Got my stimulus check in today and felt the need to stimulate the economy. I am going to buy the struts and springs my car badly needs.
i have $350 to spend on these.
SOMEBODY point me in the right direction.
'83 280zx 2 seater na.This cash is burning a hole in my pocket and if i dont find something to spend it on, my wife has some ideas and they are not Z related. Need to get something going quick!!! Thanks !

 

Depends on how you drive (or plan to drive) your car...

How do you want it to perform? What are the road conditions?

Search for "struts" and "springs" in the 280zx section... lots of threads on suspension upgrades.

 

i would go for the tokico shock/spring package, its about $350 (some times a little cheaper).
you just not got your stimulus?

 

It is a daily driver and i plan to take it up to tail of the dragon at deals gap nc. i dont autocross but i do a little spirited driving and want it to hug the road in curves. Some have said that the tokicos are a little stiff. i dont want to be jolted by every bump, but i also dont have to have a smooth ride like a lincoln. I only have the money to do it once, so i dont want to be forever disappointed. the tokicos are $ 330 shipped, if they give a decent ride and hug the road. anyone got tokicos on a daily driver and do u like them?

 

I have Tokico Illuminas and Tokico springs on my daily driven z31. They are amazing compared to stock as far as handling goes. They are fairly stiff though, but I run them on almost the stiffest setting which I have found is my favorite. I also have many other suspension mods which take away from the "luxury" of the ride quality. I would imagine the non adjustable Tokico's are decent as well, and I'm sure they are a little softer.

 

The Tokico "blue" shocks are the equivalent of the Illumina's on a #3 setting and unlike the Illumina's they're valving doesn't "shift" over time.

They are great for a street driven ZX, since you can't get a full set of Illumina's for the 280ZX from Tokico anymore.

 

Well, a lot of what you are asking is subjective and each person has his own personal criteria for what is too stiff or not.

I just recently had the Tokico package installed with struts and springs. I also had the MSA sway bars and set of polyurethane bushings installed too and you can find a thread in here where I am asking if anyone thinks it'll be too harsh or stiff a ride. Thus, I went a little more than just the Tokicos and so there will be some difference in results from what you plan to do but I would expect my bushings and sway bars would make my ride "stiffer" than just installing Tokicos. But I have to say, I don't think the ride is too stiff at all. In fact, it feels better to me and that's probably because I replaced a lot of 26-year old suspension parts which needed replacing for far too long.

The only difference I feel that someone may consider as being "too stiff" is that since the kit lowers the car 1-inch, I suppose there is less travel for the car when you hit bumps or shift weight. That means (and I notice this most when punching the car because, as you know, our Z's like to squat in the back and compress the suspension) there is a greater frequency to the up-and-down when you are hitting bumps. I hope that makes sense. Think of a sin wave whereas before the wave was bigger in frequency but now it's smaller in frequency. There is a lot more little bumping up and down in the back-end now but I would not consider it "stiff" by any means. I'm not jostling loose any interior panels or anything like that. My CDs aren't skipping either though I've not put a lot of time on the road so far. These are my impressions while the stuff is still newly installed and I would expect things to maybe soften up a little with time. My car is only a weekend driver and I've maybe driven it only 10-miles since I had the stuff installed though.

But again, each person will probably have his own opinion.

 

I went with the ST springs. $190 a set. and KYB struts. They worked good. Just add the larger MSA sway bars with new bushings and your Z will be very tight on the turns.