Well it finally happened, I got sideways and hit a curb. I have a '92 Q with 69K. The front and rear suspension needs replacement. So I figured I might as well go Hi-Performance instead of OEM. Now I have a great excuse to make this a better handling beast. I'm going to need everything: springs, struts, upper/lower control arms, front and rear sway bars, shocks. So I need some help choosing the best products that will accomodate my handling needs. Any and all suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
-Peace
Trouble in Q-Town, Need Help!!!
That sounds expensive, but I like your attitude of lemons to lemonade. You'll get lots of input besides mine, but I'll get things started. Eibach makes springs that lower the front about 1.5 inches and the rear about an inch. Tokico makes shocks that are stiffer than factory, the blue variety. Stillen makes adjustable upper control arms and tension rods that allow you to adjust caster and camber on the front. The lower springs make adjusting the suspension nearly mandatory and it doesn't hurt to shim the upper control arm mounts about 0.25" also to keep the camber in bounds. The factory front bar is about as good as it gets, some guys bush it in urethane, I think the factory rubber is fine. The rear sway bar comes in two sizes, 20mm from the HICAS cars, 24mm from the active ones. Both are an easy install, I have the HICAS bar. Get all the factory brackets and bushings, again some guys like urethane. There is a subframe around the rear differential that can be damaged in an incident like yours and like wise the mounts for it and the trans and engine. They are liquid filled and damaged ones can be the source of insidious vibration and handling quirks. Some problems along those lines don't show up for awhile, so save a hefty chunk of your budget for that stuff. I'll let everyone else fill in the gaps, good luck on your project!
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maxnix
- Posts: 22627
- Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2002 8:11 pm
- Car: 1995 Infiniti Q45
1995 Infiniti Q45t
2000 Infiniti Q45
Q rear sway bars
I think the t rear bar is 16mm and the a rear bar is 20mm.
The Stillen rear bar is 24mm. Oversteer is a reality with this bar, according to Dennis.
Do check all subframe isolation mounts as many are filled with silicon. Do measure before you start building bolting parts on willy-nilly to bent mounts.
Do read the forums and decide if the minimal gains with the Eibach set-up are worth the extra wear and tear. Same for the Stillen adjustable upper links. Some swear by them, others swear at them. They ride very hard.
Stillen front tower brace is also available and requires new motor mounts to assure correct fitment.
The Stillen rear bar is 24mm. Oversteer is a reality with this bar, according to Dennis.
Do check all subframe isolation mounts as many are filled with silicon. Do measure before you start building bolting parts on willy-nilly to bent mounts.
Do read the forums and decide if the minimal gains with the Eibach set-up are worth the extra wear and tear. Same for the Stillen adjustable upper links. Some swear by them, others swear at them. They ride very hard.
Stillen front tower brace is also available and requires new motor mounts to assure correct fitment.
Re: Q rear sway bars
maxnix wrote:Stillen front tower brace is also available and requires new motor mounts to assure correct fitment.
Maxnix:
hope you dont mind but:Dont you mean they fit better with older mounts in there?Cars with new mounts are having the fitting problems.
Fred....
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maxnix
- Posts: 22627
- Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2002 8:11 pm
- Car: 1995 Infiniti Q45
1995 Infiniti Q45t
2000 Infiniti Q45
Motor Mounts and Tower Braces
Quote »Cars with new mounts are having the fitting problems.[/quote]
True, especially when there has been deflection of the towers, even from just wear.
My understanding is that older mounts, while providing more clearance when the engine is off or at a stable rpm, will allow more rotation (play) when rpms are increasing.
Thus the recommendation to fit with new mounts to 1) better seat and control the engine properly, and 2) to ensure the correct clearance of the strut in a particular car with new (non-collapsed) engine mounts.
My understanding only. May be flawed.
True, especially when there has been deflection of the towers, even from just wear.
My understanding is that older mounts, while providing more clearance when the engine is off or at a stable rpm, will allow more rotation (play) when rpms are increasing.
Thus the recommendation to fit with new mounts to 1) better seat and control the engine properly, and 2) to ensure the correct clearance of the strut in a particular car with new (non-collapsed) engine mounts.
My understanding only. May be flawed.
Mine may be flawed as well..But I am failry certain that the bars rarely even fit on cars with new mounts.My car used to have a Stillen bar and it filed off into the plenum.
if it had stayed on it would ahve damaged it beyond economical repair no doubt.
There may be a resized Stillen bar out for our cars, differnt from the original one that can be made to fit when we have newer mounts but I havent see or heard it yet.
Fred...
if it had stayed on it would ahve damaged it beyond economical repair no doubt.
There may be a resized Stillen bar out for our cars, differnt from the original one that can be made to fit when we have newer mounts but I havent see or heard it yet.
Fred...
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maxnix
- Posts: 22627
- Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2002 8:11 pm
- Car: 1995 Infiniti Q45
1995 Infiniti Q45t
2000 Infiniti Q45
Stillen Front Tower Braces
Well, q45tech runs one, and we Know his motor mounts are up to snuff.
Seems like I read some bars had to be shimmed to avoid the plenum, and some cars with enough (1/4"?) shock tower deflection could not be fitted period.
Did your car have reasonably new mounts when fitted? Or were they allowing too much engine rotation when it accelerated?
Seems like I read some bars had to be shimmed to avoid the plenum, and some cars with enough (1/4"?) shock tower deflection could not be fitted period.
Did your car have reasonably new mounts when fitted? Or were they allowing too much engine rotation when it accelerated?
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greg_atlanta
- Posts: 1111
- Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2002 4:37 pm
- Car: 2008 G35 Journey Sedan, silver/black (no sunroof), 1992 Q45 (in a past life)
How bad is the damage? Are both sides of the car affected? Or just one?
I crushed my left rear suspension on my '92 Q 3 years ago and it's still not fixed right. I replaced the lower control arm first, then had to replace the bearing a few weeks later, then two years later replaced another control arm, and the alignment is still slightly off because the hub is bent.
There is a significant risk -- no matter how much money you pour into rebuilding the suspension -- that it still won't be fixed!!! The alignment could still be off, you could have extra rattles, the frame could be bent, etc. etc.
Is insurance paying for the rehab? If so, I'd let them do their thing and built it back to spec and then consider mods IF it's fixed properly in the first place.
It is very difficult to return any wrecked car to perfection for a long period of time. Cars get arthritis too!
I crushed my left rear suspension on my '92 Q 3 years ago and it's still not fixed right. I replaced the lower control arm first, then had to replace the bearing a few weeks later, then two years later replaced another control arm, and the alignment is still slightly off because the hub is bent.
There is a significant risk -- no matter how much money you pour into rebuilding the suspension -- that it still won't be fixed!!! The alignment could still be off, you could have extra rattles, the frame could be bent, etc. etc.
Is insurance paying for the rehab? If so, I'd let them do their thing and built it back to spec and then consider mods IF it's fixed properly in the first place.
It is very difficult to return any wrecked car to perfection for a long period of time. Cars get arthritis too!
Re: Stillen Front Tower Braces
maxnix wrote:Well, q45tech runs one, and we Know his motor mounts are up to snuff.
Seems like I read some bars had to be shimmed to avoid the plenum, and some cars with enough (1/4"?) shock tower deflection could not be fitted period.
Did your car have reasonably new mounts when fitted? Or were they allowing too much engine rotation when it accelerated?
they were about a year old I think.Car was on smooth cali/Tx roads all its life (until I took it to KY).
Fred...
