about suspension and sway bars

[foress_89]

Hello guys, this is one of my first post on the forum here, I just got my 240sx a few weeks ago. It is not plated yet, and it's stored for the winter, but I'm planning ahead for the spring. Here is what it looks like.

I've already changed the windshield, and balanced the tires, it runs good and straight, but the supsension is gone. Completely. It bounces on itself you'd have a hard time imagine! So here's the deal. I'm looking to buy a set of tein coilovers. http://www.tein.com/products/s....html

Now the question is, what else will I have to change? That car is not going to be a daily driver. I want to race it, drift it, autocross it, name it. But I will have it plated for the street and I will drive it for hours at a time on the road. So I want an OEM alignment, for the sake of my tires.

Tie rods, tie rod ends, control arms...? Tell me what you think.

And then one more thing, sway bars, should I get them? Are aftermarkets one really a big improvement? And then what brand, I guess you get what you pay for?

The car is a 93, ka24de, the transmission have been swapped to a 5 speed at some point in his life...

Thanks.

[johnnyballs180]

what does "plated" mean? like, licence plates?

i checked out the suspension you linked, and they look solid. how much are they at retail?after some decent tires, i went with some greddy coilovers and swapped out the sway bars.i love the hell out of the sway bars; i do feel a difference. i could be wrong, but i think the way it works is, if you get bigger or stiffer sway bars, you don't have to run real aggressive spring rates. you might want to look that up. that's kind of "general" though..

i've HEARD some people saying that they really dig the adjustable sway bars. you can make them stiffer or softer pretty easy, and you can fine-tune then nicely.

i'm still a newb to the suspension stuff.http://www.tein.com/products/features.html#winTubethe twin tube vs. the mono tube; is the mono tube optional?

as far as the other stuff, i'd just be talking out of my ***, so i don't know.. how shot is your suspension right now though? would you even replace the steering rack too?

[SullivanRacing06]

you should go with some tein basics and a good pair of rubbers on the back itll be a new car

[foress_89]

what does "plated" mean? like, licence plates?

i checked out the suspension you linked, and they look solid. how much are they at retail?after some decent tires, i went with some greddy coilovers and swapped out the sway bars.i love the hell out of the sway bars; i do feel a difference. i could be wrong, but i think the way it works is, if you get bigger or stiffer sway bars, you don't have to run real aggressive spring rates. you might want to look that up. that's kind of "general" though..

i've HEARD some people saying that they really dig the adjustable sway bars. you can make them stiffer or softer pretty easy, and you can fine-tune then nicely.

i'm still a newb to the suspension stuff.http://www.tein.com/products/features.html#winTubethe twin tube vs. the mono tube; is the mono tube optional?

as far as the other stuff, i'd just be talking out of my ***, so i don't know.. how shot is your suspension right now though? would you even replace the steering rack too?

Yeah I meant license plate. Thanks for your thoughts that's what I'm looking for. As for the twin tube and mono tube it's not an option, it's mono or twin, depending on the category of the suspension model. As for the steering rack, you mean the tie rods and tie rod ends? That's what I'm not sure about, should I?

[MastaYu]

in the future you should look into inner and outer tierods. Rucas, toe arms, etc.

[johnnyballs180]

a long time ago, and many times since, my dad would say that if he were changing parts on a car, he'd buy the best he could so it wouldn't be a weak point later.i've tried to practice the same route, but believe-you-me, that $h!t's expensive!..as i'm sure we all know.

i sometimes buy things just to replace old ones; not really aiming to gain performance, but just to assure myself that i won't have any issues down the road. if my wallet wasn't complaining so much, i'd change just about everything. but for the time-being, if it ain't broken, i won't fix it. lol

other than oem for oem, i haven't changed (on any of my cars except the hachi) a whole hell of a lot on the suspension side of things. here's a link to FRSports. i like ordering from them because they're really quick and work hard to make sure i get my damn mail!

http://www.frsport.com/Suspens....html

unless you're having an actual problem with your steering rack, there's probably no point in replacing it. you usually buy a rebuilt oem one anyway. if you're going to start piecing things together, then you've got a good start, and i like the sway bars too.

new bushings are the hizzy. they're easy on the wallet, a pita to replace, but another good place to start. after that, i think everything else is just gravy. myself, i wanted to instal a nismo power brace, pillow ball tension rods, inner/outer tie rods, and probably hang out with that for a while. i don't think you really have to make additional changes or upgrades when you install any single component, but i'm sure a lot of these components are good "compliments" to other components.

my #1 favorite thing to make my handling a million times better?!?:

some damn good tires

yokohama's AO48s are my, by far, balls-to-the-wall, favorite tires. i ran them on my hachi.

