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Thought i'd share my results with people looking to swap out their stock suspension for a set of nismo springs and shocks/struts off a 07-08 usdm nismo. According to the service manual for 2003-2004 models, the Wheelarch Height for models with 225/45r18 (front) and 245/45r18 (rear), should be around 26.89in (front) and 27.76in (rear) with a full tank of gas. Well here are my results with a full tank of gas, same tire setup, and near leveled garage floor:
Driver Front:
Driver Rear:
Passenger Front:
Passenger Rear:
So there you have it. Fronts sit about .5" lower and rears about .25" lower. Also, I picked this setup used for $200. It had approx. 20k miles on it before the owner decided to "upgrade" to raceland coilvers haha.
UPDATE: It could also be that my car is 11 years old. This is a 2004 performance edition with 89k miles. The only aftermarket suspension parts i have are, spc rear camber arms, whiteline lower control arm inner bushing, and whiteline compression arm bushing. Everything else is stock and in good condition.
Also i didnt take any "before" pictures, because it wouldnt be fair to compare these to some 11 year old shocks/struts with 80k miles on it.
Great info CJ! Holy bejeesuz, man, $200?!? You stole that. The Yamaha shocks and Nismo springs are what make the Nismo what Nissan claimed the "best handling Z ever". I can't fathom how or why the guy who sold them to you could EVER consider a $500 set of "coilovers" an upgrade. Good lawd......
I will NEVER swap out my Yamahas - in the interest of keeping the car original and frankly, my Niz handles BETTER than my '03 on everything-changed suspension. Well, OK, performance wise about the same but the ride is WAAAAAYYY better than my '03 thereby giving it the edge.
I've got a set of Nismo shocks and springs on my '08, and didn't notice any real change in ride height when I swapped the parts at ~30k miles. Also, the shocks are made by Tokico. It's the chassis dampeners that are made by Yamaha.
Interesting. I always thought the ride height was the same between the Nismo & non-Nismo cars. You are really doing yourself a disservice by pairing them with the stock struts.
Great info CJ! Holy bejeesuz, man, $200?!? You stole that. The Yamaha shocks and Nismo springs are what make the Nismo what Nissan claimed the "best handling Z ever". I can't fathom how or why the guy who sold them to you could EVER consider a $500 set of "coilovers" an upgrade. Good lawd......
I will NEVER swap out my Yamahas - in the interest of keeping the car original and frankly, my Niz handles BETTER than my '03 on everything-changed suspension. Well, OK, performance wise about the same but the ride is WAAAAAYYY better than my '03 thereby giving it the edge.
Great buy, dude!
Mic
I'm still trying to find a deal on used yamaha dampers
Interesting. I always thought the ride height was the same between the Nismo & non-Nismo cars. You are really doing yourself a disservice by pairing them with the stock struts.
The S-Tune suspension does lower the car, but as I found on my '08, the oem Nismo doesn't. Which is why I installed the oem - I've got issues with speed bumps in my work parking garage.
I've got a set of Nismo shocks and springs on my '08, and didn't notice any real change in ride height when I swapped the parts at ~30k miles. Also, the shocks are made by Tokico. It's the chassis dampeners that are made by Yamaha.
Dean, I'm pretty sure I'm right *this time* . Nismo worked with Yamaha to develop the shocks. However, it is entirely possible that they were built by Tokico for Nismo, using Yamaha's design. I can't really find any conclusive evidence of who actually built them but....
"The car's suspension has been thoroughly massaged. It rides about a half inch lower and features new shocks developed by Yamaha exclusively for the Nismo 350Z."
"The car also had NISMO-tuned independent multi-link suspension developed by Yamaha,"
And just about every other thing I've read on the Z33N indicates they are a Yamaha product - along with the chassis isolation dampeners.
But in the end, all I really care about is that THEY WORK. Used to claim that my BMW 3-series back in the '80s was the best handling STOCK car I owned until now... Suffice, I am more confident in pushing the limits of the Niz over my '03 - which is no slouch with all the stuff I have pinning it to the ground.
As far as the ride height discrepancy you mentioned, it's possible that putting the later model springs/shocks on an earlier Z33 could result in the lowering that the OP indicated. As always, all of our cars are a little different and a 12mm lowering might be due to the later model specs. You went from '08 to '08 setup so there may be negligible or no difference per se.
