Front coil springs

[tanny]

Do both of the stock front coil springs on a 240 have the same specs or are they different from each other? Also, what are the uncompressed lengths of the stock front and rear springs? Thanks, Victor.

[Dtsnlvrs]

The front springs were different between L & R....if memory serves me right, the R spring was slightly longer than the L to allow for the weight of the Battery on the right side. Seems that the engineers were thinking more about how the car looked on the showroom than how it handled at the time.

[Doehring]

Good questions, Tanny! I'm interested in the answers, too.
Rolf

[Mr Camouflage]

Haynes manual states that the free length (whatever that means) of the Left side strut is 14.1 inches, and the RH side is 15.1 inches.

260Z free length were equal at 15.5 inches.

Probably the right side was longer so that when a driver was sitting in the (RHD) drivers seat the car sat level. The battery is on the left of the RHD cars.

LHD drivers probably weren't condidered.

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by Mr Camouflage
Haynes manual states that the free length (whatever that means) of the Left side strut is 14.1 inches, and the RH side is 15.1 inches.

It means UNCOMPRESSED.

The engine is "slightly" off the centerline of the vehicle, thus the right spring was spec'd different on the 70-72 240Z's to accomodate the off center weight distribution. I have no idea why they stopped doing that, but one would suspect it was eventually deemed unnecessary.

Originally posted by Mr Camouflage
Probably the right side was longer so that when a driver was sitting in the (RHD) drivers seat the car sat level...........LHD drivers probably weren't considered.

If it was for "driver weight" I'm sure it would have been considered. How tough is it to put the longer spring on the side of the driver of a LHD car? They did many other things to accomodate LHD that were far more difficult than "remembering" to put the long spring on the driver side..

[Mudge]

A longer spring, if the # of active coils is also increased, will make the spring softer. I have the Hayne also but dont know the # of active coils, even though I recently cut 1.5 coils on some stockers to put on the front. doh

[Mr Camouflage]

Same number of coils both sides.

I thought the best way to lower was to shorten the strut, not cut off some coils?

[Doehring]

This might be of interest to Alan (HS 30-H), too, esp. if it would be linked to the driver's position.
Rolf

[HS30-H]

Yes Rolf, the spring question is an interesting one.
In fact, its a real can of worms to open...............

I don't have much data on the numbers for the HLS30 cars, but the part numbers for the Japanese-market cars make for interesting comparison ( if you like number-crunching on Nissan part numbers that is ).

Take a look at these numbers:

*S30 / HS30 Fairlady Z ( from 1969 )
54010-E4104 Spring Front RH
54010-E4103 Spring Front LH
55020-E4102 Spring Rear - both
54010-E4105 Spring Front RH ( Air Con type )

*PS30 Fairlady Z432 ( from 1969 )
54010-E4203 Spring Front RH
54010-E4202 Spring Front LH
55020-E4201 Spring Rear - both

*PS30-SB Fairlady Z432-R ( from 1969 )
54010-E4202 Spring Front RH
54010-E7200 Spring Front LH
55020-E7200 Spring Rear - both

Naturally the 432 had stiffer springing than the normal S30 and HS30 models, and the 432-R had yet stiffer springs ( especially at the rear, because of its 100 Litre fuel tank capacity ).

However, what's interesting is that "Air Con type" front RH spring on the S30 and HS30 cars. Fascinating that they should choose to change to a different spring on one side when Air Con is fitted. Must be a question of balance..................

Part numbers for FRONT springs are different on ALL models from side-to-side, whereas rears are always the same side-to-side.

Somebody else will have to post up the part numbers for the LHD cars ( if anyone's interested to compare ) as I do not have them to hand.

Does this answer any questions or throw up any new ones?

Alan T.

[Doehring]

Alan, that's really strange to me. Some days ago I installed new shocks at the front, so I took the coils off. I never had the idea that the coils might be different. Maybe the right is now on the left. Up to now I didn't realize a difference in driving. I once saw a Z hangig lower on the right side. I thought that was because of a fat person normally sitting on the passenger's side. Could that be because of "mixed" coils?
Rolf

[tanny]

Not FAT person! Circumferally challenged.

[Doehring]

Tanny, that's a very elegant paraphrase. The problem is not the diameter, the problem is the weight - what do you think about "floatingly challenged"? Would that be correct in your language?
Rolf

[tanny]

Yes, an increase in bodily fat percentage will make you float more easily, since fat is less dense than muscle tissue. Definitely an evolutionary advantage when lost at sea(not to mention the insulation value and energy reserves that increase with increasing fat). Also, the fat will take up more volume per pound than muscle tissue, so circumference will probably have to increase if height does not increase. Later.