Hey i have been reading around the forums for about a week now, and have gotten a better idea about the whole process of lowering your car, but i still dont really understand it. What exactly do you need to lower your sedan, because ive heard people use terms such as springs, shocks, struts, etc... and i just get confused. Do you need springs and shocks or jsut springs... if someone could let me know exactly everything you need to lower your car...and AROUND how much everything would cost (including getting it installed by a professional body shop or dealer)....that would be great. thanks

 

The question you are asking has many answers. Ultimately it depends on what you are looking for. If you just want to lower an inch or so and retain the stock ride then look into getting a set of z springs. You can pick them up used for about $90. Other options include several after market spring manufacturers. You can usually get springs only for about $150-$200.

If you are looking improve your suspension then coilovers (i.e. springs and struts built together) or aftermarket shocks/struts are an option. Here is where the cost begins to increase. In addition, if you lower more than an inch typically you will need to buy adjustable camber components to bring your car back into proper alignment. This also significantly adds to the cost.

If you are looking for adjustable dampening or ride height you can also go this route but again, at a significant cost. First, look around at the modded sedans on this board and decide how much you want to lower (there are a ton of pics with all different flavors). Once you have decided that, then decide if you want to retain your stock ride or upgrade your suspension. Also, decide if you want adjustable components. Once some of these decisions are made it will be easier to rule out certain options and then decide what is right for you.

 

^ wise words. It depends on what you want to do.

Plan on getting front a-arms and rear camber arms and toe bolts if you want to drop it right so you can get the alignment where it should be, not just within the outer limits of specs.

 

thanks for the advice guys. Ya i think i want to drop my car more than an inch, enough so it is a noticeable drop (is a one inch drop noticeable?), but i dont want it slammed because im sure ill scrape the bottom of the car a few times. Im guessing i will need front a-arms, rear camber arms and toe bolts...btw... what do each of those things exactly do? and how much would they cost?

 

Costs of the a-arms vary by manufacturer. Cusco, SPC, and SPL are more affordable favorites, but there are other brands.

For rear camber arms and toe bolts, SPC is about the best deal for the price of the product and what you get.

Check out www.iapdirect.com

Without going into great detail, the a-arms (also called control arms) and rear camber arms allow the car's wheels to be put back to proper alignment specs. When you lower the car, the camber in the front and rear becomes more negative and the wheels look more like / \ instead of l l.

The front OEM suspension isn't adjustable for camber and the rear is only adjustable a little bit, so to get the car to proper alignment specs for handling and less inner tire wear, you need these parts.

 

ok well im lookin to buy a used 05 g35 sedan, and i want to lower my car so it is quite noticeable and from what i have read so far, people going with the 350z h techs only get a subtle drop in which only g35 owners would notice. i want to drop it so the average person on the street can notice that it is lowered so i am thinkin about getting Tien S-techs. would you suggest getting all of those things you mentioned above or just getting a rear camber kit?

 

I suggest reading every post made by Gsedan35. He's about the only one that has a real handle on everything suspension related on the G and Z.

 

a one inch drop is a noticeable drop from the stock height on the sedan. If you dont want to be scraping, you dont want to drop more than 1.3"
You can efficiently drop your car with just springs alone, but take into consideration that the stock struts will wear prematurely. So if you want to do everything right the first time i sugguest getting revised 350Z springs and tokico D-spec struts.

The front camber is not adjustable on the G without a camber kit. If you want your car to stay withing factory specs you will need camber adjustable A-arms to do this (i would recommend the SPL camber a-arms) and for the rear i would invest in the SPC camber/toe kit.

If you do it all right like this the first time, you wont have irregular tire wear and be buying new tires once a year.
-GP-

 

What are "revised" 350z springs?