I've got a set of Nismo shocks and springs on my '08, and didn't notice any real change in ride height when I swapped the parts at ~30k miles. Also, the shocks are made by Tokico. It's the chassis dampeners that are made by Yamaha.
Well, it could be that my car is 11 years old. I have a 2004 performance edition with 89k miles. So maybe that's why it sits lower. But yeah, I thought it would raise my car cause of the higher spring rates but i guess not.
Great info CJ! Holy bejeesuz, man, $200?!? You stole that. The Yamaha shocks and Nismo springs are what make the Nismo what Nissan claimed the "best handling Z ever". I can't fathom how or why the guy who sold them to you could EVER consider a $500 set of "coilovers" an upgrade. Good lawd......
I will NEVER swap out my Yamahas - in the interest of keeping the car original and frankly, my Niz handles BETTER than my '03 on everything-changed suspension. Well, OK, performance wise about the same but the ride is WAAAAAYYY better than my '03 thereby giving it the edge.
Great buy, dude!
Mic
Yup, He didnt stop there though. He also sold his Rays Wheels to get a set of STR Wheels...
Interesting. I always thought the ride height was the same between the Nismo & non-Nismo cars. You are really doing yourself a disservice by pairing them with the stock struts.
Not sure if that last sentence is in reference to my post. But this is a complete nismo set (spring and shock/strut), not non-nismo shock/strut w/ nismo springs.
Dean, I'm pretty sure I'm right *this time* . Nismo worked with Yamaha to develop the shocks. However, it is entirely possible that they were built by Tokico for Nismo, using Yamaha's design. I can't really find any conclusive evidence of who actually built them but....
"The car's suspension has been thoroughly massaged. It rides about a half inch lower and features new shocks developed by Yamaha exclusively for the Nismo 350Z."
"The car also had NISMO-tuned independent multi-link suspension developed by Yamaha,"
And just about every other thing I've read on the Z33N indicates they are a Yamaha product - along with the chassis isolation dampeners.
But in the end, all I really care about is that THEY WORK. Used to claim that my BMW 3-series back in the '80s was the best handling STOCK car I owned until now... Suffice, I am more confident in pushing the limits of the Niz over my '03 - which is no slouch with all the stuff I have pinning it to the ground.
As far as the ride height discrepancy you mentioned, it's possible that putting the later model springs/shocks on an earlier Z33 could result in the lowering that the OP indicated. As always, all of our cars are a little different and a 12mm lowering might be due to the later model specs. You went from '08 to '08 setup so there may be negligible or no difference per se.
Mic
The shocks are actually stamped "Tokico" and below that, the part numbers, really. R&T isn't going to be the authority here. I've got a spare set I can snap some pics of later, if anyone's interested in the details.
Well, it could be that my car is 11 years old. I have a 2004 performance edition with 89k miles. So maybe that's why it sits lower. But yeah, I thought it would raise my car cause of the higher spring rates but i guess not.
There was a revision in the non-Nismo suspension, maybe in '05 or '06, I can't recall, and that may also account for the ride height difference. When the HR cars first came out and guys were modding their suspension, the OEM parts become a slightly hot commodity as a bolt-on upgrade to the earlier cars.
Yup, He didnt stop there though. He also sold his Rays Wheels to get a set of STR Wheels...
Thanks, CJ, for ruining my day and starting it with a cringe and sore jaw from clenching them so hard.
STR wheels aren't bad for reps but oh lawdy...
Originally Posted by dcains
The shocks are actually stamped "Tokico" and below that, the part numbers, really. R&T isn't going to be the authority here. I've got a spare set I can snap some pics of later, if anyone's interested in the details.
Yeah, that's what I was saying about the OEM supplier might have been Tok - Tokico being one of the largest OEM suppliers of shocks to the Japanese mfgrs - but I'll have to try and find the article - in Japanese (which admittedly doesn't make it genuine ) - that talked about Yamaha's hand in the suspension development. The one I had to have my mother-in-law roughly translate for me... hahahaha!
OK, I'll revise what I said.... "I'm never going to trade out my Yamaha-DEVELOPED Tokico shocks." Ha!
Nismo Suspension lowers Non-Nismo Z
. Nismo worked with Yamaha to develop the shocks. However, it is entirely possible that they were built by Tokico for Nismo, using Yamaha's design. I can't really find any conclusive evidence of who actually built them but....
Heh heh.