Odd Issue After Lowering Spring Install

[marcyprojects]

Recently installed megan lowering springs on the Z. Install went basically without a hitch, had to do a little man handling to get em in but not bad. Drives fine for the most part but I have an odd issue on hard turns. I accelerate through a corner at around 35-40 mph and im getting what feels like wheels skipping in the front if that makes sense. Like the front wheels are loosing traction. Ive gone back and checked all my bolts, bushings, even had my alignment re checked and still no change. Tires arent rubbing, alignment checks out good. Am I to think that this is just how it is now that im lowered? Never had this issue with the 3 other lowered cars ive owned. The drop on the Z with the megans is about 1.75 so its noticeable but not slammed. Anyone seen this?

[marcyprojects]

Recently installed megan lowering springs on the Z. Install went basically without a hitch, had to do a little man handling to get em in but not bad. Drives fine for the most part but I have an odd issue on hard turns. I accelerate through a corner at around 35-40 mph and im getting what feels like wheels skipping in the front if that makes sense. Like the front wheels are loosing traction. Ive gone back and checked all my bolts, bushings, even had my alignment re checked and still no change. Tires arent rubbing, alignment checks out good. Am I to think that this is just how it is now that im lowered? Never had this issue with the 3 other lowered cars ive owned. The drop on the Z with the megans is about 1.75 so its noticeable but not slammed. Anyone seen this?

Could bad tire pressure cause this? Measured them this morning just as an idea. I got 32 in the front and 34 in the rear. Could adding a couple pounds make a difference since the tire wouldnt flex as much while turning with more air? just an idea

[Ace2cool]

32/34 is close enough for government work.

Did you replace shocks? This is an old car, and the shocks probably haven't been replaced. What brand springs did you use?

[marcyprojects]

32/34 is close enough for government work.

Did you replace shocks? This is an old car, and the shocks probably haven't been replaced. What brand springs did you use?

Well Ill tell you what I did do, which might seem bad but made sense at the time. When I tore down the suspension on all 4 corners I found 2 blown struts which I replaced with "known good" struts from a friend. The 2 blown ones were completely gone, fell right to the bottom when I separated it from the spring. Stock springs must have compensated somehow because I had zero issues at stock height. So I basically have 4 solid but used Tokicos all around. Just me using what parts I already had access to instead of spending money on more parts. As far as the springs, I went with the megans as they have the most agressive drop. Having driven on them now, the only thing I dont like is the softness of the ride sometimes. Drives fine in a straight line and light turns moderate acceleration but if I try to gas it around an corner or a u turn, the front end is banging like the wheels are skipping across the ground.

[Ace2cool]

Huh. I'd definitely jack the front up and see if anything was loose or anything like that. I don't know that I'd ever do the wrench work to put used struts on, though, lol.

[marcyprojects]

Huh. I'd definitely jack the front up and see if anything was loose or anything like that. I don't know that I'd ever do the wrench work to put used struts on, though, lol.

ya ive heard the general consensus on that. Just didnt make sense not to use them since they were right there. They had plenty of recoil when I checked them out. Got em from a parts 90k parts car owned by a guy locally who runs an auto recycling business in my area. Basically gave em to me and I held on to the set just in case. Car was a 96 2+2

Maybe I have the center nut torqued down too tight? I had a buddy told me best to leave it loose and tighten it down with the car on the ground as to not over compress the spring?

[Ace2cool]

I've always tightened the center nut with the spring still compressed.

[marcyprojects]

So I went back yesterday and tore everything down again. Looks like the front left strut is the culprit. Soo weird because it tested fine when I installed the springs at first. Seems its seized now? Hard as a rock, wont move up or down. Guess the Z will be back in the garage for another couple weeks

[NolimitZ32]

I have 2 sets of good struts and springs (one is a set of tociko blues with less than 6k miles on them) <shameless plug

[marcyprojects]

I have 2 sets of good struts and springs (one is a set of tociko blues with less than 6k miles on them) <shameless plug

PM me your info man maybe we can work something out and do a deal Friday. I priced out a set of KYB rears on parts geek for just over $100. Ive since replaced the bad one in my front left, my alignment guy said my rear left looks about shot also so im looking to replace them to finish the job.

[marcyprojects]

So I went ahead and ordered a set of new KYB rear struts which should be here any day. In the meantime I decided to go ahead and knock out a quick tune up last night. Started looking around at other stuff while I was out there and I realized that I think I may have been wrong about my front end issue here. It seems that with lowering the car the front wheels have moved forward or the inner front side of the fender is much closer to the tire. I turned the wheel to full lock and I could barely fit my finger in there. I expect that whe driving at speed any slight body roll could cause that to rub. Anyone here know what im talking about here? Not sure how to possibly cure it. I did see that the front sway bar has what looks like 2 settings as far as where it attaches to the wheel hub so I might try that.

[NolimitZ32]

Damnit, I didn't check the thread, sorry. As for what you are referring to is called caster and happens when your strut assembly is not properly aligned, IF there is no underlying issue like bent suspension parts this is something that should be able to be fixed by a good alignment shop.

[marcyprojects]

Damnit, I didn't check the thread, sorry. As for what you are referring to is called caster and happens when your strut assembly is not properly aligned, IF there is no underlying issue like bent suspension parts this is something that should be able to be fixed by a good alignment shop.

Indeed. I had the car aligned at my local nissan dealership last week. Theres a guy there that does specialty alignment for everyone here in town, very highly reccomended. It is definately better than it was when I brought it to him. According to him the front end lined up basically dead on. Is there anything that I can add to the setup to give more caster adjustment, maybe adjustable tension rods?

