'07 350Z struts and springs - Help me decide!
'07 350Z struts and springs - Help me decide!
Hello guys and gals 
I'm finally ready to lower my '03 G35 sedan with sport suspension. I'm looking for a nice drop with not too stiff of a ride. I have a chance to pick up '07 350Z struts and springs for $235 shipped. What kind of a drop can I expect from '07 Z suspension vs. '04.5-'06 Z? Is there any difference between those years? I'm still thinking of picking up G35 Coupe rear springs to even out the drop more. Also, I'm still on stock 17" wheels, which I don't plan to change for a little while, but most likely would be upgrading to 18" in the future.
I love how the Eibach Pro kit spring drop looks, but I really don't want to be spending any more money for camber kits or replacing tires every 6 months, so I think going with Z suspension is the best way to go. Since I already have the stock sport suspension, would you just recommend buying Z ('05+) springs ONLY, or buying a full Z suspension? What are the differences between Z and G35 sedan sport struts if any?
Any advice will be appreciated and thank you all in advance!
Some pics of my stocker:
Rear drop isn't bad, but I hate the huge front gap!
I'm finally ready to lower my '03 G35 sedan with sport suspension. I'm looking for a nice drop with not too stiff of a ride. I have a chance to pick up '07 350Z struts and springs for $235 shipped. What kind of a drop can I expect from '07 Z suspension vs. '04.5-'06 Z? Is there any difference between those years? I'm still thinking of picking up G35 Coupe rear springs to even out the drop more. Also, I'm still on stock 17" wheels, which I don't plan to change for a little while, but most likely would be upgrading to 18" in the future.I love how the Eibach Pro kit spring drop looks, but I really don't want to be spending any more money for camber kits or replacing tires every 6 months, so I think going with Z suspension is the best way to go. Since I already have the stock sport suspension, would you just recommend buying Z ('05+) springs ONLY, or buying a full Z suspension? What are the differences between Z and G35 sedan sport struts if any?
Any advice will be appreciated and thank you all in advance!
Some pics of my stocker:
Rear drop isn't bad, but I hate the huge front gap!
Last edited by JacekPSUr6; Mar 27, 2011 at 04:38 PM.
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were are you located I have a 03 coupe and just took off my eibach pro kit with the shocks I was selling the pair for 375 springs have 35,000 miles on them and you dont need a camber kit just need to go and get it realigned.
^ Do you know if there is a difference between Sedan sport struts vs Coupe struts? I've read a lot of folks have been having issues with Eibach Pro kit camber being off and destroying their tires.
I wonder if this occurred because they still had their Sedan sport struts.
Btw, I'm in Pleasant Hill, CA (San Fran East Bay)
Edit: Post pics of your ride with the above mentioned setup
I wonder if this occurred because they still had their Sedan sport struts.
Btw, I'm in Pleasant Hill, CA (San Fran East Bay)
Edit: Post pics of your ride with the above mentioned setup
Last edited by JacekPSUr6; Mar 27, 2011 at 05:07 PM.
350Z 2004.5 to 2008 spring rates are the same. The rear spring rate is 33% stiffer than G sport springs. In my experience the stiffer springs give the rear tires less traction when powering out of corners. Not a big deal, but noticeable.
The Z dampeners (struts/shocks) are stiffer than G dampeners; some would say too stiff. Dampeners are a wearable part. If you are on a budget, I would only replace them with used dampeners that were in better condition. It is hard to judge condition by inspection or mileage, so it is really a gamble.
The Z dampeners (struts/shocks) are stiffer than G dampeners; some would say too stiff. Dampeners are a wearable part. If you are on a budget, I would only replace them with used dampeners that were in better condition. It is hard to judge condition by inspection or mileage, so it is really a gamble.
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^ yup, I've done a lot of research on here...days worth of research and compared tons of pics of different drop setups. I didn't really want to mess with buying camber kits and the G/Z setup is low enough for me. I know what you're talking about it looking fine with the stock 17's...for a while...
Wheels will be next, but not any time soon.
Wheels will be next, but not any time soon.
Sooo, it was an interesting weekend for me. Got all the suspension and everything ready for the 350Z suspension swap along with the G35 Coupe rear springs. I've never done any suspension work on any of my cars before, so this one was a first for me.
The rear was a piece of cake, except that I sheared one of the studs for the rear upper strut. It just snapped like a toothpick! I've done some reading up on this common issue and I'll just have to drill out the old bolt, which is technically welded into the body frame from top-this will be fun!
Now to the front suspension. Not hard to take out the old shocks, but I've run into issues with the used Z suspension I got. I was all excited about not having to compress the springs and just pretty much swapping them onto the car. The issue is that the Z suspension had aftermarket springs on before, so when he put oem Z springs back onto the struts, he put them on upside down and the alignment was way off as well. So I decided to take them to a local shop to have the springs installed the correct way. Well, one of the struts looks to be bent; the shop mechanic couldn't compress the spring back onto the strut since it wasn't going in straight. He said this happens all the time; all you have to do is to run over a big enough pothole to damage the strut. Have you guys heard of bent struts before? I guess this is a lesson for me - not to buy used struts and instead just bite the bullet and buy NEW!
