Nismo Z Suspension: All Nismo 370Z Owners Check Here FIRST!

twinturbonet

yea, I also contact the sales rep that assisted me and advised them to remove them prior to selling.

Lol ****, I had to teach the salesman what the S-Mode button does. People don't know much apparently.

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Night Fury

When I bought my 2010 Nismo I was aware of this issue and asked the dealership to make sure that mine had had them removed before delivery. I was told that they had checked and that my car did not have the widgets. Great, so away I go. A couple of weeks later I decided to double check, parked at an angle over a driveway slope, turned the wheels all the way to free up room to look and reach in, ran my finger up and down the suspension coils and found nothing. Happy I didn't have them I continued on my merry way.

16 months and 20,000 miles later I replaced my tires and dropped it into my local dealer (not where I bought it) for an alignment job. When I went back to pick it up the service manager had four widgets sitting on his desk and asked me if I new what they were, of course I did.

Those things are installed all the way in the back of the coils and almost impossible to see or feel unless you actually get under the car.

The hard edge of the suspension is now gone and my car is a little less prone to lateral 'skipping' when pushing her hard through winding mountain corners. On the downside I now have to be a lot more careful when negotiating dips, parking garage ramps, etc...

A cautionary tale, do not rely on your dealer or service center to know WTF they're doing when it comes to your Nizzie.

SilverGhost

look what i found after reading this thread....ouch

bobburk

Sure enough, removed 4 spacers this morning...

Rusty

There is 3 per spring. Make sure you get the one in the back. Sometimes, the dealer only removes the one in the front, that they can see.

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浪人 - 殺し屋
"The Difficult Anytime, The Impossible By Appointment Only"
http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...o-journal.html

Cuban Z

How long were they on there?

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処女 / Shojo
Audrey Blue
Series 1 240Z (10/70)

dkoebel

I called my dealership who knew exactly what these are and said they are OEM and should stay on the car unless I track it and want a more aggressive ride. Personal choice - but since I think my 2013 Nismo is stiff and hard enough of a ride already, will take his advise and leave like it is - also save tires. Anyone have any other insights re this?

ChrisSlicks

The exact opposite is true. By leaving them on you have a ride of steel, effectively almost zero suspension travel. For a more compliant ride they should be removed. I wouldn't track the car with them on either, would be unsafe.

Per Nissan vehicle delivery instructions they are to be removed on all vehicles, but some dealers can't read very well.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

Rusty

Take them out ASP! They are only there for shipping the car. Keeps from damaging the front bumper when they unload it. Your dealershit needs to read the instructions. Once removed. Your Nismo WILL ride a lot nicer.

__________________

浪人 - 殺し屋
"The Difficult Anytime, The Impossible By Appointment Only"
http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...o-journal.html

Night Fury

Wow! That is staggeringly bad advice from your dealer. What dealer is this? Because that advice is wrong on so many levels that I'm not sure I'd be comfortable having them service my car.

The suspension widgets are NOT OEM parts. The widgets were designed to solve a problem at the factory and at the ports of having the nose scrape on the ramps of the transporters. The widgets reduce the front suspension travel by about 75%. These widgets were only installed on Nismos as it was only the Nismo with it's longer lower front splitter that had a scraping problem at the ports.

Dealers who handle any significant volume of Nismos are usually wise to the widget issue but often miss one of three widgets that are installed on each coil spring, the one on the back side can be hard to see and feel and is often missed. Other dealers, especially those who special order for customers, but don't typically stock the Nismos often have no idea they are there.

You should definitely remove the widgets if you have them. Your ride will be smoother, quieter and safer. Stiff suspension is great for road holding, but those widgets aren't stiffening the suspension, they're completely negating it.

When I removed my hidden "back of the coil" widgets I noticed a significant reduction in lateral skipping on tight corners, particularly on uneven or broken surfaces. I do now have to be much more careful navigating dips and steep ramps though. You will start to chew up your chin guard once the widgets are out, but hey, that's what it's there for.

dkoebel

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's the Nissan dealership in Grapevine TX. Others I have called basically said they know nothing about the widgets and for me to bring the car in to have "looked at". So,not real comfortable with any of them to take them all off. How hard is it to do it yourself if jack up, take off wheels one at a time, and do it myself?

ChrisSlicks

It's 5 minutes a side, and most of that would be jacking the car up. Don't need to take the wheels off, just jack it up, turn the wheel to lock and reach it there and rip the suckers off. With the suspension unloaded they should be easy to remove.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

dkoebel

Seems like everyone is saying there are multiple variances in the # of these widgets on their particular car's springs. Maybe some fall off during shipping or daily driving? Bottom line - how many should I be looking for on the front springs and how many on the back? Some folks are saying they are hard to find - especially the back, so want to know max for each spring so don't leave any behind by mistake. Thanks.

NismoKeith

I had my car for about 3k miles before I found this thread and sure enough, they were on there. I took it to the dealership to have them removed. Not that I couldn't do it myself I wanted service record of it in case any suspension problems came up in the future. I made them write up the service record at the specific mileage and they weren't taken off during the pdi and were being taken off at that specific date/mileage. It may or may not make a difference down the road for you, but I wanted to play it safe. Unfortunately my nismo was severely vandalized after having it for two years and had to get about 75% repainted, when I got the car back i got rid of it a few days later. I bought it bran new and kept it extremely clean. I could see every little paint flaw and it drove me crazy. Bought an xterra to save dough so I can buy a GTR in a year or so. Miss that girl though.

dkoebel

Thanks again for all the insights. Trust NISMO drivers more than dealerships now - for sure. Took it to Orr Nissan in Corinth TX (near Dallas/Denton), worked with Vernon in their service, who knew EXACTLY what I was speaking about, told me they take the widgets off ALL NISMOs as they come onto the lot, and took mine off for FREE. They only took 2 off per side, and swore that that's all that were on them, so hope that's right - he gave me no reason to think otherwise. Took car for aggressive drive straight from dealership on freeway and curvy back road - smooth as silk and the lateral skipping is gone. Actually had Mercedes SUV in front of me who saw me in rearview mirror and tried to run away - I stuck to him like glue on the bumpy, curvy road and it felt GREAT! If in Dallas, see Vernon for service. And, again, thanks to all of you who posted on this subject as I no longer have to convince myself that the former rocky ride I had was supposed to be like that as I shook the fillings out of my teeth!