daveh

iTrader: (9)

It's amazing how little one can lower a street driven Z. At a 1" drop, I can't even clear a speedbump at the office and my rear evo sway bar scrapes on the smallest of bumps.

G35Sedan, it sounds like you're looking for some ride height info. If you'd like my numbers, shoot me a pm and I can give you what I have. I'm not sure if a G and a Z have same ride heights, but I ultimately want a a .8" drop. Since the bottom front of the car scrapes the ground with the koni's I have, my goal is to keep the stock rake and get the car as low as I can without scraping the bottom of my car to bits.

Gsedan35

iTrader: (10)

The oem G sedan rides 1" higher then the oem Z and the G coupe rides 1/2" higher then the oem Z. No, I was just wondering out loud if the problems with the shocks leaking was do to piston travel, since he's lower then you guy's, so much for that theory.

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the pics. I fortunately haven't had a single problem with my shocks. No leaks, no noise. In fact, they are killer and I'm back in love with my car! I was running 1-2 seconds faster at Streets of Willow the other week than I was on my previous setup, and the car was far more driveable and forgiving. It seems like the noise definitely has to to with the shock tops. Here's what my setup looks like. Keep in mind that I still also have the JIC spring perches on my car. They were perfectly useable, so I didn't bother swapping them out.

John

iTrader: (17)

While I don't know exactly how low my car is, I know it's been dropped over 1". IIRC, Bruce took a measurement of my car, so perhaps he could chime in with the height. Then again, I have scraped my sway bar straddling many curbs at the track, and scraped the exhaust on speedbumps many of times around town.

EnthuZ

iTrader: (2)

I took measurements of all the 350Z's that attended the Watkins Glen CarGuys event.

All measurements were taken at the top of the wheel arch, like in the service manual.

John's: F 25 3/16" avg.
R 25 9/16" avg.

Geoff's: F 25 15/16"
R 26 3/8" avg.

Brian's: F 25 1/2"
R 26 1/4"

BF Jack's: F 24 7/8"
R 26 9/16" avg.

Mine: F 25 1/4"
R 26"

OEM w/18's F 26.89"
R 27.80"


I had scraped my exhaust big time prior to lowering, and I have yet to scrape it since, but I do bottom out more now.

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

Here are some more data points from my car. Heights measured at top of fender:
RF 25.2"
LF 25.8"
RR 26.4"
LR 26.0"

Avg.
F 25.5"
R 26.2

It seems like these cars are pretty sensitive to front to rear rake adjustments (well, I guess most cars are). We had done some experimentation with running the rear a bit higher relative to the front (more than a 1" difference). I found that setup a bit too tail happy, and not as stable when trailbraking and turning-in. I like the more 'level' front to rear rake like stock a lot better.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

Update:
Truechoice fixed leaking shock and haven't had a problem since.

Redfoot

iTrader: (25)

That kind of service / support is totally unacceptable. My front shock was returned from Truechoice with oil on the body, I have not put it on the road yet, so I do not know if is fixed or not. Sounds like Unitech needs to also send you a complete replacement set of monoball mounts for the rears. If I don't find the magic in this setup next weekend at Grattan I might try to sell these off. I was quite statisfied with my old Koni sport / Hotchkis setup.

jmark

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like they didn't even fix the shocks. Sad for all the money you guys spent......

daveh

iTrader: (9)

I sent them off to Truechoice directly for repair and they turned them around in a week and sent them back to me good as new with a shock dyno.
In terms of the upper mount. I had a teflon bearing pressed in locally so things are quiet for me now.

dnguyent

iTrader: (5)

I've been following this thread, and am disappointed that one of the most promising suspension system offered for the Z33 is riddled with problems. I hope they make thinks right for you daveh, but as I see it, I'll need to wait longer for something more reliable to come out

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

I'm really bummed about this as well. A lot of time and research went into this setup, and the results are awesome when functioning properly. I guess I'm lucky, but I haven't had a single problem with these coilovers, and my car now handles as I always wished it would. Unfortunately, it sounds like others with the system keep running into issues!
Hopefully, these issues will be ironed out. If anyone local to me wants to see what the system can do on the track or street, feel free to contact me. I've taken a number of individuals out on the track to show them what it can do, and I'd be happy to do the same for anyone else.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

