• sac02
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Topic: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Our knowledge of cars other than ones we've personally owned isn't so great, so we need some help.

One of the springs on our car spontaneously snapped in half, so we are looking at the cheap ebay coilovers. Don't bother telling me they're crap, I know that.  And Sentra SE-R's aren't exactly a dime a dozen in junkyards so we can't  just go grab a spring from the pick-n-pull.

Most of the ebay kits are for popular JDM ricer-mobiles, but they don't make kits for the b13 Sentra. While that in itself isn't a problem (I serioulsy doubt the kits would be different for a 2400lb FWD whatever vs a 2400lb FWD Nissan), I figure I at least need to buy a kit intended for a car with struts at all four corners, to get "close enough" on the spring rates.  If I buy a kit for an e30, say, with a semi-trailing arm rear suspension, the wheel rates for our sentra with struts in the rear would be totally f'ed, if the springs were even long enough to work.

That's where our lack of knowledge comes in - I have no clue other cars that have struts on all 4 corners like our Nissan. Google-ing variations of "cars with struts at all 4 corners" isn't helping.

Anyone here know other cars (preferably cars popular enough with the tuner crowd such that they will have a $50 coilover kit on ebay) that have coil-over-strut suspension on all four corners?

Thanks

  • From: Detroit, MI
  • Registered: 2009-05-16
  • Posts: 1,594

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

I'd go to the B13 forums and try to find a pair of take-off springs.  There must be lots of guys who have swapped to lowering springs and have the stockers laying around.

BRE Datsun (Broke Racing Effluence) formerly Dawn of the Zed Racing
'74 260Z
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  • Troy
  • Troy
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  • Registered: 2009-04-30
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Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Coil over set-ups use a threaded collar over the strut tube with a nut that adjusts the ride height.

I doubt any of those cheap kits really have any kind of accurate spring rates.

We used parts from a cheap kit my friend had laying around marked Saturn.

The collars were the right diameter for our housings. 

We cut the collars with the chop saw to fit right.

We used that stuff with a set of Eibach springs we picked up for $20.

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z

4 Reply by sac02 (edited by sac02 2010-03-10 08:54 AM)

  • sac02
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Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Troy wrote:

Coil over set-ups use a threaded collar over the strut tube with a nut that adjusts the ride height.
I doubt any of those cheap kits really have any kind of accurate spring rates.
We used parts from a cheap kit my friend had laying around marked Saturn.
The collars were the right diameter for our housings. 
We cut the collars with the chop saw to fit right.
We used that stuff with a set of Eibach springs we picked up for $20.

That's our plan, cut to fit as necessary. Unfortunately we don't have any laying around, and haven't had luck finding any used eibach springs yet.  So are you saying a Saturn set may work?

Jeff G 78 wrote:

I'd go to the B13 forums and try to find a pair of take-off springs.  There must be lots of guys who have swapped to lowering springs and have the stockers laying around.

You'd think.  So far 1.5 weeks of searching, emailing, and PM'ing has yeilded bupkis.

  • VKZ24
  • VKZ24
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  • From: Wilson, NC
  • Registered: 2009-05-20
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Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Troy wrote:

Coil over set-ups use a threaded collar over the strut tube with a nut that adjusts the ride height.

I doubt any of those cheap kits really have any kind of accurate spring rates.

We used parts from a cheap kit my friend had laying around marked Saturn.

The collars were the right diameter for our housings. 

We cut the collars with the chop saw to fit right.

We used that stuff with a set of Eibach springs we picked up for $20.

What he said.  Coil-over sleeves are nothing special, especially the el-cheapo ones.  Even if the diameter is too large it's easy to make them work.  In the past I've wrapped the strut with a rubber sewer coupling from Lowes to nake up the inside diameter difference.  Worked like champ.

On our car we just cut the springs since it was free.

Captain
Team Super Westerfield Bros.
'93 Acura Integra - No VTEC Yo!

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  • Troy
  • Troy
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Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

What I am saying is, you could look at common kits for like Civics, Sentras, Zs or whatever on FleeBay.  Measure the diameter of your housings.  Then go measure the diameter of the tubes on various cars at Pick-A-Part and buy a kit that should work.

You could also try to find a car with a similar weight and strut diameter.

Like other guys have said, the tubes can be larger than yours, just fill the void with something.

This ain't rocket science.

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z

7 Reply by sac02 (edited by sac02 2010-03-10 10:20 AM)

  • sac02
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Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Troy wrote:

What I am saying is, you could look at common kits for like Civics, Sentras, Zs or whatever on FleeBay.  Measure the diameter of your housings.  Then go measure the diameter of the tubes on various cars at Pick-A-Part and buy a kit that should work.

You could also try to find a car with a similar weight and strut diameter.

Like other guys have said, the tubes can be larger than yours, just fill the void with something.

This ain't rocket science.

Agreed, 100%.  That's the plan.  I'm just trying to use the forum's collective knowledge to eliminate the trip to the pick-n-pull.  smile

  • From: San Diego, CA
  • Registered: 2010-02-11
  • Posts: 156

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Sentra guy here.  P10 G20s are everywhere in junkyards, and they have struts in the rear (hehe) and shocks up front.  The rear struts, as I recall (I've worked on both a P10 G20 and a B13 SE-R) were pretty similar looking to the SE-R's, so you might be able to swap that over.  P10s are EVERYWHERE in junkyards and are a goldmine for SR20 parts.

