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The suspension is the best overall upgrade on this car to date. This
setup is highly recommended as it will entirely change the
way the car rides, and the way you drive it. The car will understeer
under heavy braking and quick turning, but will remain almost
neutral otherwise. Powering through a turn or just breaking the
wheels loose will result in some amazingly controllable
oversteer.
Springs
The key to the suspension is a set of Eibach springs for a 280ZX. Eibach
part number 6302.140 is a set of lowering springs designed
for a 280ZX coupe to lower it about 1 inch on all corners. The
front springs are progressive rate springs with a soft rate
of 140lb/in and a stiff rate of 200lb/in. The rear springs are
linear rate springs at 175lb/in.
When
installed on the Maxima, they have almost exactly the same
lowering results. This picture shows
the car a couple miles after installing the springs, and
it sits pretty nicely. Be sure to shave the bump stops.
DO NOT use Tokico 280ZX
springs on your Maxima! Both Eibach and Tokico springs were tested. As
seen here, the Tokico
springs are shorter in front and back, and lower the car
too far. The front coils have one more turn than the Eibach front
coils. As a result, the front suspension can completely compress
the spring before even hitting the bump stops! This presents a
situation that is both dangerous while driving and detrimental
to the structure of the car. The Eibach springs do not present
this problem.
Shocks & Struts Tokico Blue shocks & struts all around. A pair of HZ3038
struts are used in front, and HU2286 shocks in the back.
The Tokico Illuminas (5-way adjustable)
are available for the fronts, but the complete setup presented
here is very close to neutral so the extra adjustability
is not necessary.
Sway Bars
The sway bars are made by Addco. The kit consists of the sway bars, urethane bushings, and
end-links for a complete sway bar upgrade on the first
generation Maxima. The new bar diameters are 1 1/8" in the
front and 7/8" in
the rear which offer a solid improvement over the
stock bars. These sway bars give the car a more accurate
feel in cornering and substantially reduce body roll. Installation
was fairly straightforward, some trimming
was required to get the bushings to fit properly.
Bushings
The only bushings in need of replacement so far were the T/C rod bushings. Polyurethane
T/C bushings for a 280ZX work well, but the car will need
to be aligned after installment.
Wheels and Tires
The wheels are from an '85 200SX Turbo. They are 15" x 6" all
around, and had temporary 205x50R15 all weather Firestone
tires. These rims have a 32mm offset and fit very well under
the fender. Although Z rims will fit, the tires will rub if the
car is lowered unless the fenders are rolled and slightly
flared.
Update: The car now has 205x60R15 (same size as the stock 280ZXT) these
tires fill out the wheel well much better than the old tires,
and they offer better ground clearance.
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