R34 Gt-T Suspension Travel - How Much Is Standard?

[Kinks]

How much travel in the + and - direction should an R34 GTT have? I just had a set of Bilsteins fitted using std springs and the rear felt weird.. very unsettled and "hoppy" and made some ugly mechanical clunks when going over bumps. It felt like I didn't have proper suspension travel.

I took it back to the shop and with standard springs and standard circlip groove there is *zero* suspension travel in the droop direction. ie, the mechanic jacked up both sides of the car and the suspension arms didn't move at all, the car simply lifted off the ground and the wheel went with it. No wonder it felt weird, I only had "bump" travel.. no rebound travel.

Mechanic suggested extra grooves and lowering approx 20mm. I'm fine with this as it ended up a bit higher than standard with new shocks and subframe bushes. However, I'm wondering if 20mm of spring platform change is going to give the suspension enough travel. What's the normal travel figure? It almost sounds like they've put the wrong shocks in.

[Trex]

Too short a shock. You need something longer with longer springs. Shorter with shorter. 2cm would be pushing it I think.

It's stupidly dangerous ATM, if you brake hard enough the rear may lift off the ground, I've seen it happen.

I'll try and find the video of an is200 that has no travel, he hit a small bump while booting it on a freeway and lost control. It wasn't pretty.

Edit: just saw you're an '03 member. I feel like I've been trolled.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Stagea97

[Trex]

[Kinks]

Too short a shock. You need something longer with longer springs. Shorter with shorter. 2cm is nothing mate.

It's stupidly dangerous ATM, if you brake hard enough the rear may lift off the ground, I've seen it happen.

I'll try and find the video of an is200 that has no travel, he hit a small bump while booting it on a freeway and lost control. It wasn't pretty.

That video is fail, but I knew it would be as soon as I saw those stupid f**king wheels poking out with ridiculous camber. Aside from no suspension travel he's practically riding on the sidewalls.

Thanks for the advice otherwise, I know what feels right and wrong and the back end was all kinds of wrong. It's back at the shop, and I'll call them in the morning to make sure they fix it properly. I'm mainly wondering what a sensible amount of droop is (how much the centre of wheel to guard changes when you jack up one corner, is the droop)

[GTSBoy]

I think there may have been a rash of ridiculously short Bilsteins sold to Skyline drivers at some stage. I was going to buy a set of almost new Bilsteins that were coming off an R32 in favour of some (shitty, no doubt) coilovers. These things were more than 100mm shorter than my existing R32 dampers above the spring platform, and 10mm shorter below. These cannot have been intended for a Skyline, must have been for something else. You wouldn't have even been able to fit my springs onto them. Weird.

[Kinks]

Interesting. Mine are brand new.

[Trex]

80mm for standard Stagea shocks/springs. Similar/the same as 33 & 34 units.

May give you something to think about tonight. But yours and coilovers will be shorter than this. I'd say 40mm may be adequate for a daily. But I'm not sure

[niZmO_Man]

That Altezza t-boned that van pretty well. Successfully "tuned" for fail.