New...Hopefully Quick Project for the J30

[swimshark]

So far the only way I have seen coilovers put on the front of my car is by the method shown in the picture below. I am going to try a different route and get s13 or s14 front spindles and put the J30 hubs on them. Then get some s13 or s14 front coilovers to bolt right up. Will post more on my attempt and what I am able to find out.

Also going to see if 300zx z32 front sway bar will fit onto my car. I already tried a s14 sway bar on, but it was about 1" too narrow and wouldn't clear the frame. Only other choice is to try a z31 front sway bar also.

It kinda sucks that there are no performance after market parts made specifically for my car, but it is fun trying out new ideas and see where other parts will get me.

http://driftday.com/1771.jpg

[Elbow]

^That must suck when they blow..lol.

Get custom sway bars made.

[swimshark]

^That must suck when they blow..lol.

Get custom sway bars made.

Yah, why I want to try the 240 spindle method. I can get both from Pull A Part for $40.

That might be my last route if the other sway bars don't work. On the J30 the sway bars link up to the strut and on the 240s they link to the lower control arm which I already have the hole for on mine. The J30 front sway bar is also weak sauce and very flexible.

[Elbow]

Well are you wanting oversteer or understeer? I know most road racers RWD cars like Miatas usually take the rear bar off and run a large front bar.

[RL...]

at this point you might be spending more time and money into the car than it's worth, you would prob be better off selling it getting a better platform. But more power to you.

[Elbow]

at this point you might be spending more time and money into the car than it's worth, you would prob be better off selling it getting a better platform. But more power to you.

That's no fun. It's a lot cooler to have something unique and have to think of new ideas and try things out versus just going with the flow.

[swimshark]

Well I guess I will have to see how it does on the 27th with stock sway bar up front. I have a 300zxTT sway bar in the rear and it stiffened it up a lot. I used to have a lot of body roll but the rear sway eliminated that. I guess naturally I will have oversteer since it is RWD. I take it that a stiffer front sway bar would start to create more understeer?

This is a comparison of the rear sway bars:
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/8323/15143520272508315754028.jpg

J30 Front Suspension:
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/3660/j30frontsuspension.jpg

240 Front Suspension:
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5572/240suspension.jpg

[Elbow]

What's on that date?

Not all RWD cars will oversteer though just because they're RWD, naturally possibly on an exit they may oversteer if you induce it, but our SE-R will oversteer almost scary like in faster sweepers.

A larger front will cause more understeer larger rear more oversteer.

[swimshark]

at this point you might be spending more time and money into the car than it's worth, you would prob be better off selling it getting a better platform. But more power to you.

right now its looking to be about $500 total for tunable front suspension up front. i cant adjust my camber right now with the lowering springs unless i get camber plates.


That's no fun. It's a lot cooler to have something unique and have to think of new ideas and try things out versus just going with the flow.

thats my whole motive. who all sees J30s that are modded to the extreme like mine? :lmfao:

ill see them with wheels and tint but have yet to see one with a manual transmission and custom suspension. the infiniti j30 forums on nicoclub are more like "how do i do this?" or "my car is making this sound, what could be wrong?" type of forums. there are only a handful of us that actually modify our cars performance wise.

im having fun with it! :goodjob:

[Elbow]

right now its looking to be about $500 total for tunable front suspension up front. i cant adjust my camber right now with the lowering springs unless i get camber plates.

Why? Is it maxed out?

[swimshark]

What's on that date?

Not all RWD cars will oversteer though just because they're RWD, naturally possibly on an exit they may oversteer if you induce it, but our SE-R will oversteer almost scary like in faster sweepers.

A larger front will cause more understeer larger rear more oversteer.

On the 27th is an autocross event at Turner Field and I am going to enter my car in.

SOLOATLANTA.com (http://www.soloatlanta.com/blog/?page_id=9)

Guess i will mess around and see what happens.




It isnt maxed out but i have dropped my car about 2.5" and have no way of adjusting the camber. it looks to be ok but I havent had it aligned yet. SPL rucas are in the mail and will have those soon. ill wait to have an alignment done once i can get all of this on there.

[Elbow]

Ah ok cool, what do you plan to do with the car?

Autocross setup versus like track day/higher speed driving setup is almost an entirely different ball game.