NX2000s are the same plartform as SE-Rs.

Altimas used struts in the back, and may very well have higher rates.

Square bodied Maximas (the VG30DE powered ones) had struts all around.

Either way, who says you need to get one from every corner?  Getting another set of front springs and making them work on the back (as long as the OD of the spring is equal to or less than the OD of the perch) might work and have the added benefit of increasing your rear spring rate (can't get too much on a FWD car).  You might have to cut some coils to make the ride height work, but there is a whole lot of possibilities out there.

So, just go find some springs you think will work, take them home, and test them with some weights (see how much weight it takes to compress an inch) to see which ones have the highest rate, install and hope it works. 

What could go wrong? big_smile

  • Registered: 2009-09-19
  • Posts: 30

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

240sx's have struts all around(S13 and S14)

  • From: Long Beach
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 232

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

No they don't. They also don't have a front-drive weight distribution, so spring rates would be wrong.

-Dave

  • From: San Diego, CA
  • Registered: 2010-02-11
  • Posts: 156

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Eyesoreracing wrote:

No they don't. They also don't have a front-drive weight distribution, so spring rates would be wrong.

-Dave

But that's what this article is for:

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles … cksaw.aspx

Right Dave? big_smile

  • Registered: 2009-07-09
  • Posts: 15

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

i've got some spec V springs if you want them...email me cbrownrace
at
hotmail dot
com

  • From: Dallas Tejas
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 527

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

IMHO, strut cars are generally low buck shitcans.  Perfect for Lemons yet crap for handling except under tightly controlled situations.

No car designer ever decided to use struts because they work better than unequal length arms, the only reasons were cost or packaging.

El Capitan de los Bastardos De Lemons
1993 Linco Mark Ate
1957 Renault Dauphine
Driver with LemonSpeed's V6 Mustang
  • Mulry
  • Mulry
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Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

TheHeckler wrote:

IMHO, strut cars are generally low buck shitcans.  Perfect for Lemons yet crap for handling except under tightly controlled situations.

No car designer ever decided to use struts because they work better than unequal length arms, the only reasons were cost or packaging.

I think I have to say "O RLY" to that, and I submit as Exhibit A the suspension design prowess of this fella:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Chapman

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.
  • From: Toronto, Ontario
  • Registered: 2009-05-03
  • Posts: 1,114

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Mulry wrote:
TheHeckler wrote:

IMHO, strut cars are generally low buck shitcans.  Perfect for Lemons yet crap for handling except under tightly controlled situations.

No car designer ever decided to use struts because they work better than unequal length arms, the only reasons were cost or packaging.

I think I have to say "O RLY" to that, and I submit as Exhibit A the suspension design prowess of this fella:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Chapman

Brilliant, yes, but that was a Lotus 12....in a world of leaf springs...on the rear, it's Hyundai technology now...

Jim "Endo" Anderton
30 years of racing and still not Brambilla.....
  • From: Dallas Tejas
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 527

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Mulry wrote:
TheHeckler wrote:

IMHO, strut cars are generally low buck shitcans.  Perfect for Lemons yet crap for handling except under tightly controlled situations.

No car designer ever decided to use struts because they work better than unequal length arms, the only reasons were cost or packaging.

I think I have to say "O RLY" to that, and I submit as Exhibit A the suspension design prowess of this fella:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Chapman

Chapman struts worked well with 90 section bias ply tires and wire wheels...

El Capitan de los Bastardos De Lemons
1993 Linco Mark Ate
1957 Renault Dauphine
Driver with LemonSpeed's V6 Mustang
  • From: Detroit, MI
  • Registered: 2009-05-16
  • Posts: 1,594

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

TheHeckler wrote:

Chapman struts worked well with 90 section bias ply tires and wire wheels...

Don't be dissin' the might Chapman strut.  tongue

BRE Datsun (Broke Racing Effluence) formerly Dawn of the Zed Racing
'74 260Z
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php … 2559430584

Jeff G 78's Website

  • From: Dallas Tejas
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 527

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

botham wrote:

This site is smashing and up to the mark. The color combination of this site is fabulous and the comments are unique and up to the mark.

I don't think I have met this Mark guy.   Is he one of the judges?

El Capitan de los Bastardos De Lemons
1993 Linco Mark Ate
1957 Renault Dauphine
Driver with LemonSpeed's V6 Mustang
  • ronman
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Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

TheHeckler wrote:
botham wrote:

This site is smashing and up to the mark. The color combination of this site is fabulous and the comments are unique and up to the mark.

I don't think I have met this Mark guy.   Is he one of the judges?

I'm not sure what he's up to...

Official photographer/Team Police Brutality|Speedycop & the Gang
Lackey-mechanic-whatever/NSF Racing
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  • From: Golden, CO
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  • Posts: 968

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

I smell potted meat...

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  • From: Federal Way, WA
  • Registered: 2009-06-11
  • Posts: 333

Re: What cars have 4 wheel stuts?

Ran a nationwide Craigslist search and there are a few sets of B13 springs out there: http://www.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/sd.cgi?cat … ;submit=go

For example this guy in Seattle where I live has some for $15, but I can't say if they are SE-R springs specifically:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/pts/1663274281.html

Solracer's Website