Upscale Speed

iTrader: (18)

I'm in need of some help making choices on how to setup my car. I recently purchased some 20" wheels, Rennen C10's (+24 front and +45 rear) from a member here. Tires are 245/35/ZR20's up front and 275/30/ZR20's in the rear. I may swap the rear tires for 285/30/ZR20 but was informed by the previous owner I'd need to roll and/or pull the rear fenders, which I'm not opposed to doing. He didn't experience any drivability issues with the AWD system running this setup so I most likely will stick with it unless I do. That aside my plans are to get Hotchkiss front and rear sway bars and at the very least Swift Springs for now. Can anyone tell me what camber their cars had after installing swifts on an X sedan? -2 or less would be fine with me, but more I'd want camber kits.

Eventually or maybe right away I may opt for Fortune 500 coilovers. If I do I assume camber kits are a must.

There are a few major concerns I have aside from the price difference.

1. If I opt for the Swifts on stock shocks/struts what camber will I be running front and rear? I searched and didn't have any luck finding this.
2. With Swifts and sways running this wheel/tire combo what kind of ride should I be expecting? My last car (Altima 3.5SE 6spd) had coilovers, sways, upgraded end links but I ran stock wheels and on a stiffer setting (front and rear) it wasn't bad. Would this setup be about the same, slightly rougher or significantly rougher?
3. If I opt for coilovers I'd lower it to about a 1-1.5 finger gap front and rear. At 1.5 finger gap would I need a camber kit? That seems to be about the same clearance as the Swifts, am I right?
4. Considering the rear tires are wide I believe a little negative camber would be necessary for proper fitment without pulling/rolling the fenders. How wide of a tire can you run without rolling/pulling fenders if your rear camber is -2 or less?
5. How is the ride with Swifts on stock shocks/struts with sways? Will the shocks/struts be able to handle the increased preload for a while (couple years at least), my car has 45k on it now.

Sorry for the long post and I know some of these questions are very specific, but any insight from members that have the same model car and have gone through these steps already would be greatly appreciated.

airman20012001

iTrader: (2)

I have an awd coupe, and I'm interested in this also. I'm wondering if I buy coilovers how far I can lower it without a camber kit and still be spec. I'm thinking about the fortune 500s also we should try and get a group buy, see if we could save a few bucks

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Replies in bold
1. If I opt for the Swifts on stock shocks/struts what camber will I be running front and rear? I searched and didn't have any luck finding this.
Your camber should settle in around -2 to -2.4 give or take
2. With Swifts and sways running this wheel/tire combo what kind of ride should I be expecting? My last car (Altima 3.5SE 6spd) had coilovers, sways, upgraded end links but I ran stock wheels and on a stiffer setting (front and rear) it wasn't bad. Would this setup be about the same, slightly rougher or significantly rougher?
OEM wheel size you ran on your Altima, the 20s is what will really firm up the ride. Swifts,sways & 20s will be rough.
3. If I opt for coilovers I'd lower it to about a 1-1.5 finger gap front and rear. At 1.5 finger gap would I need a camber kit? That seems to be about the same clearance as the Swifts, am I right?
Not sure about the Fortunes but most COs lower pretty low in back, even at the highest setting. MY RWD COs are at zero gap in back and I only have about 3/8" that I can raise it.
4. Considering the rear tires are wide I believe a little negative camber would be necessary for proper fitment without pulling/rolling the fenders. How wide of a tire can you run without rolling/pulling fenders if your rear camber is -2 or less?
What widths are the Rennens? I run 295s in back w/ a 10" +45 and running little camber (-0.60 degrees). If you have 10" Rennens in back you can run up to 285s without issue. And the 245/35 ~285/30 combo is the best match for AWDs
5. How is the ride with Swifts on stock shocks/struts with sways? Will the shocks/struts be able to handle the increased preload for a while (couple years at least), my car has 45k on it now. There's no way to predict the life of the OEM dampers, too many variables. But they will have their lifespan cut short w/ the added preload w/ the shorter springs

I would strongly recommend the camber/toe sets, a small up front price for the long term gain.

Upscale Speed

iTrader: (18)

Thank you very much for the detailed reply blnewt. To answer your question the stock wheels on my altima were 17's I had 215/55/ZR17 tires on them, the Rennens are 10.5" wide in the rear and 8.5" wide up front. Do you think I could get away with running 285's, drop my car on swifts, run -2 or less camber and not rub?

Also do you think I'd need a front camber kit too if I lower the car with Swifts?