[marcyprojects]

Damnit, I didn't check the thread, sorry. As for what you are referring to is called caster and happens when your strut assembly is not properly aligned, IF there is no underlying issue like bent suspension parts this is something that should be able to be fixed by a good alignment shop.

Indeed. I had the car aligned at my local nissan dealership last week. Theres a guy there that does specialty alignment for everyone here in town, very highly reccomended. It is definately better than it was when I brought it to him. According to him the front end lined up basically dead on. Is there anything that I can add to the setup to give more caster adjustment, maybe adjustable tension rods?

EDIT: it seems that my caster issues arent my mechanics fault. Our cars dont have caster adjustment in stock form. Guess ill have to slow down on those corners until I get my adjustable tension rods and get it back to him. Im a little afraid of this though because ive had adjustable rods on an s14 once and the ride quality was terrible. ended up switching back to stocks with energy bushes and that was perfect but no adjustment. Funny though becuase my setup here on the Z basically mirrors what I had on that car but I didnt have any caster issues on the s chassis.

[NolimitZ32]

Ahh, you are still on stocks, got it.

[marcyprojects]

Ya I didnt bother to touch it since the previous owner went through the trouble of replacing all the bushes up front. Steering and all is still very accurate, just this caster issue now. Any reccomendations on tension rods that give the most comfortable ride?

[NolimitZ32]

No clue, when my Z went under the knife last year I was still riding on stock suspension, when it comes out I'll be Powertrix EVERYTHING so I'll be of a bit more help then.

[marcyprojects]

I hear a lot of good things about powertrix so id be interested in that information whenever you get yours. Just to update, I installed the new rear KYBs and they work well. I havent pushed it yet but it may have changed my overal wheel clearance just enough that the front wheels dont rub. With new struts the rear seems to sit up about .25 inches taller. Again I havent really pushed the car around a corner yet but ive driven it around for a day and it was fine for normal driving. The thing that I have noticed is that even after my "expert" alignment and all the new parts, it does ride a bit hard at highway speeds. Ill probably have the tires checked and balanced again but I just had that done maybe 4 months ago and I didnt have any issues. There is also a lot of good information that says my tires may be "cupped" differently now that im aligned and lowered so it might come back to norm if i start driving it more. Im aware that there's always a chance for loss of ride quality when you go low so I may just leave it as is.

[NolimitZ32]

The Z32 is nto exactly your grandpa's cadillac and will never have the ride of a cloud, I would agree that its a rough car to drive in comparison to many others however you gotta realize that much like the ride of M power and AMG cars (which owners complain about constantly) the Z32 was designed as a Japanese bahn-burner so to speak, its made for long fast drives down wide open roads (like the autobahn). So generally any city driving won't be as comfortable and it only becomes more apparent with age, your age and that of the car.

[marcyprojects]

The Z32 is nto exactly your grandpa's cadillac and will never have the ride of a cloud, I would agree that its a rough car to drive in comparison to many others however you gotta realize that much like the ride of M power and AMG cars (which owners complain about constantly) the Z32 was designed as a Japanese bahn-burner so to speak, its made for long fast drives down wide open roads (like the autobahn). So generally any city driving won't be as comfortable and it only becomes more apparent with age, your age and that of the car.

agreed. Ill be due for some new tires by the end of the year so maybe that might do some good. Just excited to be driving my car again just in time for the warm weather here in FL.

[NolimitZ32]

Yeah man, I'm actually really sad, I finally got my engine ready to drop in a few weeks ago (for the 4th time in its life) and between work and school I have had zero time, I'm so close and the weather here in Houston is only going to be nice for a few weeks between the monsoon rain season and the "holy hell do I live on the surface of Venus?" hot.

[DCaff300ZX]

Sorry I missed this until now...but seems you are now on track.
The tension rods are a must with any lowering, as really are adjustable FUCAs and RUCAs to avoid similar issues where alignments and tolerances can't be matched such as camber and the caster issue you now face. When/if you use Powertrix you most likely will speak with the owner Charles, who is a great guy and will if asked answer ANY suspension question you have and guide you through the process. Powertrix is a quality product with service second to NOBODY, highly recommended.
Good Luck with your repairs, and as you have found don't skimp on the necessary items.
Powertrix has their group buy pricing available still for some extra gb units and parts, so now is also a good time to look into coilovers which is the more "proper" way to lower the Z32 and/or upgrade the suspension over shock/spring combos with no other upgrades and adjustments possible.

[marcyprojects]

Sorry I missed this until now...but seems you are now on track.
The tension rods are a must with any lowering, as really are adjustable FUCAs and RUCAs to avoid similar issues where alignments and tolerances can't be matched such as camber and the caster issue you now face. When/if you use Powertrix you most likely will speak with the owner Charles, who is a great guy and will if asked answer ANY suspension question you have and guide you through the process. Powertrix is a quality product with service second to NOBODY, highly recommended.
Good Luck with your repairs, and as you have found don't skimp on the necessary items.
Powertrix has their group buy pricing available still for some extra gb units and parts, so now is also a good time to look into coilovers which is the more "proper" way to lower the Z32 and/or upgrade the suspension over shock/spring combos with no other upgrades and adjustments possible.

No worries. Your comments are always appreciated man. Everything is still going great as of now. Things really seemed to fall into place now that the springs and new struts have settled. Im still not super satisfied with the ride height, still would like to shave another inch off but as we have proven its just not possible without coilovers. Sadly, this whole learning experience only fell about $100 short of just buying coilovers but lesson learned. I may still opt for them later but for now im focusing more on my engine performance and trying to squeeze as many extra horses out of this NA as possible.