True coilover "supporting" mods

JaykeZ

Will I need all the other suspension components such as camber arms, toe arms, the eccentric lockout kit and end links after converting to a true coilover in the rear or can I stay with all the stock suspension components for now and upgrade them later?

MaysEffect

The control arm components are dependent of the height, not the strut assembly design. If you are lowering (or raising) you car, the camber gain and toe settings changing respective to this. 1/2 inch to 1 inch won't really require all the goodies unless you just want them or are trying to reduce bushing deflection (in this case just get harder bushings).

So NO, you don't have too, but if you want to keep your alignment settings within a reasonable degree, YES you should. Larger tires and wheels with higher offsets will naturally inset the wheel and decrease the SR values. This will nominally offset scrub from negative camber gains. But that is another cost evaluation, in most cases i think such a set of tire/wheels will cost just as much as the control arm pieces.

At best UPPER control arms is the most beneficial in the front, and lower camber arms > toe links in the rear is a good starting point.

Adjustable endlinks is primarily to properly remove/engage pre-load on the ASB. This isn't as important for this suspension design (double A-arm), but very important on McPherson type struts (not on this car). But having too much pre-load will cause odd weight jacking issues which could create annoying taping over uneven roads and steering deflection.

OptionZero

OEM style v True style does not "require" anything, with one exception which I will mention below.

The reason why you should get adjustable arms in the back (Traction, camber, and toe arms is what they're typically called) is for your alignment tech to be able to adjust camber, caster, and toe after you change your ride height. After all, most people aren't getting coilovers to stay at stock height - if you change the height, you change the suspension geometry, which means you need an alignment.

Note that you don't just have to go to stock specs - full adjustability means you can set up your car for more aggressive types of driving. It also allows for much more aggressive wheel fitment.

Back to true v OEM style coilovers, you will need different lower arms
If you go with "true" style, you want these:
Adjustable Rear Toe Arms for the Nissan 370Z and Infiniti G37 | SPL Parts
Obviously, with the spring around the strut you do not need a spring bucket on the arm, and this eliminates it.

If you go with "oem" style, you want these:
Rear Adjustable Toe Midlinks for the 370Z and G37 | SPL Parts
Because they have a spring bucket

The lockout kit works with either. What those do is right in the name - it eliminates the adjustment from the OEM eccentric bolts that were used for camber/toe. They slip over time. If you make them "fixed" (no adjustability), you eliminate that slip. The other arms then give you adjustment in a different component in a better controlled manner.

Because our cars do not have full ad justment ability front and rear, and limited range where there is any, a full setup (from SPL because they are the best) makes a huge difference. It is expensive, sure, but opens up a massive range of possibilities to let you do things to your car

i did it to get cool wheels and look pretty in a parking lot
others did it to go faster around a track

either way, you can do everything

Your final question:
GET EVERYTHING AT ONCE. it's better to save up and get all the components (arms, coilovers). Then your shop can get the car up and throw it all on together, and do an alignment
otherwise you're looking a multiple alignments - wasted effort.

also, if u can, figure out what wheels you want to run so u can account for that as well.
i would have done it but for the massive five month wait between stuff arriving. i put the coilovers and alignment on and got a quick street alignment near stock settings with stock wheels, then when my wheels came i got a more comprehensive one where we took the time to fine tune (and also roll the fenders)

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JaykeZ

Thanks for the insight and great information looks like I'll be saving for a little longer.

Rusty

Which coil-overs you planning on getting? Depending on how low you go. Will depend on what parts you need. If you stay close to stock height. You may not need anything. But if you want parts. SPL is your best bet.

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redondoaveb

I apologize for hijackng the thread but I have a question regarding the rear toe arms. I just purchased Hotchkis sway bars, KW V3 coilovers, SPL fuca's, SPL rear camber arms and SPL front and rear end links. So, I'll need the SPL toe arms also? I'm not sure how low I'm going to go but at least an inch all the way around.
Thanks

MaysEffect

Need - no.... Highly recommended - yes. Setting toe values is significantly more important than camber. But adding the toe arms adds a level of complexity that will make tire wear worse with incorrect values. The oem toe arm will allow more articulation with the rubber bushings. The stiffer bushing/inserts will not. As such the tire has a greater chance of scrubing through the corner. Adding to the fact you got some of the stiffest asb's on the market, tire wear is going to increase tenfold if you don't align/corner balance the car to perfection.

redondoaveb

Thanks for the info. I want to do this right. I'll get them ordered.

redondoaveb

One more question. Since I'll be installing KW's which aren't a true coilover and if I'm going to use the SPL toe arms, would they be taking the place of toe bolts and elogating the holes on the stock control arm mounts? I'm a little confused.

MaysEffect

There aren't any conflicts with running toe arms. The coilover variation is irrelevant.

k67p67

Wait...you can't use OEM-style coilovers with the SPL rear toe arms. You need to retain the spring bucket. You'll need SPC toe bolts and an SPL lockout kit would be helpful.

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redondoaveb

Okay, now I'm really confused

k67p67

The rear toe arms replace the spring buckets for those switching to true-type coilovers. Alternatively, you could use the SPL mid links but you might have to go with Swift springs or something that fits within the mid links adjustable buckets.

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redondoaveb

Otherwise, the only other alternative is toe bolts? I'm curious what other KW users have done for toe adjustment.

OptionZero

did you read what i wrote?

True coilovers = toe arm

OEM style = mid links

the difference between true and oem is where the spring is, so obviously if the spring is around the shock, you don't need the spring bucket and you just get the toe arm

if you are OEM type you need the bucket, which means you get the mid-links that have a bucket

ALSO

note that the SPL mid-link uses 60mm (2.5 inch) spring diameter. I dont think KW springs fit, you will need to call SPL and get some swift springs with the proper diameter

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