Hello all,
I just received my first car (a 1981 280zx) and have a few questions for those who know anything about suspension. My car needs new springs and struts and I'm not sure how to go about getting new ones (may I note I'm looking for something on the cheap side, gives the car about a 1 inch drop, and would work good for a really fun daily driver). I have already searched for hours trying to find another thread so i wouldn't have to post my own and had no luck. I would greatly appreciate the help.
thanks

 

Welcome to ZDriver!

Click:

https://www.zdriver.com/forums/280zx...de-here-34001/

https://www.zdriver.com/forums/280zx...-tricks-34185/

https://www.zdriver.com/forums/280zx...ico-hps-31919/

https://www.zdriver.com/forums/280zx...acement-29094/

The list goes on and on.

 

I have an 81 myself. I went with the Tokico blues- It was only about $400 for the set of shocks with the HP springs, barely any more expensive than if you were to use the stock replacements. They drop the car about 1.5" IIRC, and they make the car nice and fun to drive. A lot of people use them because for the price they're actually pretty good. They're by far the best bang for your buck, sounds perfect for your situation. They're not going to be like serious all out racing setup, but like I said, they're great on a budget. Definitely a big step up from stock springs/shocks, especially if they've since gone bad (mine were completely blown by the time I changed them, it's like a different car now)

 

before you get all excited about springs spend money and time on replacing the outer tie rod ends and the ball joints. Put in a set of poly bushings. new shocks THEN get the car aligned and put some decent tires on it. Try it out with those things done and then you can decide if you really need springs. unless it only has 30K miles on it but even then the bushings are shot by now. Get your battery load tested. Be sure you have clean, tight corrosion free terminals on both ends of your battery cables. Be sure the ground (negative) cable goes to a bolt into the frame before going to the starter. grounding through the starter is not a reliable connection. Z's don't like low voltage. causes the electronics to act funny. it is possible to have enough amps to crank but not enough voltage to run the electronics. If you have one size fit all cheapo clamp on terminals they are a problem waiting to happen.

Clean the connectors for the maf, ecu and tps. Deoxit by CAIG is probably the best connector cleaner on the market. spray with CorrosionX after cleaning and before putting together this will help prevent any further corrosion.

After you do that you will a stable and much more reliable ride. Fancy shocks and springs don't do much when you are sitting in garage trying to find out why it won't run.

 

Regarding your suspension question I would also recomend going with the HPK255 kit. It makes a huge difference in how the car drives. Bushings are also a good idea but even on high milage cars I've noticed the biggest difference by changing the shocks/springs first although I do change the tie rod bushings and sway bar end links when I do the shocks/springs since they are easy to do.

 

thanks a ton all! i have looked into the Tokico blues and liked what i saw. but i do thing i will go ahead and get new bushings, then go after the tokico blue kit.

thanks again

 

I just drove a stock suspension 280ZX last night. It's aweful!

If you do the bushings be sure NOT to use urethane bushings on both sides of the TC rods!