[swimshark]

Ah ok cool, what do you plan to do with the car?

Autocross setup versus like track day/higher speed driving setup is almost an entirely different ball game.

more of a track day style. when i had fully stock suspension, auto trans and only 160rwhp cause of bad knock sensor i was running a 1:21 low at Talladega. on the straights i was getting up to about 90-95 and barely in 3rd cause second went up to 80.

[Elbow]

more of a track day style. when i had fully stock suspension, auto trans and only 160rwhp cause of bad knock sensor i was running a 1:21 low at Talladega. on the straights i was getting up to about 90-95 and barely in 3rd cause second went up to 80.

I really don't know any fast times or anything for that track I've never been there. Did it push at all in the turns? I'd just think it'd have the tendency to oversteer for being so big but my girlfriends old E39 BMW handled pretty well so who knows.

You should bring it out to Road Atlanta.

[swimshark]

I really don't know any fast times or anything for that track I've never been there. Did it push at all in the turns? I'd just think it'd have the tendency to oversteer for being so big but my girlfriends old E39 BMW handled pretty well so who knows.

You should bring it out to Road Atlanta.

at that point with stock suspension it oversteered a little bit but the body roll was immense. on turn 5 it is an increasing radius and i had the back end step out and was about to go into the grass but saved it. my friend had the "OH SHIT!" handle grasped.

TGPR is a 1.40 mile track.

i want to take it on road atlanta. when is a good time to go?

im getting a feeling that stainless brake lines may need to come into play soon also.

[Elbow]

at that point with stock suspension it oversteered a little bit but the body roll was immense. on turn 5 it is an increasing radius and i had the back end step out and was about to go into the grass but saved it. my friend had the "OH SHIT!" handle grasped.

TGPR is a 1.40 mile track.

i want to take it on road atlanta. when is a good time to go?

im getting a feeling that stainless brake lines may need to come into play soon also.

Well there is an event this weekend but you better register like right now. lol

I'd recommend starting with an SCCA PDX it's only $100 for 40 minutes and 40 minutes at Road Atlanta is more than enough to wear you out.

[swimshark]

at this point you might be spending more time and money into the car than it's worth, you would prob be better off selling it getting a better platform.

already quoted it once lol but ive heard that from many people and dont really care. i dropped about $1600 total (including rental car) for my manual swap and it was worth it. it is a whole different car now and a much more fun driving experience. the douche at Mr. Transmission gave me a quick estimate of $2500 to either fix trans or put a reman one in. i said fuck that and told him i was considering a manual swap and he pretty much called me an idiot. still need to visit them with the manual trans :crazy:

got this car for $6200 almost 5 yrs ago and it is still running great. 210bhp from factory and im putting down 194rwhp with 141k on the motor. i beat on it hard daily and thats why my transmission went (my friends can vouch id drive it hard and that "D" wasnt used much there was a "1", "2" and "3" lol). maintenance and upgrades i would say ive put about maybe $5k in these past 5 yrs (includes 6 new injectors and 120k timing belt kit).

ok enough with that. time to think about front suspension. :thinking:

[RL...]

already quoted it once lol but ive heard that from many people and dont really care. i dropped about $1600 total (including rental car) for my manual swap and it was worth it. it is a whole different car now and a much more fun driving experience. the douche at Mr. Transmission gave me a quick estimate of $2500 to either fix trans or put a reman one in. i said fuck that and told him i was considering a manual swap and he pretty much called me an idiot. still need to visit them with the manual trans :crazy:

got this car for $6200 almost 5 yrs ago and it is still running great. 210bhp from factory and im putting down 194rwhp with 141k on the motor. i beat on it hard daily and thats why my transmission went (my friends can vouch id drive it hard and that "D" wasnt used much there was a "1", "2" and "3" lol). maintenance and upgrades i would say ive put about maybe $5k in these past 5 yrs (includes 6 new injectors and 120k timing belt kit).

ok enough with that. time to think about front suspension. :thinking:


I understand where you're coming from, but it's just that our cars have big limitations, limits that you'll soon realize your self unless you plan on dropping crazy money into it. Our cars are similar in the sense that they're heavy, chassis suck, and they're all motor. With that combo our cars will never be able to handle well, and the only way we're going fast is through FI...I have coilovers, FSTB, RSTB, RSB, new bushings, and my car handles a lot better but a stock miata would probably make my car look slow in auto-x. Sub frame connectors will hopefully help, and is next on my to do list.