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Yes, you can definitely run 285s on 10.5 +45s, there's been a couple sedan guys running 295s on 10.5 +45. The 285s will allow you to run less negative camber too.
Here's Dagons' sedan running 295s on 10.5" +45 for reference
https://www.myg37.com/forums/brakes-...ml#post3527596

Upscale Speed

iTrader: (18)

Awesome I will switch out the rears for 285's then as I had originally planned. Do you think I'll need a front camber kit too if I go with the Swifts? I think I'm leaning in that direction now as I don't want to be super low. Maine roads can be rough.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

I'd get them but that's your call, not hard to install at a later date if your alignment isn't as good as you hope. But then you'd have to pay for another alignment

Upscale Speed

iTrader: (18)

Luke at THMotorsports got back to me and for the X sedan running Fortune 500 coilovers the max rear height is about .5" lower than stock so I could just get those and lower them a little bit so I'm around 1.25-1.4" lower than stock, get a camber kit for the rear, camber kit for the front, get the sways, get an alignment and be done.

My question is how is the ride difference between the springs that come with the Fortune 500 coilovers to begin with vs. the Swifts that you can upgrade too. $300.00 more makes them less of a bargain but if the ride difference is far better than I would definitely consider it.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

You might want to post a new thread about those springs or shoot a PM to a couple guys in the Fortune review thread that went w/ the Swifts.
Sounds like you have a pretty good plan there
You might also consider calling Fortune 500 and speaking w/ the techs over there, never hurts to try.

Upscale Speed

iTrader: (18)

Will do and may very well call Fortune 500 tomorrow. Thanks for your help again. Can't wait for spring. Cold up here right.

Flakman

Wanting to lower my G37x as well about an inch. Just don't want to screw with the awd. A bit of a noob regarding the awd and lowered springs or coilovers. I'm running 245/40 19s which basically are the same as the 18" stock wheel/tire combination. So I shouldn't have anything odd due to tire/wheel size.

So as long as I get the appropriate camber kit I should be okay? And if I read the above correctly, the coilovers may give me more lowering than desired if I only want to bring it down an inch or so?

txg37x

iTrader: (1)

I also have an X sedan, so here are my thoughts.

I'm lowered on Swifts and have Hotchkis sways on the tightest settings. I got the sways first, and they greatly improved corning; as others say- best mod for the $.

A couple months later I lowered on swifts. The swifts made a big difference in the ride handling department. You have to be much more careful going over bumps and imperfections in the road. My ride may be made worse by having the sways set to the stiffest settings though. That being said, I have 63k on my car, so my shocks aren't what they used to be. I plan on replacing them in another 20-30k when I do a full 'tune-up'. From what I've read, there are no upgraded shocks for the X - just OEM style KYB or others, but maybe just being newer will help enough? Either way, the harsher ride is not enough to have me remove them as the car feels stiffer overall in a good way and does seem to improve overall handling; plus, it looks tons better.

The swifts have a bit of a raked look which I like. When looking from the side profile, the front looks a little bit lower than the front; it looks nice and sporty. The Eibachs seem to sag in the back a little; looks droopy and ugly to me.

As for the camber issues, I had my alignment done a few weeks after dropping on swifts. They were able to get everything into spec except for the camber. I don't recall if it was -2 or 1.8 all around, but I don't plan on getting a camber kit. I'll rotate every 5k and see how the tires hold up.

From my understanding all of the coilover setups have a minimum drop that is lower than the drop from the swifts, so camber will probably be worse and have more likelihood of scraping while driving; I wouldn't want to go any lower than where I'm at now out of fear of tearing my undercarriage up. This is my first car to lower, so I am more nervous about scraping than some of the more seasoned guys. However, I bet the coilovers will be more comfortable and offer better performance.

I can't comment much on your tire options as I have 19x8.5 rims with 47 offset on 245/40 tires. After the drop, you will DEFINITELY want wheels with proper offset or 20mm spacers.

I've read that lowering an AWD car can affect the AWD system a bit since the front CV axles angle has changed; that being said, I have read about any G guys having this issue. I did have a CV boot rip after installing my swifts, but it could have been that the shop screwed up and torn it upon install. I still don't regret dropping though...knock on wood.

I wouldn't even bother with a camber kit if you only go with swifts. From what I hear under -2 is okay for daily driving as long as all other aspects of the alignment are on point and you rotate your tires more often. Those camber kits ain't cheap! Since coilovers lower more than swifts the camber kits may be necessary to avoid wearing the tires and maybe other issues.

You WILL want spacers or proper offset wheels if you drop. I didn't think too much about it before dropping, but it is a must unless you want to look like a 1950s car with tucked wheels. Plan for an extra $200-300 for the spacers.

I think I answered some of your other concerns in my response to Upscale Speed. Good luck yall and post picks for whatever you decide to do!