daveh

iTrader: (9)

Well after about 20 hours and tearing down my suspension countless times, I think I have also gotten to the bottom of my issues. A blown shock.
I tried everything around insulating the metal to metal contact points on the spring perch. When I switched the shocks from left to right, the noise also went from the left side of the car to the right. I pulled them both off and realized that the shock in question had no compression resistance. I guess I've got to get under the car one more time to take them off to send them back to truechoice. I have a time trial in two weeks so hopefully they can turn them around by then.


I'll chime back in in a couple weeks when I get my shocks back.

EnthuZ

iTrader: (2)

Sorry that you had a problem with a shock. I'm sure TrueChoice will take care of you. At least you found the problem. I'm hoping I found my problem.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

I found only half of my problem in the rattle. I still haven't figured out why I have less suspension travel than Unitech's test car.


If someone could could chime in and tell me their ride height and amount of suspension travel in the rear (distance from the bottom of the bump stop and the top of the shock body) I would be forever in debt.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

Just got my shock back from Truechoice. I'll be putting it in tonight. Thanks to Phil for the quick turnaround on these.

Enthuz please check your pm. I'll give you $20 if you can give me some of your rear shock measurements Jackson has not gotten back to me since he has been traveling.
There is a 1/2" spacer below the upper mount that I can remove to get some extra travel but that is supposedly only for extremely lowered cars. I'm still puzzled as to why I have less travel than their test car.

EnthuZ

iTrader: (2)

OK, Ok.....I got dirty tonight and took some measurements. You owe me a bar of soap!

My rear ride height: 26 3/8"

Distance from bottom of the cup that retains the "bump stop" rubber to top of the white washer on the top of the shock body: 3 25/32"

Distance from bottom of the bump stop(never shortened/cut) to top of white washer: 1 15/16"

And, yes, I have buried my tie-wrap into the bump stop!

So it looks like I have about 2" of bump travel.

This is without the monoball option.

In 2 weeks I'll be back to Blackhawk without the Cusco sway bars, but with the Hotchkis bars....starting on full soft. Also just added a JWT aluminum flywheel, and will be adding the EVO short shifter!

Glad Phil took care of you!

daveh

iTrader: (9)

I just spent 5 hours taking the shocks off the car. Now my front shock is leaking and 3 out of 4 upper mounts are rattling like a can of marbles. After taking them off, I noticed the spherical bearings had some play. I am getting a little frustrated and have spent too many hours taking these things on and off. I just sent them back to unitech to check them out. I know Unitech will come through and get these squared away but they haven't been the set it and forget it pieces that I was expecting.

Redfoot

iTrader: (25)

Just finished my first track event with these units installed, and I must say that I am less than happy with the results. I to seem to also have that can of marbles in the back, along with a leak in one of my front units (seems to coming out of the rebound adjusting screw). I can't belive that for the kind of $$$$ we spent on these things that after 200 miles or less this **** is happening. I know I was warned that the monoball mounts would produce some extra noise but a severe rattle is not acceptable, nor I belive is it indicative of the tollerances or durability of a race developed suspension.

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

Yikes! I am so sorry to hear about these problems guys, particularly because I recommended these parts based on my experience. That said, I haven't had any problems at all with my setup. Therefore, I can only give impressions based on what I've seen.

I actually went to Streets of Willow this weekend, and the car was absolutely phenomenal! The car was better than its ever been. I took one of the forum members out for a session (Kyle...don't know his screen name...I'll ask him to chime in here), and he was stunned with their performance as well. My friend Matt took the car out (who's an experienced racer), and he was amazed. He said the car felt like it weighed 500lbs. less than it does. He said it was every bit as controllable as a miata he's done endurance racing in. I could do just about anything with the car...it was fantastic. I've been raving about it ever since. It's the most fun I've had in my car since I bought it. I just don't get it.

I've talked to DaveH about his problems, and there are some differences in our setups. First, I have the prototype shocks, but my understanding was that they were the same as what the final spec would be. I can't answer that question though. That is a question for Unitech and Truechoice. But, as I said, my understanding was that the production units would be the same as what I have. Also, I have the stock rubber upper mounts. I didn't go with the monoballs, because I wanted a more street-friendly setup. I don't have any noise issues at all, and they are much quieter than my previous setup on the street. Finally, I'm using the rear JIC spring perches that were already on the car. I don't know how these issues play into the fold, but obviously leaking shocks are unacceptable.
Redfoot, when you say a leak in one of the rebound adjustment screws, do you mean the compression adjusting screws? The screws down towards the bottom of the shock body are the compression adjustment, not rebound. Rebound is adjusted on top of the shock under the hood. How visible was the leak? Are you certain they were leaking? Can you email me a pic? I'll do what I can to help guys, but it's not my product so I can only do so much.

I'm sure Unitech and Truechoice will make sure these issues are solved though. Hopefully you'll have your car feeling like mine. It was truely a blast, and I can't tell you what a relief it was to finally have my car dialed after 3 years.

mchapman

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear about the issues guys and thats for sharing them.

