Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I have a 2002 250rs. Previous owner lowered it with cobra springs, I'm not a fan.

SAU member M35 kindly supplied me the factory ARX springs he removed from his.

I don't have any spare cash but eager to get rid of the low height. At a guess it's 25mm lower than standard.

Anyone see any problems if I just swap in the ARX springs? Don't mind a tall look so much.

Also, any tips/traps I should know about? Planning to buy some spring compressors and do it myself. Have changed shocks on my C34 in the past.

Keen to get advice on the practicality of using ARX springs and on the actual job.

Goes without saying that I'll get an alignment done...

Cheers

Edited by hutchwilco
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/446528-raising-m35-suspension/
Share on other sites

ARX has different shocks as well, not sure if the standard height shocks will work

Hmm, if true that ruins my plans, I've heard that they're the same other than the springs... Can anyone confirm or point me to something conclusive?
  • 2 weeks later...

Will have 40mm longer shocks.

Ok, then what are the implications?

The shock is 40mm shorter than that normally used with this spring.

I assume that when unweighted, the control arm will limit downward travel, rather than the shock fully extending?

Also, would my camber be too far inwards, or workable?

Trying to figure out if this is impossible/dangerous or not.

  • 3 months later...

For the record, I have gone ahead and put in the ARX springs. Been a couple of months and no dramas. ( although recently developed a noise- that's another post and likely not related)

Had the front and rear realigned and the mechanic seemed to think it was sitting fine on the stock shocks with plenty of room either way. Actually far better than than the lowered scenario where the shocks were so close to the bump stops.

The ride is far better given the condition of the roads here, and nice to be able to take on any gravel road or paddock without collecting the local landscape. A little more wobble in the handling at speed but nowhere near as bad as I feared.

I know my shocks are getting near to replacement, so new shocks will improve things.

See photos:

Stock, lowered Cobras and Arx for comparison

post-93528-14174970222344_thumb.jpg

Before height:

post-93528-14174971114489_thumb.jpg

post-93528-14174973060486_thumb.jpg

After height:

post-93528-14174973420946_thumb.jpg

post-93528-14174972768204_thumb.jpg

There is no difference in shocks's sizes ! AR-X, tRS, NISMO's - are same in body length, guide-bar (or rod, don't know the correct translation) length, THEY are same!

this is the main reason of AR-X front suspension's problem - it has very short place for wheel to move down (sorry, i can't explain it in english in right way!), so it's a problem for it to cross small obstacles.

that's why i HATE OEM AR-X springs. AR-X is lifted up only by springs - and this is fail reason. surely, oem shocks may be different in absorbing ability, but not in geometry. you may use them safely, but i can't recommend to do this...

  • Like 1

There is no difference in shocks's sizes ! AR-X, tRS, NISMO's - are same in body length, guide-bar (or rod, don't know the correct translation) length, THEY are same!

this is the main reason of AR-X front suspension's problem - it has very short place for wheel to move down (sorry, i can't explain it in english in right way!), so it's a problem for it to cross small obstacles.

Cool thanks Erop, for the info- makes sense that the shocks are the same, for simplicity and commonality across models.

I see what you're saying about the lack of downward travel for ARX but I didn't do this to go offroad( still only rear wheel drive after all) I did it because

A) I hated having the low springs( how I bought it) in my city, which has Earthquake damage to every street.

B) I got the ARX springs for free ( I don't have any money to spend on customising my car)

C) I occasionally do drive into fields/paddocks/ along unsealed roads (NZ has a lot of these if you leave the main highways) and so extra clearance is a bonus.

Cheers

that's clear, your circumstances are known only to you - customisimg is to do what you personally need!) i ride my AR-X for almost 7 years and far more than 200000+ km of mileage , changed many suspension kits - OEM, Nismo - twice, bilstein, impul, BC, oem for tRS - for everyday drive i prefer Nismo's, they are perfect.... cause they are powerful, very high absorption ability is their feature. comfortable, but stiff. even on earthquake roads - you have them in city, we have it at whole country)) but these roads are OK for Stagea)

my childhood dream is to visit your interesting continent, your country, i believe wonderful people live there) let me show you some pics - http://www.drive2.ru/l/4619962/ and http://www.drive2.ru/l/3481/

it is wonderful to have trip, which has 7000 km in one way, without circles or turnings. you also have big distances, so i dream to cross Australia by car)

[Off-topic history for those on the other side of the world]

Sam lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2,500km or so to the southeast of Australia. It was basically destroyed by over 10,000 earthquakes that occured beneath the city between 2010 and 2012. Much of the central city had to be demolished and large areas are no longer able to be built upon due to liquefaction.