I have contacted the seller of the Z suspension and he said there was nothing wrong with the suspension when he shipped them. I'll get another opinion on the strut to verify whether or not it's really bent. I might take it to a Nissan dealer or a Midas type place. I did look into buying brand new front struts and it seems no one has Tokico HP's in stock. It's at least a two week wait till I could get them delivered, so that's out of the question most likely. I'll ride the motorcycle to work in the mean time, but it kinda sucks - just a little inconvenience, but it sucks when you're stuck waiting for parts. I decided to install the stock sport suspension, but I don't want to drive with the snapped bolt in the rear.
I could get KYB's for about $250 shipped from a G35driver vendor. Has anyone had any kind of experience with KYB struts? I wonder if they would work with the Z springs and how different the car would handle vs. stock Z suspension.
Another thing, when I was working on the front suspension swap, I did notice both of my compression rod inner bushings are shot, which I expected to see. Making creaking noise when turning either left or right and onto/from driveways - yup, another common G35 issue. Everything else seems to be ok with all the bushings - at least from what I can tell. This will be my next fix after all the suspension work is done.
Lessons learned:
1) When buying used suspension, make sure original springs were not removed from oem struts, and if they were, make sure they were installed back on correctly before starting any kind of suspension work. It's best if they were never removed and run with any aftermarket springs to prevent any damage done to the struts.
2) When installing rear stuts, be VERY careful with tightening the nut onto the studs - I think the torque is around 20lbs or so. I'd say hand tighten and then tighten a bit more with a wrench just enough. These things seriously snap very easily.
Btw, I'm loving the rear G35 Coupe drop with rear Z struts-which are shorter by at least an inch as compared to G35 rear stock sport struts. I hope this whole thing suspension swap will be worth it at the end.
Will post pics after it will be all completed. The rear end looks f-ing sexy, so I'm happy to see some positives coming out of this whole headache in a way.
More updates to come....
The rear was a piece of cake, except that I sheared one of the studs for the rear upper strut. It just snapped like a toothpick! I've done some reading up on this common issue and I'll just have to drill out the old bolt, which is technically welded into the body frame from top-this will be fun!
Now to the front suspension. Not hard to take out the old shocks, but I've run into issues with the used Z suspension I got. I was all excited about not having to compress the springs and just pretty much swapping them onto the car. The issue is that the Z suspension had aftermarket springs on before, so when he put oem Z springs back onto the struts, he put them on upside down and the alignment was way off as well. So I decided to take them to a local shop to have the springs installed the correct way. Well, one of the struts looks to be bent; the shop mechanic couldn't compress the spring back onto the strut since it wasn't going in straight. He said this happens all the time; all you have to do is to run over a big enough pothole to damage the strut. Have you guys heard of bent struts before? I guess this is a lesson for me - not to buy used struts and instead just bite the bullet and buy NEW!
I have contacted the seller of the Z suspension and he said there was nothing wrong with the suspension when he shipped them. I'll get another opinion on the strut to verify whether or not it's really bent. I might take it to a Nissan dealer or a Midas type place. I did look into buying brand new front struts and it seems no one has Tokico HP's in stock. It's at least a two week wait till I could get them delivered, so that's out of the question most likely. I'll ride the motorcycle to work in the mean time, but it kinda sucks - just a little inconvenience, but it sucks when you're stuck waiting for parts. I decided to install the stock sport suspension, but I don't want to drive with the snapped bolt in the rear.
I could get KYB's for about $250 shipped from a G35driver vendor. Has anyone had any kind of experience with KYB struts? I wonder if they would work with the Z springs and how different the car would handle vs. stock Z suspension.
Another thing, when I was working on the front suspension swap, I did notice both of my compression rod inner bushings are shot, which I expected to see. Making creaking noise when turning either left or right and onto/from driveways - yup, another common G35 issue. Everything else seems to be ok with all the bushings - at least from what I can tell. This will be my next fix after all the suspension work is done.
Lessons learned:
1) When buying used suspension, make sure original springs were not removed from oem struts, and if they were, make sure they were installed back on correctly before starting any kind of suspension work. It's best if they were never removed and run with any aftermarket springs to prevent any damage done to the struts.
2) When installing rear stuts, be VERY careful with tightening the nut onto the studs - I think the torque is around 20lbs or so. I'd say hand tighten and then tighten a bit more with a wrench just enough. These things seriously snap very easily.
Btw, I'm loving the rear G35 Coupe drop with rear Z struts-which are shorter by at least an inch as compared to G35 rear stock sport struts. I hope this whole thing suspension swap will be worth it at the end.
Will post pics after it will be all completed. The rear end looks f-ing sexy, so I'm happy to see some positives coming out of this whole headache in a way.
More updates to come....