First to mention, I did this on an 04 Brembo 6MT coupe. I also did some cheating, but what I did can save you lots of time and frustration in the long run. This DIY does NOT cover install or removal of the suspension from the car, it just covers what you need from your stock setup to make your performance strut properly bolt onto your car.

Best tip I can provide, do one strut assembly at a time so you can use the other one as a reference of how it goes back together incase you get lost.

*****Do the following at your own risk, I, G35driver and its affiliates are not responsible for any damage or harm that may come to you or your vehicle.*****

Here's what I started with in regards to suspension pieces and what cars they came from, this should clear up some questions for some people:

I bought a new set of Tokico D-Specs for the 350Z.
I then bought a used set of OEM coupe struts and springs, please inspect the set you buy for damage, but you are mostly interested in only the attachment parts and boots, not the struts or springs.
I also bought a set of 350Z Tein H-tech springs.

Just so it’s clear, I used OEM G35 coupe suspension pieces to assemble a set of 350Z Dspecs because when you order new struts they do not come with any additional dust boots or mounting hardware, you are expected to cannibalize your existing hardware. I simply chose to buy an additional OEM suspension setup so I could pre-assemble my tokicos and install them on another day, which will save me time and frustration instead of having to do it all at once.

Let’s start with the front first, if you bought an assembled suspension like I did this will require the most work, but its still easy as long as you have a spring compressor of some sort.

First, attach the spring compressor to the springs and begin to compress them evenly until they are obviously loose. I did it to where it was just barely putting tension on the spring mounts so I did not have to worry about them being too compressed much less moving all over the place as I moved them around.



Once compressed, place strut mount securely in a vice so that you can access the top center strut bolt (17mm). Once secure, break loose the bolt via an impact gun or breaker-bar (impact easiest, but I did it both ways to be sure it would work). I got the bolt completely off by using a 17mm hand wrench in combination with a 7mm hand wrench. The 17mm wrench was on the bolt and the 7mm was on the top flat portion of the strut to prevent it from spinning.



Once the bolt was off, I was able to slide out the strut from the mount which also freed the spring from the complete assembly. I then took the spring off from the compressor and put it to the side as I did not need it anymore, along with the strut.




All I needed from the front strut assembly was the dust boot and the top strut mount (made of two pieces, one metal mount and one rubber bushing). I then proceeded to clean the pieces of any dirt that was on them with a simple hot water and soap cleaning. I dried them off by hand as much as possible prior to assembly.

I then took the clean parts, the new tokico strut and new tein spring and begin the assembly, which is obviously reverse of install, except you do not need the spring compressor. Insert dust boot into strut mount, slide spring over and onto the new strut, and then slide boot/strut mount assembly onto the top of the strut shaft. Then just tighten the supplied bolts from tokico to factory torque specs listed in your FSM. Viola, the front strut is done, now do the same process for the opposing side as well. Just make sure you put the left parts on the left struts, they are clearly marked from OEM and Tokico.

This picture compares the assembled tokico to the assembled OEM (left vs right)


This shows the same side shock from Tokico assembled vs the dismantled OEM



The rear is much easier, the struts appeared to be universal for the rear application as I could not find any distinguishing marks indicating a left or right set on both the OEM and Tokico set up. The rears obviously do not need a spring compressor because they are not designed with a coil-over setup.

It starts very similar to the fronts, secure the strut mount in a vice leaving room to access the top strut mount bolt (14mm). Break loose the bolt with your impact gun or breaker-bar and then do the same hand wrench method you did on the front. This time I used a 14mm hand wrench for the strut bolt with a smaller 5mm hand wrench for the strut shaft. Once the bolt is off, slide the strut out from the mount. Be a little cautious as some of the parts may fall off, such as the dust boot and the metal bushing cap. Take the strut components and boots and give them the same cleaning as the front pieces. The strut mount is made up of a few pieces that are kind of pressed together. I cleaned them assembled as to not disturb the OEM lubricant. If you count the mount assembly as one piece, you'll have a total of three pieces to clean up, the dust boot, the metal bushing cap, and then the mount assembly.

The three components with the assemble strut mount


Broken down components


Take the OEM strut components and slide them into place on the Tokico unit in the same order as the OEM unit. I took numerous pictures of this part because there were a few more separate pieces as opposed to what the front had. Once the top mount is on, torque the tokico supplied bolts down to factory torque specs from the FSM. Do the same thing for the other side.

The broken down components with dust boot installed on Tokico Strut


Assembled strut assembly


Assemble Tokico vs unassembled Tokico



Once you've done all four, you should have four stripped down OEM strut units and four OEM springs. Do with them what you wish, they're probably not worth that much, I bought my whole set really cheap ($125) so I may just keep them around as spares for me or a friend.

On the tokico side of things, you should have two ready to bolt in, tein wrapped tokico struts for the front and two ready to bolt in struts for the rear.

Sorry for all of the words, but it’s a really easy process as long as you don’t rush and have a comfy spot to do the work and the tools to do it. If you can get a spring compressor and an impact gun it will make things even easier.

 

Also this is the same process even if you chose not to source an additional suspension, you just have to do the additional work of removing the installed factory assemblies which you can find guides on the other DIY's. I found my extra suspension locally and cheap so I felt it was worth the price given the benefit I feel it provides. Now if I ever choose to go back to stock, my stock suspension is already assembled and it’s just a matter of swapping them out.

Please point out any corrections you think I need as I put this together from memory. Also seek out the torque specs from your FSM or from some of the other DIY’s.

The primary reason I did not install the new suspension is because I’m sure I will need some additional camber correction aids and I also will have to do the rear extension adjustment mod so I didn’t want to rush it all into one day.

I put this together also for the fact that I was kind of using a hodgbodge of parts. In my research I could not find a clear answer as to which suspension I should source the parts from, 350Z or G35 coupe? I came across the local suspension and chose to give it a shot. Clearly the G35 coupe suspension pieces bolted correctly to the 350Z tokico/tein setup. I did not have to modify a single piece to make this work. Also if you wish, if you bought a 350Z tokico setup, I suppose you should be able to use an OEM 350Z suspension to source the parts as well. It would appear that the 350Z/G35 suspension mounting components work both ways.

I hope this clears some things up for those who may have went down this path. As for what I expect my height to be, I have no clue. I have not torqued down my tokico setup yet, once I do that and have the OEM pieces removed i will compare them to see what difference I have vs the 350Z aftermarket stuff. I will also take a before and after ride height once everything is installed and aligned.

 

Good writeup. Just a note for safety, the type of spring compressor you used should come with some hooks and straps that go on the middle to make sure the clamp doesn't fly off the spring. Safety first! Make sure you have those straps if you're using that type of spring compressor. You'd hate to find out how much life sucks without your thumbs.