What handling mod first? Please help

[VTECis4kids]

hey guys, i am a newbie to the board. I just bought my 1989 240SX today and brought it home. the cops gave me a nice welcoming present on the way home - a ticket for no plates and no insurance :doh: :mad:

anyway, i was wanting to know if i should lower it on some nice springs/shocks or slap on some wheels/tires first. i am only doing this first because i cant stand the way those hubcaps handle. any suggestions to a decent good looking wheel or some nice spring/shock combos? also, what would increase the handling more..... wheels/tires or shocks/springs.

i know it sounds dumb but i have never had a car with hubcaps before so i dont know if its the hubcaps that make the car handle like crap or if its just becaus it sits way too high off the ground. any help is much appreciated!

thanks,
tim evans

[timmybgood]

first off, hubcaps have absolutly no effect on handling, the crappy wheels and tires they're on does.

get struts/springs/tires

[VTECis4kids]

woops, i didnt mean the actual hubcaps themselves, i meant the steelies they are on. i alway just refer to them as hubcaps :confused:. so what should i buy first, wheels/tires or springs/struts... i can't do both at the same time.

[Dousan_PG]

neither

brakes
tires


brakes:
stainless steel brake lines
upgraded brake pads (or OEM if you are just into street driving)
new rotors
new brake fluid (dot 3 or dot 4)

tires:
some new/decent tires. most likely the car has generic stuff or cheapie/old ones. good tires = faster stopping and safer driving in various conditions (depending on tire)


both those are VERY important. no reason going fast if you cant stop fast!!!!

[kandyflip445]

Um...you know you COULD tell us HOW it's handling badly. Like does the body roll a lot(common complaint for stock), is it bumpy, does it seem to "float" over bumps. We can't really tell you how to make it better if we don't know what's wrong....:bash: . For as old as that car is, if the shocks haven't been replaced they could be blown.



(Sorry if I sounded like an :mrmeph: but I've been up all night!:doh: )

[West]

How are the tires your riding on now? If they still have enough tread for you until you can afford new tires and wheels then consider doing something else. New Wheels look stupid on stock ride height. Consider doing a spring shocks combo. First I would make sure everything is in good condition, if something is worn, fix it or upgrade it. Of course this could be your shocks, so I guess it wouldn't matter. :p

[VTECis4kids]

sorry for the lack of info guys. when i said bad handling i meant a lot of body roll (like kandyflip said). at speeds past 50 mph the car seems to shake a lot and vibrate too. im guessing its the tires since the back ones a bold and the frotns are new cheapies' but other than that it seems to ride fine as far as smoothness of the ride goes. i dont want to just buy new tirs for those steelies since im getting rid of them anyway. i really was looking at just buying some 15 inch premium OEM alloys like the wheels on WeST's 240SX. would those get the job done with some good tires? if so, where can i find some?

another problem is when i make turns at stoplights and in neighborhoods the suspension makes a squeaking sound and then pops a little. are the CV joints bad? im guessing that the CV boots might also need some grease.

also, whenever i hit my brakes below 30 mph i hear what sounds to be a huge *CLUNK* sound. whenever i let off the brake i can hear another "clunking" sound but it isnt as loud as when i hit the brakes initially. any ideas on that problem? i apologize for all the questions. i just want to get some insight on some of these problems before i spend a grip at Nissan fixing all this stuff.

thanks,
tim

[Dousan_PG]

cv joints?
turning? cv joints..none up front, this isnt Front wheel drive

if it turning and sounds like front, check your bushings. on lower control arm, tie rod endlink might be dead too

dont go to nissan dealer. that's for suckers. do it yourself!!!

clunking when braking, check bushings too
my suggestion
www.pdm-racing.com
if you need some repalcemtn parts
repalcing those parts (front lower control and endlink) is SOO EASY 1 out of 10 ...10 being hardest.

[VTECis4kids]

out of these control arms (http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/pdmcontrolarms.html) , which one should i get? the control arm with the new ball joint for just the control arm? i was looking at the ones at the top of the page for $50 each. is that what u were talking about?

EDIT: woops, the $50 control arm is for the front and the $180 ones are for the back. sorry about the confusion.... learning about a new car sucks. its so different from my 93' Prelude :( :o

[Dousan_PG]

get the ones w/ ball joint
then you wont have to get new joints pressed in

but DO NOT BUY ANYTHING until you check out your suspension! dont waste money!
the front is the 50 dollar one
http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/imag/suspension-12.jpg


the rear upper arm (goes around shock) is this one:
http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/imag/S13rearupperspf1638K6.jpg


the lower one (goes below rotor area)
http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/imag/rearlowercontrolarm3.jpg

this goes front of rear shock, next to upper arm
http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/imag/S13S14rearfrontspf1638k2.jpg

[timmybgood]

http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/imag/S13rearupperspf1638K6.jpg

what in the sam heck is that? i just had my whole rear suspension/axle assembly off and i didn't see anything like that. of course it could be S13 only, but it wasn't on the S13 parts diagram i had...

[Jsquared]

rear upper control arm, rear shock goes through that hole in the middle...

[VTECis4kids]

after researching a bit it looks like i have the classic shot TC rods. in the descriptions for identifying bad TC Rods i had every one of them exactly. its nothing to be happy about, but oh well. im just glad i have ONE problem solved.... thanks for all your help guys.

now the next problem is my damn speedo and tach hardly work. my tach hardly budges from 2000 RPM and my speedo sits at 5 mph and works when it wants to. even when it is working it is 15mph off exactly. any ideas guys?

thanks again,
tim

[Bill Roberts]

Wooo. Those parts look beautiful! I just saved the link in favorites. I wonder if they are going to last as well as stock parts though. Seems any aftermarket part is for a good new replacement but know what happens after 80 thousand miles in lasting ability VS stock from the dealer (original Nissan) is something I would like to know.

Now, not trying to hijack this thread, but what he is experiencing is a lack of knowledge about the car to pin point the actually noises directly to a cure...so we read between the lines some......


Stock rims are heavyier than alloys. For best handling charachter, you want to lighten your unsprung weight (everything that is below the springs) to the least possable weight you can get. Unsprung weight KILLS handling big time.

Second, get a good hydrolic jack and jack stands and look at the way your suspention is with it jacked up and see the looseness and wear. Jack up the frame and see what happens with unsprung weight hanging, look at all points, then jack up the tire and see (or hub).

Once you learn the suspention points and look at all bushings, you will see the weaknesses. Also , my front brakes BANG really loud if I tap them at low speeds. This is normal. Don't be concerned with it. It is simply the play between the turning disk,and the caliper and then you slam it together like a sandwich and that play makes a slamming or banging noise. Their are some spacer thingys that can help there but unless you are abusing the breaks (superheated) and do this, no cause for alarm.


Do yourself a favor. Change the front rotors and brake pads. It is very easy and only takes you about 1 hr to do. You will need some "C" clamps to compress the pistons back to flat.


At least you will know the brakes are perfect.


Damn, I am tired, got to get..

Hope this helps some..if at all.

[VTECis4kids]

what kind of wheels/tires would u reccomend for a daily driven car that i drag race occasionlly on? everyone keeps telling me slipstreams, but is there a cheaper wheel out there? all im really wanting is like a 15-16 inch wheels that is wider than the stock steelies.