Is there anything other than the Stillen ones worth looking at? The more I read and the more people I talk to the more scared I am of those "slot the OEM part and use a toe bolt" solutions, arms SEEM the way to go?

Also - front camber plates - 350evo ones?

I'm looking for a strictly track (well, and the occasional autox) car so "comfort" of bushings and such isn't important, but I am rather new to this in the Z world (if it was a Porsche 951 I could give you 100 options and brands dang it). I have NO idea who to start with on this stuff, it seems the shops in my area only "speak" street-car and half of the stuff is rice / marketing more than real improvement.

ALL I WANT IS SOME MORE CAMBER

 

I have the race spec SPL upper A-amrs.
Well built, sturdy adjuster, steel bushings everywhere.
I don't think any other arm allows for so much negative camber (-4 degrees)

I'm running about -3 dgrees now.

www.splparts.com

 

Nothing beats the 350Evo upper A Arms for the front. Very light weight aluminum just like OEM vs welded steel rods like SPL parts.That is what I use. and never once have they come out of adjustment or made any noise.

For the rear, SPC makes a camber arm + Toe bolt setup. I really wouldn't worry about the widening of the slot for adjustment. You remove VERY little material and it does not reduce the strength of the area whatsoever. The toe bolt is actually a bit beefier that the OEM peice.

If they still bother you for some reason the only other solution really is to convert to true coilover in the rear and go with the Battle Version replacement arm. It removes the OEM rear spring bucket so you have to use true coilover in the rear.

 

well, my worry of bolt vs arm is that several people have mentioned problems with the bolts "slipping" out of alignment

 

If you lower your car even just .6", your rear camber will be fine (for the track) with the stock arms. I used to have the stillen but had to remove them due to the NASA rule changes this season. The stillen's were nice solid pieces. I only bought them for the spherical bearings, I didn't really adjust them any further than the stock arms.

As for the front, the 350evo's are hands down the best. I've had mine for about 3 years and they are holding up just fine. Adjustment is easy and repeatable and the bearings are top shelf. Even at stock settings, you will feel the improvement over the stock rubber bushings. -I've recently learned the importance of good sphercal bearings. I replaced all of my upper shock mounts with high end bearings as a result.

Evo used to make rear arms as well. I would look into getting the whole package from them.

 

I'm not looking to compete, I want to learn. On the flip side, I don't want to overbuild a car beyond my abilities. I actually hadn't planned on lowering it until I changed away from street tires (so far I've been loving the PS2s for track days, they hold up well, let me know when I'm doing stupid things yet have a considerable amt of grip). The mean reason I want to adjust camber is to stop chewing up the shoulder of my front tires / improve wear and turn-in etc. I guess what I'm saying is, if I don't want to play the $$$$ coilover game (as I don't WANT to be adjusting the car, I'd rather adjust the nut behind the wheel) are there springs you'd suggest Dave?

I'll be ordering the 350evo front arms shortly and when I do, I'll ask if they can still do rears... I trust BJ and Mike to make a quality product for sure.

 

The stock rear suspension can be adjusted to -2 degrees without lowering. Most people I know who got rear camber adjustment got it to compensate a dropped geometry (ie need positive camber).

Get front camber adjustability and consider getting better dampers if you decide to go with r-comp tires.

 

I have the SPC front arms and the SPC rear kits. I have had them for.. 8 months now with some track days and theyre pretty good so far. Not expensive at all. I used to have em set for longer tire wear, now I have it set for Front 3.1, Rear 2.0 mainly for track use now.

I read and heard some stuff that they slip out of alignment but I guess I have been lucky it has not happened *knocks on wood*

 

In that case, I would skip the rear arms all together and just invest in the fronts. BJ told me the same 3 yrs ago..

I always suggest to keep the stock setup until you find it's deficiencies / limitations. Even then, I wouldn't go high budget coilovers. I think a shock is more important than a spring. As Kolia can attest, a simple set of konis will do worlds in terms of handling.

 

Love my Konis !