[johnnyballs180]

oh, and make effort to take care of your new stuff. replace the old torn dust boots and things like that.

[SullivanRacing06]

buy a set of rear solid subframe bushings as well, there only 60-90 bucks

[zapracing]

i plan to get the hicus steering rack with s14 tie rods and tie rod ends for steering (the hicus steering rack is faster)

good choice of coilovers

the rear hicus rear sway bars are bigger add poly bushings on sway bars and solid rear main bushings

i also am going to get a poly bushing kit for my car but don't know if or how much it will help

tires will make a huge difference and that should help you out a lot

a honda has crashed trying to follow me during my "normal" every day driving

[johnnyballs180]

i never liked the hicas. i took it off my skyline after a short while. for me, it felt a little sloppy and not very easy to predict.

[zapracing]

but the front steering rack is faster and the sway bar is fatter i dont like rear wheel steering i bought a hicus and took those off as well as the lsd motor and trans and sold it and put the parts on my s13 coup i also took the brakes because they were bigger i dont know why but they were

[foress_89]

Ok well thanks for the replies guys I'll be looking into that and I'll give you guys some feedback when I actually do something!

[johnnyballs180]

i plan to get the hicus steering rack with s14 tie rods and tie rod ends for steering (the hicus steering rack is faster)

what do you mean, "faster"?

[zapracing]

it takes less revolutions to go from full left to full right.

[johnnyballs180]

mm. to each his own. then again, i wouldn't mind having like... a ferrari either.

[zapracing]

dont get me wrong i hate rear wheel stering i just want the rack out of the front

and keep us posted on what you do

[scooz14]

get a master kit of poly bushings

[johnnyballs180]

ahhh, okay, i'm with you now.

[SidewayZ97]

post up ur progress as u go along

[got chub]

i have progress 3 way adjustable sway bars and they make a huge difference. i would recommend them to anyone. i did a good bit of research and i was torn between the progress and largus bars. the only reason i picked progress was the availability they are almost identical in stiffness and size plus they come with all mounting hardware and solid endlinks all for $280 shipped

[Thoughtful_One]

- full poly bushings- new rack bushings-if you want sway bars, look into Whiteline. Excellent quality...- no need for RUCA's if the drop of the car stays within alignment spec.s. Slamming these cars is pointless anyway.- If you have an open diff., look into a diff. of some sort- set of tires for competition- solid bushings for the subframe- replace OEM tension rods with ones that have self-lubricating or sealed spherical rod-ends- any chassis stiffening braces- though not suspension, a good set of engine +transmission mounts really tightens things up

**If you are really serious about auto-cross, check with them about what modifications put you in different leagues. If I recall, only OE rubber bushings are allowed in the stock category, but it's just food for thought.

[raw0330]

If interest still applies-I realize this is an old thread, check out splparts.comHands-down the absolute best suspension parts for the s-chassis I've ever seen. My personal S14 has the SPL RUCAs, rear toe rods, and rear traction rods, the SPL front tension rods bolted to the Nismo power brace, SPL outer tie rod ends and stock z32 inner tie rods, nismo rack bushings, SPL solid subframe and differential bushings and Tein flex coils. I'll tell you-this setup is STIFF! Definitely noisy and not street comfy, but oh-so-capable. I can't remember the last time I squealed a tire on the street. Steering response and road feel is razor sharp and depending on the setup, can be very twitchy.Start by replacing what's worn out, etc. and replace related components. for instance, when I originally bought my s14, my right rear strut was blown. I bought my Teins. My tension rod bushing started leaking. I bought the SPLs and the power brace.

[zapracing]

what do the z32 iner tie rods do? just stronger?