^ These are +15 offsets right? (ET15?)

What camber are you running (front and back) and did/do you need to roll your rear fenders?

*Edit* "Gunmetal" = Black or SBC?

 

I just received a high/low kit from BC and it didn't come with that lower spring perch. was that something you had to ask for separately?

 

Glenn

What did you roughly pay total for the for that suspension set up (SA to DA revalving, springs, perches etc)? I have yellows and am looking to do something similar to you. Also, with the 1000/800 lb set up is the car remotely streetable? I will be taking my Z out of daily driving duty and will need another vehicle, but im not sure whether or not i will NEED a tow vehicle.

 

Kinetix arms came in today

Warning... rant to follow


Equally as disappointing as they appear in pictures compared to the SPL arms. Maybe one day the SPL arms will be legal for if anything else safety reasons.

First thing I saw when I opened the box was a warning label from Kinetix clearing them of all liability for using their arms as they are designed for off road use only.

The design is around budget over all else and leaves more to be desired. The welds look ok on the arm itself and at least there is grease fittings for regular servicing. You definitely need a grease gun handy and routinely grease these bushings to avoid a squeaky suspension.

The ball joint section is definitely a throw away part and probably should be replaced in some interval of time or at least inspected. They use a rubber o ring to hold the boot on one side and a zip tie for the other. I also am going to have to debur the threads with a die as they were never cleaned up after machining

If anyone who has used these arms successfully can help reassure me of my safety I would feel much better

 

I don't see a second adjustment in the pics of the shocks. I have a set of yellows I just removed from my car and I'm looking to send them off as soon as I settle in on spring rates.

My sponsor has authorized expenditures for STU prep of my vehicle for national events. (My wife gave me permission to spend money)

I'm interested in the 18X10.5 RPF1's but one of the guys at the track runs them on his stock Nismo and they stick out like go-cart tires. (+15 offset) Glenn's car doesn't seem to have this issue. If he's not running trailer-queen camber to get the tires to fit in the fenders, I could save lot of money going with these wheels.

If my -2.5F and -2.2R camber won't fit the wheels, I'm considering the RS05RR's.

They are light, and pretty, but that price tag...ouch.

I would also like to get a little seat time in a Z running 1000lb springs. That seems like a ton of roll-resistance for street tires.

I too will have to part with my beloved SPL A-arms as well as my SPL-equiped sub-frame. -A lot of money for no speed.

Lightweight flywheel has to come out too.

 

SPL really needs to make some bushings that can be used with their front A-arms for Spec Z and Autocross

 

The camber adjustment on those Kinetix looks a little meh. Is there a jam nut to hold the assembly from moving while it isn't being adjusted? Is that whole piece of tubing thread internally, or is there a threaded insert in the steel tubing. Seems lil sit could be a failure point that would render the entire are useless.

We went with SPC arms. They're stamped and bent from large sheet instead of made from tube. The camber adjustment is slotted and the caster adjust is via offset balljoint. We had to replace the bushings with Delrin because the supplied sleeves were super huge, but it was an easy matter to fabricate something that was legal.

J.G. Pasterjak
Production Manager/Art Director
Grassroots Motorsport magazine
Classic Motorsports magazine

 

Unless you modify the kinetix arms, you will get more camber from offset bushings. It really isn't that difficult to get some delrin bushings machined for any arm.

 

You need to think in terms of a total package. 10.5 will work pretty well with a 285, but an 11 (I think BP is on XXR's....super cheap, but not that light) would be ideal. As far as suspension, both BP and I have found that Z's don't work well with overly stiff bars. I don't use a rear bar at all (not sure about Peters) and I don't think either of us ever go above the second softest setting on the Hotchkis front bars. 1000lb spring really isn't all that high of a frequency on a Z, especially up front and at STU weights.

 

How much can you get from them OTS?

I intend to drive to the track, so I will probably stay under 3.

(My current mix of track and road time has my tires wearing well with 2.5)

 

Yes, there is a jam nut to tighten it down. The entire tube is threaded. I took and angle grinder and ground down the "stub" on the jam nut end until it was flush with the bent tubing part. On my stock suspension this got me -2.4º of front camber. So lowered you might get close to -3º

I've been running the Kinetix arms all winter, ice racing, and on our destroyed, bumped and heaving Wisconsin roads. They still look as good as new when I installed them last fall and havent failed.

 

I have been running the Kinetix for 2 years. Daily driving, tons of Autocross and a few track days thrown in. No problems.

I also cut down the front of the tube and lowered I can get about -3.5 camber. The nice thing with the ball joints being threaded is you know how much you are changing your camber. Each turn will change your camber .18 of a degree. Very solid and nothing to slip.

There is really not a lot of load on the upper A arm. The lower two arms take a large portion of the load and bumps.

Hope that helps you sleep better

 

That and Ambien do the trick just fine

Good point about having some reference for how much you're changing the camber. That's one thing the slotted arms certainly don't have. I'll probably make some reference marks, but when your actual adjustments are limited to "a mild to moderate thump" before you tighten it down and remeasure, the trial-and-error gets old fast.

I think part of my paranoia comes from the fact that this is my first non-strut car. That upper arm is not so much a load-bearing member as it is simply a locating member. I gotta get my head out of the strut mindset and into that of a real suspension.

J.G. Pasterjak
Production Manager/Art Director
Grassroots Motorsport magazine
Classic Motorsports magazine

 

Just to clarify my earlier post regarding prepping my Z for STU: My car will not be ready for this year's National Championship. I'm shooting for next year.

However, if anyone has a well-prepped Z and needs a tire-warmer for this year's Championship, I'm interested.

 

these are the ET15s. This is just the prealignment corner balance pics. I have to finish up the fronts this weekend and sometime next week ill have actual specs for you. These are not SBC or black they are actual gunmetal. I did roll the fenders right after I test fit the wheels earlier this month. I don't think you can avoid not to with this setup

 

yes, I made the same mistake when I called thinking it was everything

 

valving 700-800$ (included sleeving the fronts)
rear perches and adapters 180$
main springs 200$
helpers 50$
guides 70$
front pillow ball mounts 250$ ?
total estimated cost - 1550$

 

Im bringing the car to Bill at Small Fortune Racing for the corner balance and alignment. He is also going to make me some links for the sway bars so there is no preload on them from dropping the car. Of topic is the delrin bushings for these arms.

 

Thanks for the feedback Steidz. I haven't myself heard of any issues either from anybody. Im just particular about quality that's all

 

Here's a detail of the as-delivered SPC arms on the left vs the stock arms. The hardest part of the whole ordeal was getting the bushings out of the SPC arms. I ended up having to take them to a machine shop, and even they whined about how hard it was to press them out.


This is what we ended up building. A three-foot stick of Delrin was $40 from Grainger, and my dad was happy use his lathe for something other than just making metal shavings for once.

The sleeves were from a set of Whiteline bushings. Dimensions are the same as the stock sleeve.

J.G. Pasterjak
Production Manager/Art Director
Grassroots Motorsport magazine
Classic Motorsports magazine