Successful M35x drop....so far

[ZMQguy]

Lowered my m35x today. I used tein h.tech springs, kyb excel g rear shocks and kyb excel g front struts for a g35x.

[wojom35]

Looks really good. I was planning on doing the same thing. What's the part number for the front Kyb you used? How's the ride quality?

[bicsintegra]

looks much better

[ZMQguy]

Ride quality seems ever so slightly stiffer. Handling seems much improved. Car feels lighter. The front struts that i used were 340011 and 340010 and the rears were 349053. All bolted right in. No modification. Im told camber will never be perfect again without adjustable arms. Wheel spacers or different offset rims can also help. My rims stick out more than stock M rims. Mine are from an 07 G coupe. I'll have to get spacers for my stock rims which i use for winter. The negative camber would eat my soft winter tires.

[cruzad3r]

so what's your plan on the negative camber? I don't think there's any adjustable arm for the M35x.

[ZMQguy]

Im not entirely sure but would not be at all surprised if its the exact same as a g35x. When the spings settle i'll take it in for an alignment and see where it is. Stock rims and offset it would be around -1.5 degrees. With these rims its probably -1.2--1.3....and honestly im fine with it. If it does eat tires i'll fit adjustable arms for a G or a Z. Just because those arms aren't listed for this car doesnt mean they aren't the exact same. The whole reason i did my shocks and springs was because the previous owner wrecked it on the passenger front and i noticed scrap yard parts in there. Looked a little closer and my passenger front was an inch lower than drivers. Looked closer yet and got a part number off of the strut assembley and sure enough....not for this car. It was from an 09ish g37. Many, many parts swap over on these cars. Some parts the only way to find out is to buy them and try it out.

[cruzad3r]

well keep us posted if you found an adjustable arms that work for the m35x model.

[EdBwoy]

Damn, I don't know why this almost had me excited for that engine drop you were talking about. Nice amenities in the shop btw.

[ZMQguy]

The engine will be coming soon. It still runs and drives just fine so I'm not in much of a hurry to swap it out. Only reason for the swap is I don't trust it to go long distances. Also, I'm not sure how much power was lost but I definitely feel it's gone.

[ZMQguy]

update....my front tires are being eaten at an alarming rate. I can't recommend anyone do this mod till I can figure out a solution.

[ZMQguy]

Did some research crossing part numbers and any adjustable front control arms for a 09-13 370z should fit. Still don't know if it's an alignment issue or if I f'd up the install somehow. My friend owns an alignment shop so I'm going to see if he can fit me in tomorrow.

[ZMQguy]

Another update. Had the alignment checked today. And, the results are not good. One side is -1.875 the other is -2.125. the difference would be because there is still a g37 strut mount on the front passenger side. i double checked my research and 370z adjustable camber arms should almost definitely fix the issue.

[ZMQguy]

Another update, so far I can tell you that the "Godspeed", and presumably other, 370z adjustable upper control arms are a direct fit bolt on. The Godspeed ones are cheap though and will need some work when they arrive. I recommend doing this before you mount them on the car. They will need some of the paint removed from where the ball joint slides and will also need some paint and possibly some material removed from where the screws go in. I highly recommend doing this first. It's a much easier install if you make those slight alterations on a workbench. Also, if you are running tein h tech springs the controller arm bolts will hit the springs and won't come out. I used a spring compressor to slightly move the coil that was preventing the bolt from being removed. No alignment yet. That will be coming on Wednesday afternoon.

[ZMQguy]

Godspeed adjustable upper control arm for 9-13 370z.

[ZMQguy]

As it turns out the alignment is going to have to wait for a little while so i cant yet tell you that these fully work. I can say that they definitely bolt in with no problems. I now have a broken outer cv joint on my passenger front, so im going to address that before doing the alignnent. Another scrapyard part from the previous owners accident.

[cruzad3r]

can you provide more detail (pics/steps) on what you did with the Goodspeed control arms? Assuming this will work, it will a game changer for us M35x owners. Also mad props for taking the chance/labor/investment into these parts. I'm not sure why parts manufacture aren't doing this cross check considering their products will open up to another market.

[ZMQguy]

All that was required was enlarging the slots that the bolt go through to bolt the ball joint to the control arm and removing some of the paint where the ball joint is supposed to slide in and out for adjustability. This is probably only an issue on the godspeed parts. They're not known for high quality. Im sure the higher end arms will simply bolt right in.

The install is super simple. Its only three bolts per side. Two for the control arm to body and one at the top of the steering knuckle that hold the ball joint. The drivers side was 10 minutes including taking off the tire. The tires are all that needs to be romoved to get to the upper control arm. The passenger side took longer. The control arm bolts were blocked from coming out by the coils of my tein h. Tech springs. Spring compressor on the front of the spring was the solution. I recommend assembling the ball joint/control arm before you install the control arm. I also went and got all new bolts for the ball joint, 12 total, i just didnt like the feel of the hardware that came in the kit.

[ZMQguy]

Final alignment done. The front two bolts on the adjustable upper control arms had to come out. Because of this I tac welded the ball joint the to the control arm. But, all said and done I would call it a success. I am very happy with the results!