Help me sort out my suspension woes!

[Jonas427]

I recently bought an S13 that was lowered by the previous owner. The inside of the tires are wearing like crazy (mostly from toe I suppose), and the front right strut is broken. I believe it is a Koni strut. Could someone verify that? So, my plan is to buy a replacement Koni strut, some SPL tie rod ends/Z32 inner tie rods, and SPL toe rods. Then I want to get it aligned. How does that sound? I would also like to buy camber plates and RUCA‘s, but I am strapped for cash right now. Could anyone tell my what type of sleeve/spring setup this is? I have no idea. I'm new to this stuff. Thanks.

Broken strut. Is it a Koni?


Can you tell me anything about this setup?

[5t341tH]

looks like any ebay coil-sleeve thingy. its only 1 way adjustable and they seemed to have drooped the spring all the way down to get low. u can tighten it back up. see if that solves your shitty suspension dampening

[Slammed Assassin]

try getting some coilovers, youll like em at the end..get some used ones if u dont have much bank..the setup u have rite now is pretty much gone/trash..dont reuse the ebay springs..might blow your new struts if u go that way..good luck!

[dorkjoey240]

Time to upgrade the end..

[Jonas427]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm going to go with a less expensive or used set of coilovers.

[xs240]

Visit nissanroadracing.com if they are konis for help before trashing them.

[Jonas427]

I'm almost positive that they are Konis. The rears are, and they are yellow so...
Does anyone know anything about ground control setups? Could I salvage the shocks and go that route?


here is a shot of the rear setup

[s13dan]

Those look like ebay coils for sure. My feind got some a few years back and that exactly what they looked like. He decided not to install them. And i think your right about the struts. They look like Konis.

[5150Fab]

i know someone that might sell you a cheap set of coilovers...pm me if interested

[Jonas427]

So, now I'm thinking I may buy the ground control kit, replace that broken shock and bring it back up to stock height, so my tires will stop wearing. Does that sound like the most cost effective way of doing things?

[240sxScores]

Yea replace the broken shock, Im assuming its a broken front one? And also you can take out the rear struts and see how hard the damping is set to by completely compressing them and twisting them all the way left i believe(full soft).And if you got the money replace the springs with H&R,ERS, HyperCo.

[Jonas427]

Yes, it was the front. Thanks for the info. As far as springs go, I was planning on Eibach springs that come with the Ground Control kit. As far as spring rates go, I'm thinking 450/350.

here's a link to the GC kit Ground Control Suspension Systems

[drift freaq]

Originally Posted by Jonas427

Yes, it was the front. Thanks for the info. As far as springs go, I was planning on Eibach springs that come with the Ground Control kit. As far as spring rates go, I'm thinking 450/350.

here's a link to the GC kit Ground Control Suspension Systems

The Ground Control setup is fine. Done right its quite nice. Though you could get Koni collar setup with hypercoils. I am actually going to run a Hypercoil setup on my current build with Koni's. Spring rate your pretty much in the ballpark with the rates you quoted above. Oh remove those JDM stock perches off those things. You should setup your collars like a normal from the factory coilover collar. Its not hard to do and do right. Its just most people get lazy and do it wrong.

[240sxScores]

Originally Posted by Jonas427

Yes, it was the front. Thanks for the info. As far as springs go, I was planning on Eibach springs that come with the Ground Control kit. As far as spring rates go, I'm thinking 450/350.

here's a link to the GC kit Ground Control Suspension Systems

Oh yea, your set if you get the GC kit and replace the broken strut, those spring rates are good.

[Jonas427]

Originally Posted by drift freaq

The Ground Control setup is fine. Done right its quite nice. Though you could get Koni collar setup with hypercoils. I am actually going to run a Hypercoil setup on my current build with Koni's. Spring rate your pretty much in the ballpark with the rates you quoted above. Oh remove those JDM stock perches off those things. You should setup your collars like a normal from the factory coilover collar. Its not hard to do and do right. Its just most people get lazy and do it wrong.

How would you suggest setting up the collars properly? Could you elaborate on that a little?

Originally Posted by 240sxScores

Oh yea, your set if you get the GC kit and replace the broken strut, those spring rates are good.

Thanks for helping me clear all this up. I couldn't have told you the difference between a tie rod and a RUCA 3 days ago, haha.

[T-RexRacer]

Originally Posted by Jonas427

Yes, it was the front. Thanks for the info. As far as springs go, I was planning on Eibach springs that come with the Ground Control kit. As far as spring rates go, I'm thinking 450/350.

here's a link to the GC kit Ground Control Suspension Systems

I think that 450/350 is going to be pretty rough on the street. Also remember if you overspring the car, your very advanced engineered rear three link suspension becomes rather worthless.

[McCoy]

Originally Posted by T-RexRacer

I think that 450/350 is going to be pretty rough on the street. Also remember if you overspring the car, your very advanced engineered rear three link suspension becomes rather worthless.

I think it has more to do with the valving than the spring rates. I'm running 550/400 spring rates with Koni 8611F/8610R setup and the ride on the street is more compliant than the Silkroad coilovers (330F/300R) that came with my car.

[T-RexRacer]

But if you put too stiff of springs on for the car, then you don't get the benefit of the engineering that went into the rear suspension. If the rates are too high all of suspension deflection starts to transfer to the sidewall of the tires and the rubber bushings.
Now YOUR spring rates may not be so high that you are seeing that. But a rule of thumb in racing, and it is counter-intuitive, is go as soft as you can get away with. It's not as critical on the front because the McPherson strut has it's own limitations. But if you go too stiff on the front and soft on the rear, the car isn't balanced and in this case you would get understeer. Take it for what it's worth.

[McCoy]

Originally Posted by T-RexRacer

But if you put too stiff of springs on for the car, then you don't get the benefit of the engineering that went into the rear suspension.

I thought the engineering that went into the rear suspension was not the best, but that's just my opinion.

If the rates are too high all of suspension deflection starts to transfer to the sidewall of the tires and the rubber bushings.

Agreed, that there is going to be more deflection in the bushings and tire, but I don't think it's as bad as people point out. As long as the damper is valved for the spring rates then it's a matter of tuning the rates F/R to get the best handling characturistics.

Some of the fastest IT guys with B13 chassis's(Greg Amy is a perfect example) are well above 1000lb spring rates with custom valved Koni's that can work with these stiffer springs. Just 5 years ago this was thought to be the wrong way to go for many of the reasons that you just mentioned and that 550-600lbs springs were the limit, even with a full cage. Just food for thought...

[T-RexRacer]

Originally Posted by McCoy

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Some of the fastest IT guys with B13 chassis's(Greg Amy is a perfect example) are well above 1000lb spring rates with custom valved Koni's that can work with these stiffer springs. Just 5 years ago this was thought to be the wrong way to go for many of the reasons that you just mentioned and that 550-600lbs springs were the limit, even with a full cage. Just food for thought...

True to some degree, Greg's NX2000 has a totally different suspension. But I would agree you are seeing much higher spring rates on racecars these days.