Edit:
All issues have been resolved and these shocks are awesome! Between the knowledge of Unitech and Truechoice I feel that I've got one of the best setups for the money.

mchapman

iTrader: (1)

This is a disaster story.

palepony

iTrader: (8)

any updates guys?

there are very few DA options out there and many of us were hoping this would be it. finding it hard to commit to these with the trouble owners have had.

pp

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

I ran Streets of Willow last Friday 11/18. I ran a 1:29.8 lap time. I was probably one of the top 4 or 5 fastest cars there. The only car that I know for a fact was faster than me was a C5 Z06 on Hoosier race slicks. On my previous suspension setup on comparable tires, I ran a 1:34.xxx at Streets. My ability on the track has improved, but I attribute at the very least 2 seconds of that difference to the suspension. I haven't had a single problem with my setup to date...no leaks, bottoming, etc...nothing. My car handles incredibly, and I'm having the most fun I've ever had with it in the 3+ years of ownership. That's about it for me.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

Funny you should ask, I just got my last shock returned from Truechoice last week. Truechoice has always been great about turning around the shocks within a week with no hassles. I installed the shock with another new upper mount from unitech. The upper mount is also very tight so I lubed it up a bit and put it on the car. As it stands it creaks very loudly and binds a little but I am hoping it loosens up in time.

Here are the cliff notes:
Performance is still great, as it has always been. The car does exactly what I want, when I want. The amt of balance, control and stability I now have is just silly. I am posting times that are close to fully prepped T2 cars (if subtracting 2 seconds since I don't run hoosiers).
The whole setup is kind of strange in the sense that it so softly sprung but works so well. I scrape my front end quite hard on turn 1 at infineon and the car pitches and rolls quite a bit, but the car is so stable it's not in any way unsettling.

I think all of my concerns have been dealt with. I now have enough rear shock travel after trimming the bump stops and moving the 1/2" washer. After the last round of reinstalling all shocks, I made the upper mount nuts super tight which helped the rattling a little bit (hopefully the new tight monoball will loosen up and stop creaking). The noise level is about what I'd expect out of a race upper mount. I may have my local shop press in some teflon monoballs which are a little quieter at some point. While I am disappointed that 3 out of my 4 shock have leaked or blown, Truechoice has taken good care of me and I don't anticipate any shock problems from here on out.

I am looking forward to next season and am anticipating a trouble free experience.

palepony

iTrader: (8)

thanks J Ritt and daveh

daveh - good to see you're getting your issues resolved

J Ritt, or Enthuz for that matter - I gathered you two were intimately involved with the development. Is truechoice/unitech aware of the discussion on this board about reliability issues? and curious as to what their, the manufacturers, thoughts are on that. ( example. why they think so many of their shocks are leaking?). And what they have implemented to improve their quality?

thanks guys, much appreciated

pp

daveh

iTrader: (9)

To answer a couple of your quesstions, yes Unitech is aware that I started this thread. In terms of quality, they said that since the shocks are hand made, it raises the potential for problems. Hopefully the number of shocks that have been sent in for repair is incentive enough to tighten quality control. I have run a couple problem free track days since receiving my last shock. In fact I cranked up the dampening this morning for a "sporting" ride to work

EnthuZ

iTrader: (2)

Since my name came up, I guess I should respond. I haven't had any issues with my shocks. So far. And I have about 4000 miles on them. I like them, but honestly, I have not taken the time to play with the shock valving......yes, I'm lazy!

I can't say they drastically improved my lap times either. BUT.....I'd call myself an intermediate driver.....still!

That said, when I found out Truechoice was working on a set-up for the 350Z, I knew they were for drivers that understand 10.1 tenths driving. AND for owners that have the inclination to experiment with the available settings.

The only change I might make for my driving skill(or lack there of) is to reduce the rear spring rate to 400 or 375 lbs. They are a slight bit too oversteery with my Hotchkis bars.