[swimshark]

I understand where you're coming from, but it's just that our cars have big limitations, limits that you'll soon realize your self unless you plan on dropping crazy money into it. Our cars are similar in the sense that they're heavy, chassis suck, and they're all motor. With that combo our cars will never be able to handle well, and the only way we're going fast is through FI...I have coilovers, FSTB, RSTB, RSB, new bushings, and my car handles a lot better but a stock miata would probably make my car look slow in auto-x. Sub frame connectors will hopefully help, and is next on my to do list.

Yah next costly mod is the 300zxTT motor swap. It will cost me about $7k to get to about ~430rwhp. My next and last current motor upgrade is ECU which will put me over 200. I dont want to waste money on exhaust if I'm going to get it done again for the TT setup.

Yah my car is a 3400lb brick lol

[Elbow]

I don't think it's always about being faster, I've always called cars fast based on what they are and what they do. A CRX SI is a fast car for a small Honda hatchback and handles great for a FWD economy car, that doesn't mean it's FAST compared to say a RX-7.

Sometimes building a car should be about beating your own goals, setting different levels for that car, and not worrying about who says what and being fastest overall.

[DriVaH]

at this point you might be spending more time and money into the car than it's worth, you would prob be better off selling it getting a better platform. But more power to you.i love it when people try and smash dreams to bits.. it is obivious the man has a plan for the whip. let him follow his passion. do work swimshark.:cheers:

[swimshark]

i love it when people try and smash dreams to bits.. it is obivious the man has a plan for the whip. let him follow his passion. do work swimshark.:cheers:

Hell Yah!!!! :goodjob:

[ilbcnu123]

yo josh.. My first auto-x event i tried sport mode and touring. With touring, my car rolled much more but i didnt have that much understeer at all. With sport mode, my car was stiff as shit but i had BAD understeer. I disconnected the front actuators while i was in touring mode, then switched it to sport mode. That made the fronts in touring and the rears in sport. That made my times much better. I dont know if you can compare sway bars to shocks but maybe your current sway bar is good enough. I say just get those front coilovers first and see how it does.


and simontibbet is a flamer

[swimshark]

unless i get the spindles and coilovers asap, i may be just running with the current setup. tried to get coilovers yesterday for $250 but the guy went silent on me for 3 hrs when i was offering to pay and he then said they were sold lol

[JITB]

looks like its similar to the Y33 Q45 suspension.. have u considered using there setup?

But alot of them convert to s14 suspension, in order to bypass the BS of that front spindle setup.

there is a guy on VSC selling a whole conversion for 600$!
http://www.vipstylecars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19430


how similar is the j30 and Q in the front suspension

[tdurr]

^^ last post says sold fooL!

and good luck getting this done! dont stop modding the j!

[swimshark]

well friend on mine has some s13 spindles that I am going to put a set of J30 hubs onto. s13 has 4 lug hubs and i got a set of struts from pull a part off a J30. next step is finding some front coilovers for either s13 or s14.

also i might have to swap ball joints since the s13 uses a smaller diameter ball joint. thinking of just taking the spindles to pull a part and trying them on the j30 i pulled the struts off of.

[JITB]

well friend on mine has some s13 spindles that I am going to put a set of J30 hubs onto. s13 has 4 lug hubs and i got a set of struts from pull a part off a J30. next step is finding some front coilovers for either s13 or s14.

also i might have to swap ball joints since the s13 uses a smaller diameter ball joint. thinking of just taking the spindles to pull a part and trying them on the j30 i pulled the struts off of.

its fun having cars people forget about... because im gonna have to swap suspensions from a Gs300 to a 929 in the pullapart... to see how it works.. pap is my best friend right now!

[swimshark]

yah i thought of it to be more convenient so i dont have to do it to my own car. the struts are already off so all i have to do is try to bolt them up.

[JITB]

try 240atlanta or Southeast Drift.. for those 240 parts... if u havent already

[swimshark]

Ok. First step is done. I got a 300zx z32 front sway bar and s13 endlinks to try and fit on my car and it works! Here are some pics of what I did. Next part is getting the front spindles and coilovers. Coilovers is the main part that is holding me back. I can't find a good set right now for a decent price.