 

I don’t know what the exact weight comparison is between the SPL front arms and the 350Evo front arms, but FYI chromoly has a better strength to weight ratio than aluminum. Also the chromoly tubing is hollow while the 350Evo arms are a solid thick billet, so the difference in weight may not be what you think. The SPL arms may be a little under-rated because it does not look as pretty as the 350Evo arms, but I know they are very strong and have a lot of adjustment -- all the time attack 350Zs use the SPL arms, I also know Chris Forsberg uses them on his drift 350Z.

Also SPL has the new rear mid arms now, that will allow for toe adjustment without converting to a inferior coilover setup.



I have been using the SPL front upper arms easily over a year, and the rear camber arms and rear toe arms for the last few months now, I have a ton of adjustment for front/rear camber and rear toe. At the last track event at TWS, in 90+ deg weather, my lap times dropped another 3 seconds to 1:58 on Toyo RA1s. Kuah recently installed some new stiffer Swift springs on the car and I can’t wait to get on track again with the new setup…

 

What the cost on this setup? I would love to go back to the OEM spring location as long as I am able to lower the car the same amount I can with true coilovers.

Not start a debate, but the true coilover design being inferior is... debatable.

 

Not really. Tein, JIC, ect.....doesn't match up. Just paying for a name and likely four very differently valved shocks.

 

http://www.splparts.com/Parts/Z33/Su...nk/default.asp

Price on the height adjustable mid link is $599 and a pair of Swift springs is $170. If you need the camber arm they are $249 according to the website.

Regarding the debate on true coilover setup, I am not a suspension expert, but I’ve talked about this with people whose opinions I trust on these things, and I do believe the true coilover setup is technically inferior. SPL has a writeup on this:

http://www.splparts.com/Parts/Z33/Su...oiloverFAQ.htm

What may be debatable is how much these technical disadvantages translate to in the real world, perhaps the difference is not really that big. But as I see it, if Nissan went through the expense and trouble of designing the suspension this way (and who better to understand the suspension geometry), I am not going to trust companies like Stance and Buddy Club to tell me that a cheaper coilover setup is the way to go. It is much easier for some companies to adapt/modify their current products to work as a true coilover rather than spend the time and money to R&D a solution that fits the z33's geometry.

You're local to SPL-you should stop by the shop sometime and discuss this with Kuah and see the products for yourself. You can check out the setup on my car sometime if you'd like.

 

Couldn't have said it better - use that money that you'll be saving towards more HPDEs and such - it'll be the best investment you can ever make and one that doesn't depreciate...

 

glad we're of the same mindset.

I just ordered my "front" 18x9.5 LMGT4s last week and am going to stick with one more set of street tires. I figure on getting the SPL or 350evo arms for the front and running a "conservative" front camber of -2 or so since it'll "just" be RE050A Pole Positions (275/40/18 at all corners) for now. I just don't want the expense (and hassle when it comes to tuning / changing) of having to get new dampers when I get into r-compounds and then all of the ancillaries right now. I think seat time will be much more valuable than a good bit more grip / lower lap times.

 

If you get adjustable A Arms, you won't need a "conservative" front camber setting. Just go full camber at the track and OEM on the street. It takes ~1 hour to set the camber if you're really slow (like me...).

 

Looks like dialling in some negative camber up front will def. help the car on track. I too am getting heavy blistering on the outer shoulders of the front tires, and turn-in isn't the sharpest on the stock suspension/alignment setup.

Couple of questions:-
1) Is the front camber adjustment pretty repeatable? In that, is it a matter of just marking a spot on the arm, and saying that if the bolt is at this position then it is X degrees of camber? And then, just mark one position for track and another for street? Also, is it linear?

2) Wheres a good place to pick-up some adjustable A-arms for the fronts? 350EVO and/or SPL (seem to be the brands of choice)?

 

And I;m adding a few words so the ting will let me post... lol!

 

1) "For reference (or for home alignment), every 0.33" in length is 1 degree of camber." on the SPL's-see their alignment reference page http://www.splparts.com/doc/SPLFCAZ33/default.htm
Pretty easy to change at the track.

2) SPL's can be purchased directly from www.splparts.com here http://www.splparts.com/Parts/Z33/Su...nk/default.asp or from one of their several vendors/installers listed here http://www.splparts.com/About/dealers.htm
Not sure if 350evo has any dealers or if you have to buy directly from them.