Kyb lowfer suspension and 370z Akebono brakes in the M35

[andynogo]

Got sick of the wife complaining about brakes shuddering on our 02 M35 ARX. Kept on replacing the rotors but they only lasted a short while before warping again.

Bought some R34GTT front calipers and found that they bolt on but the standard ARX 18's don't fit over them. Went looking for rims in Perth and found a set of 18's off a wrecked 370z. The seller persuaded me to buy the matching Akebono brakes as well...

The car needed suspension as well as the shocks were stuffed. Ordered a kit of KYB Lowfer springs and shocks from RHD Japan... Had to be made to order so took a month or two to arrive.

Front lower ball joints were stuffed too so ordered those in off ebay. So much for a simple brake job!

A cordless rattle gun made taking the suspension apart really easy. It all came off without any problems and the kyb kit fitted perfectly. The nasty bit is using coil spring compressors but other than that it all goes together just fine. The rear suspension is pretty quick to replace and you can do both sides in half an hour. Fronts take a bit longer as there's more to unbolt. You can do it without removing the steering knuckle with a bit of wiggling, easier when you take it out.

The ball joints were a pain and i took them to a suspension shop to press the old ones out and new ones in.

The front Akebonos need adaptors to mount- same as the 350z ones and easily available from the US. You can use the 370 front lines from the caliper back to the connection on the inner wheel well with a little bending of the hard line. If you use the Stagea line you need to remove the brass fitting in the banjo hole in the caliper. A sharp screw screwed in then you can pull it out. I didn't do this on my fronts but did on the backs as the lines are too different.

You have to remove the backing plates back and front. Either cut them with tin snips etc or unbolt the bearings and take them off.

The rear Akebono calipers bolt straight up which makes life easy!

Just for comparison, the discs i took off weigh 6.5kg each. The new 370z ones weigh 13kg each! The new calipers are a bit lighter as they are aluminium instead of cast iron.

Once finished the new springs dropped my ARX around 4cm so looks normal now!

Brakes work really well, as they should! I don't think you need to change the master cylinder like i was advised as the pedal has plenty of feel and not too much travel.

The other thing i had to do was roll and flarethe rear guards as the fat rear tyres and extra offset of the 370z rear wheels made them rub badly. The boys at DIY Garage in Malaga (WA) came to the rescue and sorted them. I trimmed the plastic ARX flares to suit. Overall i love the look but wonder how long the rear tyres will last with quite a bit of neg camber on them...

Have a bunch of photos, just need to work out how to get them on from my phone...

[m35stagea]

I run akebonos as well. They make the biggest difference but f**k that unsprung weight is huge.