Shows how the stock endlink mounts to the McPherson strut
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q48/swimshark1988/Suspension%20Modification/DSCF1410.jpg

How the sway bar mounts and how they flattened out a section
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q48/swimshark1988/Suspension%20Modification/DSCF1411.jpg

Comparison of the sway bars. 300zx sway bar is in front. The arms are slightly shorter which is what I need.
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q48/swimshark1988/Suspension%20Modification/DSCF1412.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q48/swimshark1988/Suspension%20Modification/DSCF1413.jpg

Got new endlinks from Advanced
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q48/swimshark1988/Suspension%20Modification/DSCF1414.jpg

Everything bolted up
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q48/swimshark1988/Suspension%20Modification/DSCF1415.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q48/swimshark1988/Suspension%20Modification/DSCF1416.jpg

The stock sway bar sat above the subframe. I had to push the 300zx sway bar behind that for it to sit properly to get mounted.
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q48/swimshark1988/Suspension%20Modification/DSCF1417.jpg




Should have the spindles some time this week and try them on a junk J30 to see if they fit.

[00 blk G20t]

props on getting it to work man. so how does it feel? can you tell a big difference? i just picked up a used stillen rear sway bar for my G20(maxima/i30 bar)only thing ive done with the front so far is to swap to poly bushings on the sway bar and endlinks.....hopefully with adding a rear sway bar i should feel a big difference. the stillen one is the only adjustable one for the G20...the addco and progressive both mount different than the stillen one....its also hollow for better flex when needed and weight savings. there are a few options for front sway bars for our cars though...just alot harder to get...not something you can just order off ebay...i think tanabe makes one for my front...who knows...good job making the z32 bar fit on the J

[swimshark]

it does feel a little better. havent taken it through some of my favorite turns yet so we shall see tonight. the J is pretty much a frankenstein. there really isnt any aftermarket parts for suspension or anything really. you either have to custom fab or see what fits off other cars.

[swimshark]

part 1 complete. Cusco s13 front coilovers $280

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3784/img00677q.jpg

[swimshark]

Well to let you guys know I finally did it. I bought a pair of s14 front spindles. They are the 5-lug style and I bought a set that had ABS sensors. $200 shipped from a junkyard in Ohio. Then concerning the spring rate, yes these cars are about 800lbs heavier than a 240sx and I did buy used coilovers so I may consider buying some stiffer springs for the rear.

As for the front sway bar. It is a 300zx z32 front sway bar (NA and TT) with 240sx sway bar endlinks to mount directly to the lower control arm.

I kept the J30 lower control arm but had to swap the J30 ball joints for the s14 ball joints. Yes there is a difference between the s13, s14 and J30. The J30 ball joints were slightly too big and the s13 are too small. So I went to a local Pull A Part and pulled a set of J30 LCA and bought the s14 ball joints and swapped them out myself. Also I had to buy the s14 tie rod end links. The threading is the same on the tie rod, but the ball joint on the endlink is a different size.

The advantage of this is that you can directly bolt up the coilovers to the spindles instead of doing the weld method. I will go ahead and post pics.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/1466/dscf1540z.jpg

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/1163/dscf1543w.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/3310/dscf1544b.jpg

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6770/dscf1546.jpg

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/507/dscf1550z.jpg


For the swap I had to modify the brake dust shield and cut it so I could bend it back since the J30 rotor is bigger. I also had to cut a portion off the shield to fit the J30 caliper. As for the top mount of the coilover, I had to redrill some holes since the bolt spacing is slightly different than the J30. The ABS sensor also bolt right into the s14 spindle and I have no issues when it drives. The reason I took a metal saw and cut slits into the rolled portion of the strut tower was to bend them down so I can fully bolt onto the tower itself.

As for the camber, I had to adjust it all the way out and have a bout -1 degree of camber still up front. I am still waiting to get my suspension tuned by a local performance. It currently has about -3 to -3.5 degrees of camber in the rear. I bought adjustable rear upper control arms from SPL Parts for the s13/s14/300zx(z32). Once they can tune it I'll have them put a slightly aggressive street tune.