Swifts killing my Nismo Struts?
 

All,

I installed my Swifts 13 months ago, and until recently everything was smooth and fine. After about 12,000 miles on them, I have started to notice that if I am at high speed, such as highway driving, if I hit a bump or ridge, the shocks compress "harder" than they used to and I hear a sound like air being pushed out of them. Any thoughts?

My fear is that the struts are beginning to go. Swift ensured me that everything would be fine and that they designed the springs for the 370z, but I wonder if the increased stiffness is reducing the life of the stock struts significantly. If the struts are going, what can I do?

I have the Nismo. Swifts, with rear SPL camber kit. I live in Orange County in case it helps with road condition questions.

Thanks for any help.

Hmmmm, I have had my Swifts installed for around 10k miles. It still feels the same as the day I installed them. Now I believe they manufactured the spring around the stock dampers which the Nismo doesnt have. Maybe that has something to do with it???

I just installed my swifts last week so I can't really comment on your particular situation. If you are looking for other options, Koni Yellows are probably your best bet without going to a full coilover. PM Saku at KamiSpeed and he can get you a quote...

Koni Sport Yellow Shock Set - 370Z

Hmm... From my experience if your shocks are blown, your car should feel mushier and bouncier.

Have you looked at your shocks yet?
If you see any oily greasy shiny stuff on it then they are probably going bad.

If the shocks are going, I would just pay a little extra money for a set of coilovers and get it over with.
Theyr supposed to perform reliably under extreme stress, so there should be no reason for them to fail early under normal driving conditions right?

Now about the life reduction of the stock struts you're wondering about, yes, increased stiffness does reduce the life of stock struts.
How significantly? I cant really give you a straight answer on that, there are so many factors that are involved.

Think of it this way. When you rub your hands together it makes friction and gets warmer. The faster and harder you rub them, the faster it is for your hands to get warmer and even hotter.
The same thing goes for your struts.
So when you take a strut thats only supposed to move a certain amount of fluid at a certain rate and force it to move that fluid at a much faster rate, it's gonna be making a lot more heat and stress than it used to causing it to wear quicker than what the manufacturer had said.


I hope I answered your questions and clarified any misinformation.

Here are the links of where I got my information from.


HowStuffWorks "Dampers: Shocks"

http://www.suspensionwholesale.com/A...l/Default.aspx

http://www.the370z.com/brakes-suspen...nt-shocks.html

mine dont feel like that, but yes the factory shocks arnt made for those springs.

Just remember, when installing lowering springs you have to accept that your shocks will degrade a little quicker, but not by a lot.

The OEM shocks are valved for the OEM setup, 12,000 is not that early for them to fail after using the Swifts.

I would recommend picking up a set of Koni yellows shocks or Tanabe Sustec Coilovers and you should be able to notice the difference right away

You've driven 12,000 miles after installing Swifts, or you have 12,000 miles on the stock shocks todal? How many miles total are on the shocks?

Tire Rack has the Koni Yellows for pretty cheap right now....just saying :stirthepot:

humm.. I have 8k on my same setup. I even track my car. I have zero issue..

I've had mine on for a year and 5,000 miles and they feel identical to when I first had the Swift springs installed. I've gone through canyons and driven through the horrible LA county roads and they are still doing great. *knock on wood*

I think you might have seen a failure that's out of the ordinary. However, I can say that I've seen brand new Nismo shocks fail before, so these types of things do happen from time to time, but it's definitely not the norm.