Taming the Beast: Suspension Upgrades

I spent the last few weeks doing some much needed maintenance and upgrades to the suspension on BLAZTR. 

I have had my eyes on a set of coilovers to replace my TEIN Street Advance coils. In late March I was finally able to buy some Powertrix Ultralight Coilovers with Swift Springs. As I was pulling off the rear coilovers I found that the bushings on my SPC rear upper control arms and traction arms were pretty worn out so I opted to replace these components with Powertrix parts as well. 

(Above: Worn out SPC Traction Rod)

(Above: Powertrix UL coilovers with Swift Spring Powetrix RUCAS and Traction Rods)

After getting the car back on the ground I took the new setup for a quick cruise. The improvement in ride quality was HUGE. During that short cruise I noticed the biggest improvement in acceleration and braking and the elimination of wheel hop. 

The next day I took the car in for alignment at a local shop who is good with Z32s. Shortly after I get a call informing me that the front suspension would align due to a worn lower control arm. Lower control arms are something that I haven't touched since owning the car, so I am left to assume that they have never been serviced. I began searching for a high performance option for the lower control arms when I found these arms on Ebay (Pictured Below)

These arms are Nissan OEM lower control arms upgraded with Genuine Nismo bushings and fresh seat of NOK ball joints from Japan. They are then powdercoated Nismo Silver and are garnished with a NISMO decal. After reading through the product description of the product on Ebay I realized that they arms are offered by Z32 Afficionado Bernie Bilski. 

After the replacement arms from Bernie I removed my old worn out arms and was shocked to see the condition they were in. The rubber had completely ripped through on the passenger side arm. 

After getting the new front control arms replaced I was able to get the car aligned and was able to take the car out and put it through its paces. I am amazed with how the Z is handling now. Very stable under acceleration, braking, and through the curves. I am also very thankful that I replaced these components before they catastrophically failed.

Don't be a goon like me! Inspect your suspension!

(Below: Blaster Z and Wayne Sanders 89' Fairlady TT before a sunset cruise)