The roads now range from being completely undamaged to completely impassible, I believe 4WD utes are one of the most popular new vehicles there these days, although it's hard to say if this is due to residents buying something more rugged to get around in or the huge number of workers that have moved to the city to work on the rebuild. I applaud anyone in Christchurch who persists in using a "normal" car to get around, I would have bailed and got a Hilux years ago.

Despite the devastation in Christchurch, the rest of New Zealand is still a much better country for driving enthusiasts than Australia. :P

[/Off topic]

  • Like 1

Despite the devastation in Christchurch, the rest of New Zealand is still a much better country for driving enthusiasts than Australia. :P

[/Off topic]

Heh, a fitting summary spoken by someone who must have been here for some of it or at least the aftermath... Probably pretty hard to understand without having been there done that.

I'm in Hawkes Bay but I have workmates and several friends down there. I've never made it past the airport but I monitor a large network and could "see" the quake rolling through it, taking out devices as it went, which obviously wasn't anywhere near as terrifying as being on the ground there. It also kinda dominated news media for a year or so.

Edited by Hertz Donut

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • It would be well worth deciding where you want to go and what you care about. Reliability of everything in a 34 drops MASSIVELY above the 300kw mark. Keeping everything going great at beyond that value will cost ten times the $. Clutches become shit, gearboxes (and engines/bottom ends) become consumable, traction becomes crap. The good news is looking legalish/actually being legal is slighly under the 300kw mark. I would make the assumption you want to ditch the stock plenum too and want to go a front facing unit of some description due to the cross flow. Do the bends on a return flow hurt? Not really. A couple of bends do make a difference but not nearly as much in a forced induction situation. Add 1psi of boost to overcome it. Nobody has ever gone and done a track session monitoring IAT then done a different session on a different intercooler and monitored IAT to see the difference here. All of the benefits here are likely in the "My engine is a forged consumable that I drive once a year because it needs a rebuild every year which takes 9 months of the year to complete" territory. It would be well worth deciding where you want to go and what you care about with this car.
    • By "reverse flow", do you mean "return flow"? Being the IC having a return pipe back behind the bumper reo, or similar? If so... I am currently making ~250 rwkW on a Neo at ~17-18 psi. With a return flow. There's nothing to indicate that it is costing me a lot of power at this level, and I would be surprised if I could not push it harder. True, I have not measured pressure drop across it or IAT changes, but the car does not seem upset about it in any way. I won't be bothering to look into it unless it starts giving trouble or doesn't respond to boost increases when I next put it on the dyno. FWIW, it was tuned with the boost controller off, so achieving ~15-16 psi on the wastegate spring alone, and it is noticeably quicker with the boost controller on and yielding a couple of extra pounds. Hence why I think it is doing OK. So, no, I would not arbitrarily say that return flows are restrictive. Yes, they are certainly restrictive if you're aiming for higher power levels. But I also think that the happy place for a street car is <300 rwkW anyway, so I'm not going to be aiming for power levels that would require me to change the inlet pipework. My car looks very stock, even though everything is different. The turbo and inlet pipes all look stock and run in the stock locations, The airbox looks stock (apart from the inlet being opened up). The turbo looks stock, because it's in the stock location, is the stock housings and can't really be seen anyway. It makes enough power to be good to drive, but won't raise eyebrows if I ever f**k up enough for the cops to lift the bonnet.
    • There is a guy who said he can weld me piping without having to cut chassis, maybe I do that ? Or do I just go reverse flow but isn’t reverse flow very limited once again? 
    • I haven’t yet cut the chassis, maybe I switch to a reverse flow. I’ve got the Intercooler mounted as I already had it but not cut yet. Might have to speak to an engineer 
    • Yes that’s another issue, I always have a front mount, plus will be turbo plus intake will big hasstle. I’ve been told if it looks stock they’re fine with it by a couple others who have done it ahahaha.    I know @Kinkstaah said the stock gtt airbox is limiting but I might just have to do that to avoid a defect so it atleast looks legit. Or an enclosed pod so it’s hidden away and feed air from the snorkel and below Intercooler holes like kinstaah mentioned. Hmm what to do 
×
×
  • Create New...