stiffing up s-chassis??

[turbo2nr]

i have a 97 s14, 120k on it. the car chassis wise feels loose as s*it. the car just doesnt feel solid anymore, going over bumps and uneven roads everything feels loose and sloopy. i live in nyc and the roads suck that and add coilovers i guess it finally took a tole on my frame.

so what can i do to possibly stiffen back up the car? i was going to start with checking over all the bolts that attach the front/rear subframe to the car. i have nismo mounts and spl collors. i was going to get spl diff bushings because when i let off the cluth the rear chatters, also if i shift hard form first to second ill get wheel hop then the tires just spin.

i was also thinking of a power brace for the front and possibly fender braces i heard that it does wonders..

any suggestions will help. i do not want to cage the car. so that is not an option.

thanks

[mr.jdm]

well from my experience wheel hop is induced by crappy suspension. what kind of coilovers are you running? how many miles are on them? do they need to be rebuilt?
and go with a urethane bushing kit. that will stiffn everything up real nice

[turbo2nr]

sus. setup:
megan streets ~8k on them
sus. sway bars
tien inner/outer tie rods
spl collors
nismo mounts
battle version t/c rods

[mr.jdm]

my guess would be the megans. i know their not the greatest. maybe their worn out? lets see what the others say.

[VQMaxFan]

SFC's
Urethane Bushings
Fender Braces
and so on... theres allot of shit, checking your bushings is a good start though

[murda-c]

replace all your arms with pillowball where you can, get solid steering rack bushings, and whatever's left use polyurethane.

[smelly240]

Luckily you have a 14 and dont have to do the column bushing like on a 13. That shit sucks - even with the motor out...

[silvia13t14]

Your bet would be change the factory bushings most likely worn out and i would change those coils are nt the best HKs 111or sport,apex n1 or jic
The power brace would make the rear too stiff unless your using it for track use
In Ny u need anything suspension thats adjustable cuz of those dam bumps, dips and potholes

[turbo2nr]

i think my dampering on the coils are to soft for the spring i turned them down to 7/5 i think ill raise them back to 17/15.

the power brace is for the front of the car so it would have no effect on the back. i have to jack up the car and see how much the subframe sags, i may have to do soild subframe bushings..

is it worth getting the energy sus. bushing kit? i heard its a pita to install..

[yurisfriendevan]

Also you may just be used to the way the car feels.

[silvia13t14]

Originally Posted by turbo2nr

i think my dampering on the coils are to soft for the spring i turned them down to 7/5 i think ill raise them back to 17/15.

the power brace is for the front of the car so it would have no effect on the back. i have to jack up the car and see how much the subframe sags, i may have to do soild subframe bushings..

is it worth getting the energy sus. bushing kit? i heard its a pita to install..

yea the power brace wouldnt stiffin the rear but it would stiffin the whole chassis in which it reduces movement to the tension rods when their is for hard conering which is track use and energy bushing give away easily i would say nismo is the way 2 go

[98koukile]

I wouldn't do the energy suspension bushings unless you were going to install grease fittings and cut a channel in them. They bind too easily. Spherical bearings work the best and you can upgrade to z32 rear uprights, i think the megan conversion piece is like $80... barter with them haha. You could do the chassis foam thing seen on FA also

[jspeedm]

if you have a lot of bumps and potholes, then you don't want to make any of the bushings that provide for/aft support(tension rods, traction rods, etc.) too stiff. for those, use urethane bushings.

replace the bushings that provide up/down support(rucas, rear toe rods, upper strut mounts, etc.) with spherical bearings.

in all cases these are good.
-Nismo power brace
-strut tower braces
-trunk brace
-fender brraces

good luck.

[JRas]

steering rack bushings
tension rods
nismo powerbrace
replace suspension bushings
sway bars

[HS13KLS]

hmm..

my car is pretty stiff..

i have a cage. though.
stance coils.
megan tension/rucas (would the crappy rucas be the reason for my wheel hop??)
i have a kaaz 2way.
braces all over.
GET SWAY BARS.
tension rods and sway bars seriously made the biggest difference. I FELT A HUGE change i changed those out


id really suggest just tons of braces. get a c-pillar lol they look cool :P
and the rear strut bar
i have no experience with the nismo power bar..but ive heard good things about it.
and if you dont have AT LEAST subframe inserts DEF. get some

[98koukile]

You can get rid of a bit of that wheel hop with the only rear arm you didn't get... the traction rod

[los_inc]

hit up jonnie fraz he'll tighten your shit up
<3
-los

[Bushido]

shakito plates.

fender braces.

power brace.


if you want to go a level further...


chassis foam.

bolt-in/weld-in roll cage.

stitch welds.

[Bigsyke]

chassis foam in an area with salt (such as ny) is the worst thing you could possibly do. Read up on some old hot rods or european cars that had factory foam. The only rust spots were where the foam was.

[Bushido]

not if you use the right stuff.

there are foams that don't hold moisture.

[DRFT180]

Link? I am starting some research on the chassis foam idea

[ManoNegra]

Originally Posted by 98koukile

I wouldn't do the energy suspension bushings unless you were going to install grease fittings and cut a channel in them. They bind too easily. Spherical bearings work the best and you can upgrade to z32 rear uprights, i think the megan conversion piece is like $80... barter with them haha. You could do the chassis foam thing seen on FA also

Originally Posted by jspeedm

if you have a lot of bumps and potholes, then you don't want to make any of the bushings that provide for/aft support(tension rods, traction rods, etc.) too stiff. for those, use urethane bushings.

replace the bushings that provide up/down support(rucas, rear toe rods, upper strut mounts, etc.) with spherical bearings.

in all cases these are good.
-Nismo power brace
-strut tower braces
-trunk brace
-fender brraces

good luck.

I've have/had urethane bushings in the suspension
they do stiffen up the car quite a bit
but I don't really like the way the suspension works after
spherical bushings and quality joints is what I plan to do down the line.

[MrFairlady]

Handi-Foam.
Thats the RIGHT STUFF.
$49.88+ ship for a kit to do maybe the rockers and a tad more.

DO NOT USE SPRAY Insulation foam.


Ordering mine this week.Gonna do the rockers and Try to figure out a way to do the Frame rails.Not sure how except drilling holes.

[redsuns3838]

seam welding , since the car is just glued together. But Thats a big commitment timewise so I'd do everything else first.

[BustedS13]

get in
get a boner
drive

[Flicktitty]

/\

LULZ

thats awesome

also bushings

[az_240]

I have all that crap for my kouki and what made the biggest difference was

Coilovers

ES Bushings for EVERYTHING (besides what you replace with pillowballs)

Power Brace

Shakitto Plates/DC front strut bar

Do-Luck Rear Cross Bar


In that order...


I have more but that is what I noticed the most.

[turbo2nr]

thanks for all the info im going to do the power brace, arms , diff bushings, strut bars, and the other bushings.

but if i do all the arms will it not be pointless to get the energy sus. bushing kit as most of the arms will replace the use for bushings?

and the foam seems like a good idea, but how much weight does that add on the car?

[gunluvS14]

not much. Search under my name about chassis stiffening foam.
hint: my write-up/information are not necessary solely in this forum. Use the interweb

[xs240]

Polyurethane bushings suck, I had whiteline ones in all my arms all around, they suck. Get spherical bearings, car feels softer plus no bind now hah.... better response and tightness yet soft not nerv racking.