Suspension For R31

[anderman]

Hey everyone. Im looking at lowering my R31 S3 GXE skyline. Theres just a few questions id like to ask

>What is a good height for regular street use?

>Can i just get springs or do i need stuff like shocks????

>What brands of springs etc are good and what arnt?

>Will driving the car feel better/worse?

>and how much as an estimate will it cost me?

To anyone who answers any of these questions,

thanks

[adam-__-]

1. I'm not too sure what the best height a R31 should be for street and performance.

2. When you lower a car, it's always best to get matching shocks. You'll have to do your research as to which shocks suit each spring best.

3. I'm not too sure if brand really matter. I see 8kg/mm springs as 8kg/mm springs.

4. How the car feels afterwards would depend on what you did with your suspension. Lower it too much and you'll get quite a lot of bump steering and probably bottoming out depending on spring rates.

5. I can't give you a rough figure of how much it'll cost for your car, but for my car, a 1983 corolla, it set me back ~$500? or something like that. It included basic KYB shocks front and rear with lowered springs to match (from a little research I found out what spring rate springs were best suited to those shocks).

Hope that helped a little. From my post, I obviously don't know much about suspension as others on here so please forgive me.

Edited March 19, 2008 by adam-__-

[anderman]

haha thanks for sharing what you know. Yea im just gonna keep lookin for info.. Going to go into my local suspension places and inquire a bit about prices and stuff either tormorrow or after the long weekend.

thanks mate

[racsov500]

if its just a stocker then get king lows, make them a little lower (more if its a s3 as they have higher springs)

[anderman]

make them a little lower

How do you mean? Can you get them compressed or something?

I just figured you could get like 3 different heights or something :S

[Habler]

S13 suspension can be made to fit quite easily (just search) if you find it hard to find decent suspension for the R31

[R31 drift pig]

How do you mean? Can you get them compressed or something?

Easy.

Seriously, I would go for a custom aurora spring (6kg/4kg for street use) and an upgraded KYB/Koni shock, a pair of swaybars and a panhard rod. Also go through and replace all the rubber bushes (which are over 20 years old now), and either add S13 lower control arms or a pair of camber tops. Can also lathe down the castor arm a little and have more thread cut on so you can pull more castor out of it. Reckon you could have it all in for $1000 - $1500..... probably less depending on what you can come up with 2nd hand/what struts you use etc.....

If you want to spend more, Id go for a S13 coilover setup, as you not only get height adjustment etc, you can add better brakes into the equation./...

I used the following...

S13 Silk Road Section RMA-8 10kg/8kg coilovers

S13 Hub/Knuckle/Stub axle with new bearings

R31 LCA with new balljoints

R31 rack/tie rods/tie rod ends (rack rebuilt, but will be switching to R32 rack at some point)

R32 GTS-T pot callipers rebuilt

R33 GTS non turbo 4 stud rotors machined, but will be switching to redrilled GTS-T turbo rotors ASAP

R31 brake lines

S13 caliper banjo bolts.

Cusco tower bar

Drift shop roll centre adjusters

Whiteline sway bar and super pro link bushes

3rds Productions Rose Jointed Adj. Castor Arms

Super pro bushing all the way through the car

and it all bolted straight together. No modding needed whatsoever.

Was a bit pricey (over $3K worth), but going to be well worth it in the end.

At the end of the day, Just depends on what you want from the car and how much you're willing to spend.