Short version: Whether stock or not, I'd like to know your car's wheel arch-to-wheel center dimensions and what type of shock absorbers you have. And, if using coilovers, are adjustable sway bar end links necessary? Of particular interest is if you are running the Godspeed Mono SS coilovers.
Reason for asking: Replacing all control arms/links/compression rods and installing some Godspeed coilovers & camber arms that my son bought for his G35 coupe w/ MT with 150k miles on it (& sport suspension I believe)…replacing what I believe to be the original shock absorbers... working on the front first. Tires are Front 225/45/18 and Rear 245/45/18
Before beginning the work, I measured the front arch-to-wheel center distance, and it was approximately 14 inches but I didn’t measure the arch-to-ground distance. The Infiniti factory service manual (last page of the FSU section) provides the OEM wheel arch height from the ground as 27.32 inches, which accounts for half-tank gas, full oil, I assume tire sidewall flex, etc.
Not knowing how “good” the shock absorbers were that I took off, I don’t trust the 14 inches that I measured as a good number. I’m wondering if anyone can give me their OEM or OEM-equivalent shock absorber wheel arch dimensions for comparison to what I end up with. I’d also like to know the same dimensions for anyone with coil-overs, especially if they have the same Mono SS Godspeeds (white spring, pink body) on a coupe like my son has.
I will mention that I preset the uncompressed coilover’s strut fork ends to be 24 inches from the bottom of the spring hat, but that didn’t work out. After installation, I tried to jack-up the steering knuckle so the hub center was ~13 inches to the wheel arch, so I could tighten all the bushing fasteners close to the expected ride height, but it wouldn’t get there. I looked and the frame rail had come up off my jackstands. I also looked and the Godspeed camber arm was way up close to the internal body wheel arch. I’m guessing I better shorten the coilover a bit. Any suggestions on this would be welcome. Thanks!
Reason for asking: Replacing all control arms/links/compression rods and installing some Godspeed coilovers & camber arms that my son bought for his G35 coupe w/ MT with 150k miles on it (& sport suspension I believe)…replacing what I believe to be the original shock absorbers... working on the front first. Tires are Front 225/45/18 and Rear 245/45/18
Before beginning the work, I measured the front arch-to-wheel center distance, and it was approximately 14 inches but I didn’t measure the arch-to-ground distance. The Infiniti factory service manual (last page of the FSU section) provides the OEM wheel arch height from the ground as 27.32 inches, which accounts for half-tank gas, full oil, I assume tire sidewall flex, etc.
Not knowing how “good” the shock absorbers were that I took off, I don’t trust the 14 inches that I measured as a good number. I’m wondering if anyone can give me their OEM or OEM-equivalent shock absorber wheel arch dimensions for comparison to what I end up with. I’d also like to know the same dimensions for anyone with coil-overs, especially if they have the same Mono SS Godspeeds (white spring, pink body) on a coupe like my son has.
I will mention that I preset the uncompressed coilover’s strut fork ends to be 24 inches from the bottom of the spring hat, but that didn’t work out. After installation, I tried to jack-up the steering knuckle so the hub center was ~13 inches to the wheel arch, so I could tighten all the bushing fasteners close to the expected ride height, but it wouldn’t get there. I looked and the frame rail had come up off my jackstands. I also looked and the Godspeed camber arm was way up close to the internal body wheel arch. I’m guessing I better shorten the coilover a bit. Any suggestions on this would be welcome. Thanks!
Had an interesting conversation with Godspeed's "tech support"... I called to get some input and told the guy that presetting the shock's hat bottom-to-forkend distance at 24 inches caused the UCA to be way up in the wheel well when I jacked up the steering knuckle to a ride height. He was a man of few words, didn't seem interested in really helping me, and the only thing I got out of him was to be sure that the shock's fork cup be threaded at least 80 mm (3.14 inches) onto the bottom end of the shock tube. I thought that seemed like a bit much, so I had him repeat it.
When I got home, I took the fork cup completely off the front-right one that I haven't installed yet, put a mark on the tube at 80mm from bottom using digital calipers, then attempted to thread the cup to that mark, but it would only thread on as far as about 75 mm!! Even if it would have made it to 80 mm, that would have eliminated any height adjustment.
So, now I'm really interested in any information from anyone with Godspeed MonoSS coilovers.
When I got home, I took the fork cup completely off the front-right one that I haven't installed yet, put a mark on the tube at 80mm from bottom using digital calipers, then attempted to thread the cup to that mark, but it would only thread on as far as about 75 mm!! Even if it would have made it to 80 mm, that would have eliminated any height adjustment.
So, now I'm really interested in any information from anyone with Godspeed MonoSS coilovers.
Had another conversation with Godspeed tech support late yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure if it was the same guy or not, but he seemed more ready to help this time (may have had a bad day the first time). Anyway, I told him that I couldn't even thread the fork cup onto the tube the 80 mm they had told me. I made a point this time to specify the part number for my coilovers, and he said because they are the closed cup type, the minimum thread-on distance is 30 mm for them. He said they must've been thinking I had the open bottom type that allow the mono tube to protrude below. Last night, I ended up threading it on ~40mm which, when I did that, it made the overall hat top to fork-end dimension ~23.75 inches (using a tape measure).
I also now believe the top of the upper camber arm is almost or barely touching the metal arch up in at the top of the fender well because I may have its ball joint adjusted too far out (too much positive camber), basically causing the steering knuckle's upper leg to stand up more vertical rather than leaning inboard. It's barely clearing, so I may adjust the ball joint inward one notch or just leave it for the alignment tech to do his thing.
I also now believe the top of the upper camber arm is almost or barely touching the metal arch up in at the top of the fender well because I may have its ball joint adjusted too far out (too much positive camber), basically causing the steering knuckle's upper leg to stand up more vertical rather than leaning inboard. It's barely clearing, so I may adjust the ball joint inward one notch or just leave it for the alignment tech to do his thing.