Best 240sx suspension upgrades...the do's and don'ts?

[Mr240dude]

Hey what's up people? I am starting to look into suspension components now that I've got my turbo build close to completion. I currently am on 2" lowering springs with a no name upper strut bar. I think my struts are shot since they're originals. My rear tires literally get shredded over bumps since the drop so I suspect newer struts would stiffen things up. Speaking of struts how are the Staggs? I have looked at sway bars from Godspeed and heard some good things, though it's said that Whitelines are the best, however they're a little out my price range. On the other hand I was going to keep my oem sway bars and throw in some poly uthrenane sway bushings from Prothane or Energy suspension, on the front and back, I don't suppose that would change a whole world of difference or I could be wrong. Coil overs are out of the question since this is a daily and I've made up my mind to stick to lowering springs. I would like to reduce body roll when I make sharp turns and get that car on rails feel when I do turn. I tend to drive like a speed devil and would like to not feel like I'm about to roll down a hill. Help me out, suspension isn't my specialty. Any feed back appreciated.

[krash]

You wont get the "on rails" feeling with stock shocks and lowering springs. Bigger swaybars are nice. Dont get cheap strut bars. If you can flex the bars then they are useless... Honestly good tires make a huge difference.

Anyway, theres a lot of info on this stuff man search around a bit, we've got some geniuses on this forum

[Razi]

The Jonnie Fraz brace (Which is like the Nismo power brace) got rid of a lot of my bodyroll and a ton of chassis flex. Great bang for the buck.
He also makes a solid strut tower bar, which should help a bit as well.

The OEM front swaybar is going to feel too weak once you get grippy tires, an adjustable one like Progress and Whiteline would be good.

I'm not a big fan of polyurethane bushings since they cause a lot of binding in the suspension, especially in the rear.
The suspension arms don't just move up and down, they also twist as they move. Polyurethane bushings will inhibit that.

[Hijacker]

Rotorimp's triangulated strut bar was one of the best additions I did for my chassis bracing. The only thing better would be a roll bar IMO which for a vert is a necessary item for bracing.

As far as upgrades to your current setup, don't go cheap if you can avoid it. The old adage of you get what you pay for is in full force in automotive parts. I regret having stuck with a damper/lowering spring combo. I got my KYBs on an at employee discount at Advance Auto Parts, and I still think for the price, I would have been better saving up for entry level coilovers. That said, my future suspension plans are going for top end coilovers paired with quality suspension arms and bushings.

I'm gonna piggy back on Razi's comment on the bushings. Polyurethanes are not that great for S-chassis suspension bits. They're cheap for a reason. Our suspension needs to move on multiple axis, and the PUs inhibit that by causing stiction (additional friction that prevents bushing movement). Float has a great set of comparison videos in the Wheel/Tire/Suspension sub-forum. He compares Energy Suspension Polyrethanes to Megan Racing Hard Rubber. The hard rubbers are considerably more, but the suspension will work properly instead of artificially increasing wheel rate to kill your suspension movement. I plan on sourcing out Nismo hard rubber to slap into my set of aluminum rear uprights and sell off my set of rear ES PUs.

My best advice is that you take it slow and steady. Take your time and do your research on the parts you're considering. Google is going to be your best friend. Take some time to read up on suspension design for MacPherson struts and multi-link rear. If you arm yourself with the proper information, you can part together a quality performing suspension package that will be easily sorted and give you the best bang for your buck.

[2_Liter_Turbo]

I will reiterate that it's best to slowly upgrade with quality parts than it is to upgrade as quickly as possible with cheap parts (the majority are from China and Taiwan). For suspension arms and other parts, I would suggest hitting SPL's catalog for high quality made in the US parts. Most/all coilover sets that are around $1000 are garbage. You can get away with "ok" sets starting at around $1500 and after $2000, you start getting into quality ones. If that's completely out of your budget for years to come, then going with a decent set of springs and struts will suit you fine. Going with Koni/ground control struts and springs (requires custom shock mounts) is a good cheap alternative for good handling quality, but will still run you over a grand after you get everything...


Good luck.