I think you misunderstood what I said. Allow me to clarify:

I said that Bilstein runs all their inverted strut applications one way. If they did change the design for the Z application to an inverted damper, that's how they would do it (and it would therefore be easy to tell on new dampers). You said that I shouldn't assume. I pointed out that my "assumption" was based on their existing design strategy (I do have experience with inverted Bilsteins in other applications- maybe I should have pointed that out earlier).

At no point did I ever state that they had always been inverted on the Z.

And no, I didn't miss the part about you running Bilsteins (I even quoted it, if you'll refer back to my post), I merely found it irrelevant beyond determining whether the originals were inverted. You confirmed they are not, and I moved on with the discussion. I then mentioned that I had ordered a set, and they are currently being produced in Germany, so if the design has changed, these will be the new design. I'm not expecting them to be inverted dampers, however, for reasons outlined in my post.

I hope that clears things up.

 

Swift seems like a good choice. I wanna know, is the drop even? Or is the front lower than the rear? Since its 1.2"/1" drop.

 

It's a little lower in the front. This is due to the taller tires in the rear. So it has that aggressive rake.

 

I hope it’s OK that I brought this thread back. I thought it would be useful for people considering the amount of drop they want. This thread is similar to the one I started…

https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-...coil-over.html

… with the main difference being the springs (Tein S-Tech drop the car about half an inch while the Swift springs take the car down a full inch). Bilstein Heavy Duty Dampers are very comparable to the Bilstein B8 shocks I installed.

The important point you see in this thread and the one I started is the significant cost savings when installing springs and shocks vs. coilovers. If you don’t track your car, you don’t need the extra expense of the coilovers or additional suspension components to adjust camber and toe. Coilovers also require some amount of expertise to attain the proper adjustment.

 

Of course it's all good that you brought it back... Glad to see people still using it.

Take some pics and post them! Make sure you state that you have Tein springs not swift so nobody gets confused .

 

Well, Bilstein hasn't changed their design, it seems. The shocks I got are standard, not inverted. Came off the boat from Germany on the 15th.

 

Hey OP, how does this setup handle over potholes? our roads aren't great here, and the stock suspension doesn't dampen them enough, would like a more sporty but comfortable feel. I was thinking of going with the KW V3's, but those aren't in my budget anymore....

 

Awesome, nice job on following through and congrats on the new setup.

 

Now I just have to find time to install them. It'll be a pretty big project, as the rear camber and toe adjustments are rusted solid. I've been soaking them with blaster,and I have a few strategies to try so maybe it'll go easily.

Interesting that the B12 pro-kit came with B8 shocks, seems like they used to come with B6. Mine are definitely B8 part numbers.

 

Buy replacement bolts anyway, and an impact wrench - sorted

 

Already have the bolts. I hope it's as easy as using an impact. We bought this car new in 04 and daily drove it in Minneapolis until 2012. I've found a few strategies that the honda kids use to get their LCA bolts out without breaking them, so that's probably my best bet at the moment. I'm thinking it's going to take an air hammer and a lot of patience. And possibly a sawzall.

Anyway, I think we should call this setup the Swiftstein.

I'm hoping to ditch the eibach springs that came with the B12 kit in favor of swifts, but my mod budget for this car is mostly used up at this point, though I'm hoping to maybe still score a used set. Car modding is kind of an engineering challenge for me, so I set a budget and try to do as much as possible inside of it.

 

it handles as good as it can, I'm in Detroit now. So we have the worst roads in the US. I still get around just fine.

 

Finished it up last night. Took about 6 hours to get the rear apart, but didn't break any bolts. I'm getting it aligned at 3 today, but the car already feels great. It's already quite a bit more responsive than on stock springs, but the ride is better than stock. There are a few irregularities in the pavement in my neighborhood and it just soaks them up now instead of jostling the car around. I was expecting a great setup with this and I wasn't disappointed.

I have Eibach bars, both set full soft for now. I may stiffen them up to see how it feels. Turn-in is already lightning quick. Luckily, changing bar settings doesn't require jacks or taking the wheels off so it'll be easy to dial the car in.

 

^^ Did you install any additional suspension components other than the Eibach Sway Bars?

 

Nope. Alignment shop got it into spec. I was gonna replace the shock to control arm bushings, but the tool couldn't push it all the way through. I'll do it when the compression arm and translink bushings crap the bed.

I may go stiffer on the front bar. It seems to want to oversteer right now, but I haven't pushed it as hard as I like yet.

 

If you were going after oem comfort, why not go with oem?

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say because the oem wheel gap is suv status, not very pleasing to the eyes......

 

I heart my KW's

 

You are completely correct. A very slight drop (even just 1/2") looks better. You can even drop about an inch without having to replace suspension components (control arms, etc.). --Spike

 

Amen brother. I'm dropped 3/4" (hotchkis) and it looks very similar to the op's drop. Probably because of the bilsteins tendency to rob you of .5" of your advertised drop. My rear def needed a camber/toe kit though. It depends on the car. The front is slightly out of spec but not by much, a lil camber never hurt anybody Most days i think the drop is perfect but there are some I wish I was a tad lower. Had an eibach pro kit sitting in my garage collecting dust for a while now, I can't seem to bring myself to installing it....