Thread: Calling B13s that are LOW...

You are the reason I posted the Mike K threads and bothered to even respond. Because you are actually concerned with doing it correctly. Glad to help. Some bright mofo's in those threads I posted. The deep understanding of the suspension and how to correct it's inherent flaws is really impressive.

I prioritize performance, especially from the suspension. I realize that other folks put different priorities on what they want out of their ride. Different aspirations, budgets, tastes, etc.... What I think of as utterly foolish, is what someone else (either doesn't understand, or) thinks is worth the associated downsides.

Must be why I just ordered two sets of front Spec V Konis, and bought a complete set of Koni Reds, BNIB, for the B13.

The thread you posted with all the links was exactly what I was looking for when I made the first post. It answered everything. Thanks for that.

The thread should have ended there but people are still going. Posting a pic of there lowered B13 and not saying what they did to ride at that height, or if they did anything at all.

ANyway for sake of the thread, I have came to the conclusion that it is my axles that are not liking life right now. With the coils dropped to where I wanted the car to sit, The suspension was not even working. The axles were absorbing eveything. So I raised it accordingly until the axles stopped making noise and the suspension started working again. 10 turns of the collars at a time (about .75") So ill drive it around like this until I can get some spare control arms and then modify them so I can move the bearing carrier out some and relieve the strss on the axle.

BTW: That team nismo car is ridiculous.

Glad to hear that your doing it the correct way and just not doing what you used to think was right. As for Russell i believe that he has extended both fronts and rear and also has shortened axles. If you take the time and expand your knowage about suspention it is only going to be an asset to you for a long time. I do not know nearly as much as i would like to by any means, lucky for me i have friends like Russ that understand the things that i dont.

Good luck with your car, and do it right!

is there a way to test for axle bindage with the wheels on the ground at ride height? example: grab the axle and see if theres inward/outward travel? im assuming no travel would mean it will bind? little travel would mean it will bind under suspension travel and cornering, and lots of travel would pretty much mean ur good? my nx is pretty low, but my axles dont make noises or appear to bind, but id like to check somehow. lemme know if u think my idea is headed in the right direction.

this car is the background on my computer.

Hey guys, I just caught this thread. Thanks to Snail for posting. I have extended the front control arms on my green car by 1/2" to relieve the axle bind issue. I then had to extend the rear arms just so the car did not look goofy. I extended the rears by 3/4" which actually made the front and rear track pretty much equal. In case you have not noticed, the front track is wider than the rear on the B-13 from the factory.

I discovered the axle bind issue with my race car (92 SE-R) by running too low at Daytona. Going around the banking causes the suspension to compress further than just riding down the road. Throw in a few dips for good measure and presto chango you now have dumpster fodder for an axle. I destroyed and axle in 3 laps one time!!!! Needless to say, my race car is only about an inch lower than stock right now and I had the axles shortened by 1/2".

When you are shortening an axle, it is the shaft between the inner and outer joints that needs to be shortened. The company I sent mine to took the axle apart, machined a new "c" clip groove on one end and then took 1/2" of material off that same end. Apparently the splines for the joint are long enough for them to remove that much material and be able to put it all back together.

I did not go that route with the green car. I opted to extend the control arms instead. Either way will get the job done. None of this has anything to do with roll centers or proper suspension geometry. It will just allow you to drive your car at a low ride height without destroying your axles. Just remember, the extreme angle that the axles have to operate under will also accelerate wear on the joints and the boots. Your mileage may vary....







Yes, you can test this, I did on my race car and on my green car.

YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS WITH THE WHEELS ON THE GROUND!!!!

1, Measure your ride height from axle to fender while the car is on level ground and the suspension is settled.

2, Put the car on jack stands and remove the wheels.

3, Remove the front strut assemblies.

4, Remove the springs from the struts.

5, Replace the struts without the springs back in the car.

6, Remove the axle nut

7, Use your jack to compress the suspension to the measurement you took in step 1.

8, See if you can move the axle in and out (plunge depth). Measure how much travel you have.

9, Move the suspension through a range of motion and see the difference in plunge travel at different suspension heights. It is fun to see how it all works!

If you don't have any travel in step 8, congratulations! You have axle bind, and if you have been driving like that, chances are your axle is pretty unhappy. Especially if you have a turbo monster under your hood!!

At the very minimum, I would say you want at least 1/8" of plunge at ride height, more would be better since you will run out of plunge as the suspension compresses further. Think about going around a turn at speed and then hitting a bump. What happens? You need room for that.

The modifications I made gave me a significant amount of plunge to play with at my chosen ride height.

I hope that this helps.

Please understand that, to the dismay of some, I went for stance over performance on my green car. However, I was running the shortened Koni coilover set up from my race car. I had 650lbin springs in front and 600lbin springs in the rear. The high spring rate allowed me to run that low without bottoming out over bumps. I drove from Orlando, Fl to Austin, Tx like that without any issues!!! Don't try this on cheapo ebay coils that don't have spring rates on them!!! I speak from experience here as I tried a set of those cheapo shit springs and they are garbage!!!


100_2991 by Russell McMullan, on Flickr

Tremendously! This thread can end happy now. Lock and sticky!

Russel is the man!

can you add some pics of the extending? definitly great info needs to be stickied!!!!