Nice write-up man.

 

To ME, it's fine. My old car had H&R supersports and bilsteins so it was about as stiff as this set up is. However, if someone isn't used to high spring rates such as these are (12k/8k), then the ride may be unpleasant.

What I find now is that I can't stand the ride quality in my sport suspensioned 3, although in some ways it does drive "better.". The 3 turns in better and has a more connected feel to it (damn Germans), but it body rolls more and floats more.

For me, going back to stock would be miserable. That's about as simple as I can put it

 

hahah going back to stock would be miserable? lol I love that!! but why cause of the SUV look or cause of the ride quality? How much harsher is the ride with Bilsteins then the OEM? how would you rate it?

 

No lol, the change in ride quality/handling would make it miserable, not so much the height change.

The ride in my old car (Mustang) was significant from oem to Bilsteins/H&Rs. But the Bils were still very compliant and manageable for a daily driver. Compared to the Mustang, the G is much more stiff and the ride is more harsh. However, the G handles better than the Mustang, mostly due to the independent rear versus solid axle (although the mustang had a panhard rod set up). If Bilsteins were available at a reasonable price, coilover or not, they would be my first choice. However, only the JDM Bilstein conversions are for sale at this time, and they cost over 3000, which is plain old stupid.

The G (as it is set up right now), IMO, on a scale of 1-10, where 1 would be a lincoln town car and 10 would be a road race car, would rate a 7. It is stiff, and most people would not like it, but for me it's fine. If you could do a custom spring rate setup, I'd say a 7k rear would be preferable to the 8k on there now, as the rear setup seems more stiff than the front (may be the design of the suspension too).

 

I see. BTW Do you do any track racing where you live there?
...well I'm thinking on going for Tein SS coilovers, but I was always interested in German's Bilstein coilovers. Did you do anything to the car since after installing the suspension? Any more pics of your ride?

 

No track events as they're only 1x per month at that. Also, the set up would put the car in a much higher class where it has no chance of competing. I do do a lot of high speed "tac driving" though, but that's a different story

nothing new on the car since the suspension (jic and hotchkis) but akebonos are next on the list

 

FWIW, my 5.5 gen on Maxspeed/GR-2/RSB/FSTB was far more composed in the corners than the G35 in stock form. My BC's will be here soon (12/8k), then i'll hit the track shortly thereafter. I can report back then.

 

Great tutorial! Would installing a truetype rear be similar? Do you need to remove the spring bucket completely since witha truetype rear there's no use for it?

 

don't because it adds support to your shocks.. just leave the spring bucket empty.. if you dont like the spring bucket there you can always order arms as a replacement but like i said i wouldnt take those off just because the springs are not there anymore..

 

those are some pretty sexy coilovers

 

Qeustion for the OP,

the bolt the connects the strut tower to the control arm (the one that slides through the botton of the shock and through a spindle) HOW THE HELL DID YOU TAKE THAT OFF!!!

ive been at it since 9am today and ive tried, breaker bar, pb blaster, and impact gun...NADA nothing ZILCH!!!! then i was told not to torch it cuz the spindle it there and what not. a 2hr spring job has turned into a 6 hour disaster for me without even getting the front strut assembly out of the car.

 

^ there's a nut on the other end where the endlinks are. Chances are it's just turning when you tried to loosen the bolt shown in the photo.

Hold that other end with a wrench and you'll be able to break loose the main bolt.

 

made that mistake 2 horus into it. realized it, fixed it, and still nothing. my friend who was holding the other side with a vice, and other grip type tools still couldnt keep it still. the nut just wont budge, idk what to do.

ive been to 6...SIX shops and none of them will touch it for fear of damaging the spindle. fml

 

What kind of line do you have on the impact? First time i did this some months ago i couldn't break it loose either.

This time around i soaked it in PB for 24 hours, banged on it with a rubber mallet and soaked it for 30 minutes prior to doing the job. On the impact side i swapped out my 1/4 line with a 3/8 and ran it at a full 125psi -- which really woke up the impact.

 

what do you mean by soak it in PB?

also, im runing 90 PSI to the gun and thats all the gun says it should be at (has a <90 PSI label on the top of the gun)