I'm in the process of upgrading my brakes and some of my front suspension on my 91 SWB N/A. When taking off the upper arms I noticed that both are (as the middle arm in the picture shows) cranked over. However I dug out a spare upper arm I had as part of some other 2nd hand stuff I bought and it was straight (Left arm in the picture). By twisting the Powertrix adjustable arm around it kind of lines up with the original arm (centre) but is this OK to use like this?

 

I have done some searching on this and other 300ZX sites to little avail, I could be using incorrect terminology or I could just be being daft, either way some assistance/advice would be appreciated.

 

On a connected issue, the Powertrix parts come with the mention of a Loctite Silver Grade anti-seize stick' to use on all of the threads to ease future adjustment and prevent loosening due to vibration. I can't seem to find this stuff in this country does anybody know where to get it from or a good equivalent?

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

 

erm.

I just edited my post coz i wasnt 100% sure... My arms were straight like the left hand arm.

Am i correct in saying the middle one has been bent by hitting a kerb? or are NA top arms this shape? I have fitted adjustable and there were put on nice and straight.

The middle one IS bent and the adjustable should NOT be fitted like it is in the picture, twist the top part 180 and it'll be right.

But isnt it strange that both arms are bent like that?

And look at the L mark in the middle of the arm it looks like its straight?

But yeah they prob are bent.

Thanks guys for your comments:)

 

I agree it looks like its been bent, however the arm on the other side is also bent in the same way and oddly marked R in the same way as the one in the picture is marked L. Also close up the arm does looked to have been manufactured in that way, no stress cracks, paint seems factory without chips or crazing and as you said j1mmytt the L is marked parallel to the A.

I'm bloody baffled:confused::confused:

Me too im bit confused, hopefully someone will post something to ease our minds.

 

So if you try and fit the new arms with both sides parallel will they fit on your suspension correctly?

 

is it possible that your car had a front smash and bent both arms evenly or something... too be honest im baffled, get a pic of both bent arms and see if they are evenly bent?

:confused::confused:

speed bumps !

Think I may have an explanation as to what they are or rather what they came off (thanks MrF). Seems that a lot of Nissans had this suspension set up, one of those being a Skyline and having done a quick search I have come up with this link pictures.

 

http://www.driftworks.com/catalog/products/r32z32-front-upper-camber-arms.html?products_id=

 

The top picture looks pretty like a Powertrix adjustable arm turned through 180 degrees like my picture above???

 

Given the above assumption is true, the original straight ones must have been replaced with these other bent ones at some point.

 

Does that mean my car would have less caster with these bent items? What would the benifit of that have been?

With any suspension quiestions I always direct people to this site.

 

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/

 

If you email the guy on there he may have some answers for you.

 

All I can say is that my upper arms were straight as well as far as I can remember.

 

Has the car been lowered and so perhaps these fitted to adjust the camber?

 

Darrell

Thanks for the link Darrell:)

 

Yes the car is lowered so possibly?

 

I think my question is relatively answered now though, in as much as I can install the new arms in confidence that i'm not going to make the car drive worse than before and not be able to be put it back into spec on the adjusters.

 

Also its kind of nice to know that the arms can also fit some Skyline models if ever I need to sell them:dance:

Loctite Silver Grade anti-seize stick, I can get that for you. You'll need to buy a box of £10 tubs at about £9 each.

You'll need to buy a box of £10 tubs at about £9 each.

 

Does that make sense to anyone else? :confused: :D

Should be a box of 10 @ £9 each. My brain fell out last week.

Thanks for the link Darrell:)

 

Yes the car is lowered so possibly?

 

I think my question is relatively answered now though, in as much as I can install the new arms in confidence that i'm not going to make the car drive worse than before and not be able to be put it back into spec on the adjusters.

 

Also its kind of nice to know that the arms can also fit some Skyline models if ever I need to sell them:dance:

 

Same as the R32 aren't they?

 

Never seen bent arms like that before but they are obviously meant to be like that - you could never bend them in that way by accident on both sides.

Changed mine recently and they were definately the straight variety that I removed.

Should be a box of 10 @ £9 each. My brain fell out last week.

 

Thanks for the offer FunkySi:) Just to be clear is that a box of ten costs £9 or more probably that each of the ten costs £9 ie £90 for the box of ten.

 

If the later, then probably a bit rich for me:( It would probably take some time to sell the rest off to recoup my outlay? Anybody fancying buying a stick???? :D

 

ChrisC, Yes I believe it is the R32. Agreed, I'm bloody sure they certainly are made that way!

 

Thanks for everybody's comments/help on this:)