I don't know what that means, Irish.

Are you saying his Stance springs are 20% to 30% more stiff than the Swift springs I have in the front, and the Tein Springs I have in the rear?

Um, OK.

 

Approximately yes. In my experience stiff sway bars are an acceptable alternative to stiff springs on a street car that you want to both ride nicely and inspire driver confidence by staying nice and flat in turns.

Zahy has what are probably close to the limit of a truly streetable spring rate. This increases his roll resistance substantially without the need to resort to the stiffer sways. I imagine with his spring rate he would need a lot more tire to make good use of the sway bars.

And since sways do add to the spring rate (and don't add any of their own damping) they can certainly contribute to a rougher ride.

Just my opinion, take it for what you paid for it

 

I've also been trying to narrow down the possibile causes of the random clunks I've been getting since last week. When I first installed the coils, I had a front left clunk going over bumps, turned out to be a broken end link. I also installed the Hotchkis at the same time. About a week after that, I started getting random clunking/knocking noises. Tried to regrease the sway bars, end links and regreased everything. Noise didn't go away. The car still drives great. I've gone over everything and can't seem to figure it out.

 

I have 13k/11k swift springs, hotchkis sways and full SPC.... the ride is definitely not "Smooth" but then again I never expected it to be.

I also had clunking after install... one top nut needed to be tightened on the coils and sway bars needed more grease. Tough to hear you are still chasing as issue....

 

You hit the nail on the head. You can also lose quite a bit of grip with too stiff of sway bars paired with stiffer spring rates. I also have a true type coilover setup in the rear with full SPL arms which have spherical bearings be the rubber on the SPC.

 

I have:
Stance XR1 true type coil overs. 13/8 spring rates.
Stock front sway bar, and a 370z RSB.
SPC rear camber and toe bolt kit

The ride is noticeably stiffer than stock
No clunking - silent as stock

*The upgraded Swift spring is obviously different than the stock Swift springs that most here have.

Z did you remove your rear c/o's to torque down the top nuts? This is part of the pre install setup. It's not mentioned in the manual. Is your clunking coming from the rear?

 

My clunk only comes from the front, I've tried re torquing them to no avail, the sound doesn't seem like it's coming from the coil overs.

 

Welp, after 8 hours total this weekend, my friend and I removed all the SPL arms, rethreaded them properly, readjusted my preoload and tightened down all the collars.. along with putting the suspension under load and checking tie rods, ball joints, compression rods and lower control arms, we finally got rid of the "clunk/knock" noise I was getting. It was either loose collars or not enough preload on the coilovers. Drove the car for nearly 70 miles and haven't heard a single noise. I'm super happy again, also got the car realigned. -1 camber up front and -1.5 in the rear.

Now to stop my exhaust hanger from squeaking, also playing with the idea of getting the bracket welded to my HFC, similar to what Rochester did.

 

Good job Z! Congratulations

 

I thought that pic looked familiar.

That hardware is very rusty two years later. Although every time the mechanic has the car on the lift, he inspects that bar, cleans it up, makes sure the welds, nuts & bolts are all still sound. So far so good.

 

OEM sport lip is ordered. I get out of the Marine Corps next week so I'll be installing it once I get back to NJ. Only 13 more days until I drop the car off at LightWerkz to get my headlights done too. Super excited.


Next on the list is transmission upgrades, I have an itch for launch control.

 

Oooh, what is Lightwerkz doing for you? I'm about to order some parts for a diy headlight upgrade. A shame we won't be able to compare the finished products in person. (Though I'm quite certain that would just make me feel jelly )

 

Only 23 days until the G37 car meet.

Since Sean isn't going this year, you'll have to rep for LightWerkz.

 

Congrat's Z, I remember that final day...thanks for the walk down memory lane. Can't wait to see the LW treatment on your Z. That's really going to set your G off!

 

It's a great feeling for sure.

Little update on the G: OEM sport lip is installed