K-Sport air suspension for FGY33

[Zuikkis]

Hi, greetings from Finland!

You might not know this, but there is a bolt-on air suspension kit available from K-Sport. It's not listed on K-Sport model list, but it IS available if you ask. I think they are not listing it because it requires welding on the front struts..

Anyway, here's some quick walk-through on the installation, with some pictures.

The package contents:



A closer look on the front struts, that need the welding:



I started by installing the control panel and routing the pneumatic hoses and wires. I routed the hoses and wires the same place where original car wire harness is routed from the trunk to the front of the car. I try to keep the Cima's interior as stock as possible, so I hid the controls here:



The included air tank is HUGE.. I decided to fit it into the spare tire place in the trunk. It didn't quite fit there, but I banged the trunk floor with rubber hammer until the tank fitted nicely. Here's the "modified" trunk, already painted and holes drilled waiting for the tank..



And here's the tank already fitted:



Here's the finished trunk, with the compressor and the solenoids etc fitted.. I used an aluminium sheet and some soft padding so there is a place to hold the tool pack and other small things. The whole thing is covered with a wooden sheet and the original trunk floor matress, but I don't have a picture of that.



Then time for strut installation.. I completely forgot to take pictures of the rear struts. Rear is 100% bolt-on anyway, just take old ones out and install new orange (yuck) K-Sport... Small holes had to be drilled for the air hoses.

The minimum ride height has to be set up by rotating the bottom half of the strut. This is quite simple, just install wheels and see how much room do you have.. This is my initial testing with my 19" summer wheels.. I raised it slightly here, the wheels were touching a bit.



The front struts need some machining. The first strut I did the hard way, by using spring compressors to remove the spring and then removing the shock cartridge, and then cut the bottom out. But I noticed that the shock cartridge is very loose on the strut pipe, so it's not necessary to remove it if you are careful. So here's what I did on the second strut, CAREFULLY cut here, don't cut too deep or you'll damage the original shock cartridge..



A closer look on the cut.. Also beware the ABS sensor wire, shown at the bottom.



The bottom removed.. See how long the shock cartridge is, if you don't want to damage it, don't cut too deep.



Then, you should use a drill and other tools to remove the "end cap" from under side, until you have a nice hole.. The cutted part of the strut pipe is NOT removed, as you can see in the image.



The new strut pipe is really really tight to the hole. We used a large press to install it, and considerable force was needed.. Be sure to check that the stabilizer link connection plate is at the correct angle before pressing the pipe in place!

Then the pipe was also TIG welded.. I think this isn't even necessary, because the fitting is so tight, but you never can be too careful.



The front strut installed.. Still haven't finished the ride height adjustment, so the lock nuts are not in place.



Here is shown the air hose routing.. I drilled an extra hole to the ABS sensor wire rubber, the hose fits nicely. Leave enough hose loose so there is room for the wheel to turn and move up and down.




Modified by Zuikkis at 5:54 AM 1/22/2009

[Zuikkis]

Some pictures of the car at the lowest position, this time with my winter wheels..









And, the "off road" -mode..



My normal driving position is something in between of these two, perhaps -2" lowering from standard.

[bullittandy]

Very impressive modification. The truth is that you can get anything to work if you've got some energy, a welder and time!!

Keep the updates coming.

[NightRiderQ45]

Nice work. Oh, are you still trying to get rid of you grill for the US version?

[maxnix]

Drive on the left in Finland?

Nice work, but difficult to see what is gained?

[Zuikkis]

Drive on the left in Finland?

Nice work, but difficult to see what is gained?

I really like the ridiculously low look on some "VIP" Cimas and Q45's.. However, I'm 100% sure that those cars are absolutely useless as regular cars, the original idea of super comfortable large sedan is ruined with the ultra harsh suspension.

With air suspension you can get the ultra low look, and still maintain (most of) the original comfortness and softness.. Just a click of a button and you can have either way.

And, Finland is LHD country... RHD cars are very common imports nowadays though. The EU permits RHD because England is RHD and any car registered in any other EU country must be legal in others as well.

If you are wondering about driving on the wrong side, that's not all that difficult as you might think.. Takes only a few days to get used to that. Manual transmission cars are a bit more difficult, but automatic is so simple.. Even my wife drives Cima with no problems.

[Zuikkis]

Oh, one more image, from the local Nissan meeting..

These are the only two Cimas in Finland, by the way. Actually I haven't heard about any others in entire Europe, but that might be a bit too optimistic assumption.

[Judas]

Even that tank got same font

More these : zer...age=1
Modified by Judas at 3:33 AM 1/23/2009

[Zuikkis]

I thought this would create more stir.

No one even noticed my Audi brake upgrade which I intentionally left unmentioned in the original posting.
Modified by Zuikkis at 10:30 PM 1/24/2009

[paranoidjack]

I thought this would create more stir.

No one even noticed my Audi brake upgrade which I intentionally left unmentioned in the original posting.

Modified by Zuikkis at 10:30 PM 1/24/2009

If it makes you feel any better, you've outdone yourself. I've bookmarked the url for future reference.

[carnal_c30]

wow, thanks alot for the write up, I was looking at the brakes and I knew they were different but it didnt quite click.As far as the air setup, man maybe if I had known about this before ahahahnice car, clean air install, hope you continue the modding!

[ssdjoey1904]

nice, you got any pics of the front all the way down? also can you tuck tire in the front? the rear looks alot lower than the front i know you have air, i plan on running coilovers instead so i want to see how low the front can go,also if you sit the new shock lower in the spindle will you achieve a lower stance,if thats even possible thanks

[Zuikkis]

The front is pretty much in the lowest position it can go, in the images above. Any lower and will touch the wheel arc when turning. If you remove the plastic inside fenders and keep the wheels straight, you can probably go perhaps 10mm lower, but not more than that in my opinion..

And note that you can't go nowhere as low with coilovers.. With air suspension, the lowest position has zero suspension movement, it is sitting on the rubber bumbers.. So you really need only 1mm wheel clearance. If it doesn't touch while standing still, it never will. But the car is impossible to drive at any higher speed because there's practically no suspension. With coilovers it would be totally unusable that low.

Rear could go perhaps 10mm lower, actually, there's plenty of room there..

Anyway it's more an optical illusion. The front arc is much higher than rear, you can't judge lowering amount from the arc! If you compare to stock, my car actually has front lower than rear..

[BLACKonBLACK98]

And note that you can't go nowhere as low with coilovers..

not true at all. most of the lowest q's on earth are on coils. practical? no. possible? definitely.

[QFourFive]

Nice setup. I'm looking to lower my q45 and this seems like a good way to do it.

[QFourFive]

Oh and how much was that air suspension kit??

[Haitian_King]

Very nice. Great job on the install. I wish I was able to do that stuff myself. If only I had a garage...