Redfoot

iTrader: (25)

Yes, you are correct it is leaking around the compression adjuster. The oil was all over the black surround and running down the shock, dripping off the forked mount. I haven't had time to get back under there, I'll get some pics next week.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

.

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

Dave,
I know for a fact Unitech is in the midst of a large last minute project right now...probably why they are tough to get a hold of. I will try to contact Jackson however, and urge him to contact you. Thanks.

jmark

iTrader: (1)

350Z GT car

daveh

iTrader: (9)

Yes their GT car will be amazing Wouldn't it be nice if some of the engine technology trickles down to us common folk?

Unitech was able to give me a call. They are sending the leaking shock back to truechoice for repair. It wasn't yet affecting performance but it would have eventually.

In regards to the rattling upper mounts, they installed mine on their test car and it was silent, so I'm not sure what to make of that. Jackson told me there should be a little play in the upper mounts to allow for movement and mine looked ok. I've owned upper mounts before and never had noise like this so I'm not sure what to make of this. Any locals are welcome to take a test drive with me and let me know what they think about the noise and give some feedback so others can decide if they should go with these or use the stock upper mounts.

For those interested in the numbers, the unitech/truechoice shocks were good for 3 seconds over stock at Infineon 2 weeks back. I placed 2nd in my time trial class (4 seconds behind a 600hp 1974 corvette). I am reminded how nice the setup is since I have been riding on the stock shocks for the past week.
It's strange how you don't feel like you're going that fast with the mild spring rates, but you find yourself passing the cars that used to be passing you. Infineon is the perfect track to showcase handling because it's more of a technical track. Too bad they don't run SCCA T2 races there as I think the Z would fare quite well.

Redfoot

iTrader: (25)

I have finally been able to rip into the suspension and have discovered a few things about my problems.

First off the leak in the front shock is coming from the seal at the top where the rod exits the shock body. Not a big leak but it is leaking never the less and will be sent off for repairs. I have also found the cause of the rattling / can of marbles coming from the rear shocks. In the first picture below you can see that there is a spacer on top of the golden adjustment housing. The rod (for lack of the proper term) is threaded so the adjustment housing can be attached, this threading extends above beyond the housing just slightly and is a larger diameter than the remaining rod above. The spacer should rest upon the golden housing but the small amount of thread holds it away. You can see this tiny gap in the photo. With such a small contact area the spacer wears a bit & you then get some play in this area. I will chamfer the inside edge of the spacer slightly to clear the threads.

I now see that actually moving this spacer to above the spherical bearing will give me that much more rear shock travel. You need the spacer in there somewhere so the whole thing can be tightened down.

Top of Rear shock


For J Ritt, a shot of the front oil leak

Another front shock

One more front

Redfoot

iTrader: (25)

A little diagram explaining the spacer position swap. The spacer is .50 inches in height so you will gain that much in shock travel.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

That is the exact same place my front shock was leaking. I lost quite a bit of oil though. My sway bar was soaked with oil as well as the shock bottom. Hopefully I'll get them back this week.

I have also moved the 1/2" spacer to the top not because I had any gap but because I wanted the extra shock travel. In fact mine was on there so tight, I had to pry it off. I don't think that is the source of my rattling. As I mentioned, the monoball has some play on mine. In fact unitech lubed up the only silent mount that I had to loosen it up.

I think that the noise is going to be a fact of life with these upper mounts. I'm not sure why mine didn't make any noise on unitech's car but they sure made a racket on my car. We'll see what happens when I put them back on. I'll be back at thunderhill in a couple of weeks to knock off those extra 2 seconds that I know are out there.

EnthuZ

iTrader: (2)

I have over 2000 miles & 4 track days on my kit, and "knock on wood", I have yet to see any sign of leaking. I don't have the mono-ball mounts, but my front does make a bit of noise, but not enough to worry about.

Switching to the Hotchkis sways (from Cusco)seems to help get the independence back to my Z's suspension.

I haven't found a magical 3 second a lap improvement, but I put most of that down to relearning how to drive my recently much modded Z.....3.9, Nismo LSD, JWT flywheel, EVO short shifter, Unitech suspension, & Hotchkis sways.

Gsedan35

iTrader: (10)

Aren't you running a higher ride height then the others?

EnthuZ

iTrader: (2)

1st, a correction. I have over 3500 miles on the Unitech suspension!

My ride heights ended up being about the lowest of the 5 Z's I measured at Watkins glen. I didn't plan it that way. My 255/40-17's have a 25" diameter, which contributes to the lower ride height. But compared to OEM diameter tires, I'm 0.9" shorter F, & 1.7" shorter R than 18" OEM tires. I tried to keep the roll couple change to a minimum, and I guess I succeeded. By lowering with smaller diameter tires I am able to keep a little bit more suspension travel, yet keep the "Slammed to The Weeds" look!

I made a few measurements along with noting tire sizes at Watkins Glen of 5 Z's in attendance. Let's see if I can paste the info......

Sorry, the excel sheet didn't transfer, but if anyone wants a copy, shoot me a PM with your e-mail address, & I'll send the file.