I just ordered 19" wheels, and so now I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the ride height. I was told by a member on here that the hotchkis springs don't lower the car a great deal, and therefore the stock shocks can still be used. As I've mentioned previously, the only suspension mod that I have is Eibach sway bars in the front and rear. So, given that, I'm about to order the hotchkis springs with the following specs:

Front Front 9/16" (15mm) Drop
340 lbs/in
Stock 310lbs/in

Rear 3/4" (19mm) Drop
330 lbs/in
Stock 350 lbs/in

Prior to ordering, my three questions are:
1. Can I, in fact, use my stock shocks with these springs?
2. Is this going to be low enough to make the car sit agressively?
3. Does anybody have these springs, and are they good?

 

19x10+22 on 275/35.


18x10.5 +15 on 285/35.

Hotchkis has been around for quite some time and several members have them including myself. They ride a tad bit stiffer than stock but barely noticeable. Alignment will still be within specs. I wasn't happy with the drop and decided to change them to Tokico DSpec springs/shocks. Pics above are of them on Hotchkis springs only, stock shocks.

 

Mr sparco-

Thanks, that's good news. What's the lowest I can go and still keep my stock shocks? See, I'm worried about speed humps/bumps amongst other things. Your car looks great by the way. Where do you get someone to install the springs though? That's another worry. Will a Nissan dealership install them? I usually do all the work on my car myself, but I lack a spring compressor. Thanks again.

 

That depends on the mileage of your car and the condition of your struts/shocks. When I first got these springs back in '05, Hotchkis was one of the few that you could run with the stock shocks. Not so sure what else is out there now, haven't been looking or keeping up with trends.

I installed them myself, if you want a cheap Macpherson compressor, you can get them at Harborfreight.com for about 15 bucks.

 

Lowering spring wear the stock shocks fast also there is very little preload on the spring. A compresser is not needed for the install,

 

I had Hotchkis springs before switching to coilovers. Since the tires (255/35/19 and 285/35/19) I have are a little bigger, they fill the gap more.

Installing them is pretty easy if you have a little mechanical knowledge. You can rent the spring compressors from your local Autozone for free. If you have air tool, it will help speed up the process 10x.

I have a few pictures in my albums of my Z lowered on Hotchkis springs with stock shocks if you want to see.

btw, I have an used set for sale. Let me know if you are interested.

 

I have been running Hotchkis springs on my OEM shocks for about 40k miles now. No problems with the shocks that I know of (and I just had the car inspected and they did not report any problems with the shocks. I have always been able to get back within OEM alignment specs (although without aftermarket camber/toe adjustment in the rear, you will get some premature camber/toe wear patterns).

That being said, I would not recommend these springs for a few reasons:
1) Resulting wheel gap is not acceptable (personal preference). Once mine settled I had more wheel gap in the front than in the rear. This is a result of the front-to-rear stance being skewed toward the rear, flattening the car out and eliminating some of the forward rake that it had from the factory. Makes the nose of the car sit relatively too high, eliminates some of the downward slope of the hood, and makes the car look less aggressive in general.

2) The rear springs are softer than OEM. This is particularly noticeable as excessive squat while accelerating, not to mention increased body roll while turning. There is also a lot of "wobble" back and forth when coming out of a turn.

3) My ride height is uneven after the springs settled. I have let's say a little more than 1 finger gap all around except for front driver side, which is 2 fingers gap. End result: When parked on a flat surface looking straight at the front of the car, it sits noticeably tilted down toward the passenger side.

Here is a recent shot parked on a flat road with Hotchkis springs, 255/35/19 front and 285/35/19 rear tires. You can see more wheel gap in the front than in the rear. I'm looking forward to getting ride of these and stepping up to height and damping adjustable coilovers.


For the sake of achieving a good stance and getting the tires just about even with the front fenders, Hotchkis is not what you want. It's all personal preference. At the end of the day the thing that really annoys me is the performance first, and the aesthetics second.

