the spring rate you like.

[SRSANDS]

Thanks man for the info...I am gonna order GC set up next week...not too thrilled now as you can read my post in the Junkyard Woes post....only have one 280zx strut right now

[devilduece]

when pulling the struts what all do i need for my goon?

[devilduece]

maybe a picture might help im a very visual person

[zuum510]

DD just take the whole thing minus the steering knuckles... you don't need the top hats or the spring or spring perch but those are hard to remove in the wrecking yard... take the soft brake lines also...

[murderwagon]

if you ware doing a zx sturt conversion are you swaping the brakes also if so 13inch wheels will not fit over the caliper

[thisismatt]

Originally Posted by murderwagon

if you ware doing a zx sturt conversion are you swaping the brakes also if so 13inch wheels will not fit over the caliper

Depends on the wheels. Some 13" will fit, some will not.

I would take the ZX knuckles with the struts. You likely won't get charged for them and they're shorter than stock 510, so you may want to use them, or sell them on ebay.

[71ka510]

if you keep the zx upper mounts, and cut the diamter as small as the stock 510's when mounted they put th car about an 1" lower than stock ..... but you have to use coilovers.....

[JDM510]

i heard the zx strut come if diff spindal angles soo if you only have one make sure you get a match