Post by
SpecDRacing »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/specdracing-u28175.html
Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:18 pm
Hey gang,
Care for another easy way to make an expensive product. Anybody who has owned a 240sx for any considerable amount of time, has sooner or later been told they need new tension rods. For those who dont know about these, there are two of them on your 240. They connect the front lower control arms to frame. They attach to the lower arm between the spindle and the subframe and come toward the front of the vehicle, where they are mounted below the radiator (via a brace). The rubber bushing at the front of the tension rods is fluid filled (as are 99% of the bushings on nissans/infinitis....excpet for the new motor mounts on maxima/altima which also utilize vaccum from the motor to stiffen themselves...buy anyway......lol). These bushings split with age and leak. Once they are empty, they completely seperate from the tension rod. A good way to check and see if yours are bad is to drive slowly (about 10 mph) and slam on the breaks. I mean, to the floor. If you hear a loud knock or pop from the front of the car, thats most likely the tension rods banging around.
Stillen makes an amazing set that have hiem joints instead of bushings and an adjustable collar behind the joint to correct caster. While these are awesome, and will probably never go bad, they are also costly (approx. $275 per set).
Here's my fix.
Find some tie rods from a 4x4 Xterra. Cut off the ball joints about 2" from the dust boot. Now remove your tension rods and measure their lengths. (for 240sx its 16"). Cut your tension rods about 2" from the bushing and cut the stud end near the top of the angle (just before it becomes a solid tube..about 1/2" or so). Weld in the threaded tubes from the tie rods. Now just install the adjusting rod and lock nuts, measure the tension rod till its 16" and whalah! You now have an adjustable tension rod. Good for getting your caster right. The tie rods will cost about $5 each from the junkyard. If you cant weld, any muffler shop can do it for about $20.
Bushings.....well, Nismo sells tension rod bushings that are far stiffer than stock, and various other companies do as well. I paid about $52 for my nismo bushings, which should be in on Tuesday. They will get installed into my tension rods and put on the car with the new suspension.
LEFT to RIGHT: Stock Nissan 240SX Tension Rd, Xterra Tie Rod (complete), Adjustable Tension Rod.
Here it is up close and personal!
So......for $52.00 I will have a pair of stiffer, adjustable tension rods. I got my tie rods out of the trash (someone warrantied a pair at work and tossed the old ones). Basically, if you know how to use a sawzaw and nothing else, you can expect this to cost you about $90.00 total (your tension rods, $60 for Nismo Bushings, $10 for tie rods, $20 for welding). Know how to weld, or get it done free, find some bushings you like cheaper, well, you could get out even cheaper.
Later on gang!