 

My hotchkis springs are awesome. I have the F&R sways and GT-spec bracing F&R. I don't know about the above poster, but my springs and stock shocks give the perfect ride height. I have 1 finger gap between the front and back. I also autoX and do very well...soooo. Check them out...

 

Looks good! Again, I'm just speaking from personal preference. But I should also add that I have not upgraded sway bars or added any other lateral bracing, so I imagine yours would feel and perform much tighter than mine.

Honestly if the front driver side wasn't so jacked up looking, I might consider keeping these springs and upgrading swaybars.

EDIT: For comparison, here is the same car also parked on a flat surface. The wheel gap is even front to rear on the passenger side.


Another thought: The car comes from the factory with more wheel gap in the rear than it has in the front. Seems to me that for weight distribution, the ratio of front to rear ride height should be maintained when lowering the car (assuming the aftermarket spring rates also vary in direct proportion). Meanwhile the Hotchkis springs lower the rear more than the front so that the end result is even wheel gap front to rear. That still leaves the car with some forward rake (due to rear tires are taller than fronts), but seems to me like it's not the f/r ride height ratio that Nissan intended. ( I may be totally off-base here...someone please correct me if so). Just my 2 cents.

 

That's quite a lot to take in..the issue with the stance that Syr110 brought up kind of scares me. Do any of you other guys have the same issue or were those defective springs? And if now hotchkis, then what is another well respected brand? Like I said, I have Eibach sways and I'm very happy with them. I'm wondering how their springs are. Should I go about 1 inch front and rear? I'm putting on 19's with 275/35 rear and 245/35 front.

Terrasmak- that's good to know about the spring compressor. How hard is this to do yourself on a scale of 1-10?

Btw - you guy's cars look great. Thank you for the visuals.

 

These cars never seem to sit level, fuel balance, suspension stiction , and finding a perfectly level surface keep it from measuring out perfect. Even with coilovers it is a PITA to get it even, then it will change.

Spring install would be a 3.5 i would say. If you can change brake pads, you can do a spring swap.

 

Your Z is looking gooood!! You have a point. It is night and day with the sway's and lateral bracing. My car has a little forward rake. Nothing noticeable though.

 

Don't know why Syr110's car is crooked? Mine sat perfectly level on both sides. The rear is a tad bit higher than the front, but absolutely no difference between the left and right side.

 

I'm not sure whether it makes a difference, but mine is a 2006 and Hotchkis designed the springs specifically for 2003-2005 (I think) and did not revise the springs for 2006+. Meanwhile I believe there is some difference int he OEM suspension (the dampers maybe?) between 2003-2005 and 2006+.

 

There are differences in suspensions. I believe it started with the 2004.5 models.

 

I have these springs on my Z and think they're great. They dropped them just enough for me, the car looks aggressive, and I have the stock shocks with the setup.

My car is a 2003 Touring.

 

Okay, mine is a 2005 so I suppose I wont risk having that issue. I think I'm going to order them. Thank you guys for all of the input, definitely appreciated.

For you guys who just recently joined the convo...can you post pics of your rides?

 

BTW, someone is selling a set of Hotchkis springs in the suspension section. I think they're asking for $130 or so. I think that's a great deal.

 

Found some more pics of my car when I had the Hotchkis springs.

 

they have a mild drop

they are less than ideal for any car running a revised shock setup (mid 2004 and onwards all have the revised shocks). You would be better served with a spring like the Tein S Tech for a similar level drop and more appropriate spring rates for your stock shocks

as far as it sitting "aggressive", that's a completely relative term. Some would say the cars shown in this thread are aggressive, others would say they are tame. All depends on your interpretation of the visuals. The aggressiveness, or lack of, is determined by multiple factors, springs being only one of them. Wheel width/offset and not only tire size, but tire choice makes it all come together. When installing springs onto stock shocks you are making a compromise of rideheight vs shock stroke. Only you can decide how much of a compromise you want to make. Any spring that is lower than stock will 'wear' the shocks sooner, though the revised shocks on the 2004.5 and beyond cars are somewhat better than earlier versions.

How many miles are on your car? What are the road conditions like? What tires did you choose? These answers will make selecting the right spring easier