i've been considering building some struts..

but not sure what the best way to go would be

i plan to do the reaserch but thought i would call for some experience too

i would like to put:

adjustable spring platforms on the bottom
adjustable tops
shortened castor rods
possibly move the lower control arm mounts
maybe shorter steering arms
also some skyline style alloy 4 spot calipers over vented discs (mounting not worked out yet)

i guess i have most of my ideas set down
but what would be the best strut to start with?

stanza seems good, but are probably too long

is the 200b strut the same in dimensions but shorter

or 240K?

any ideas welcome

i guess its for a street car (cadet) at the moment... but will be working towards circuit eventually

will be trying to engineer at some stage

i have never fully built a strut or brake setup but my ute has 200b struts that have been shortened and has a few modified bits like the castor rods and lower arms and that buti wont say what they are as i do not know for sure but i have vn commodor brakes which are very very strong i reckon putting heaps of pistons and complicating the system is a waste of time. the commo brakes are so easy to put on off also pad change is a five minute job.also i think after looking at them and the strut, they look as though they bolt straight up. i forgot to mention but u would probly have already realised that another reason id say the 200b, as tuf110 says is that the strut is designed for a car that is a few hundred kilos heavier than a 1200 and would carry the extra weight better. i looked at a sunny strut the other day and reminded me of seeing a 1200 axle next to a 28 spliner ....

brakes wise i would have to say pigdogs r32 setup thats some serious brakes i reckon 200b struts are the best starting point for a good strut rite length im using 200b struts in my 1200 and because you have to cut the spring perch off and put a spaller one off you may as well put a weld on coilover kit while your at it and apparently landcruiser and hilux four spots bolt up

at the moment i have stanza sturts with 4 spot hilux/landcruiser calipers

i love the stopping power, but now im earning enough money i figure i can afford to shed the weight and go to some alloy calipers

also with some adjustment hopefully i can pull the track width in without suffering positive camber

Two words.....Murry Cootes


but since we're not all made of money every one of those sugestions makes a great setup

MK63 four-pot calipers on vented rotors. Fits under 13" wheels. Fade-proof. Superbrakes. With adjustable coilovers.




These are the FIA brakes, but not as rare as you would think since Datsun Competition sold a lot of sets.

Oh yes they fit on the near-perfect 280ZX struts.

They are a sumitomo caliper, similar to the landcruiser 4-pot but alloy. They are in my competition parts manual if anybody would like part numbers, they arent cheap though, i've seen pairs go for around $500.

The 280zx struts are my choice 100%, they are very short compared to the standard strut, offer many brake upgrades and bolt in with the same modifications as a stanza or similar strut provided the lower spring seat is removed and a coilover kit or small lower spring seat is used.

I recently found while doing the strut upgrade on my daily drive car, bmw sports option rear coilovers have a glued on lower spring seat that can be tapped off, the ID is the same size as the datsun OD so can be slid over and welded on. The only issue is the bmw spring has a flat bottom, the top of the spring is the same as the datsun spring so it fits the top seat perfect, Im using these springs as they are around 200lb. I have yet to complete this so will update in the future.

for ease of brake installation and light weight id say 180b struts with commodore calipers and magna discs would be the way to go, thats what you have kegs they arent 200b struts

for huge F off brakes 200b or 240k struts are good as there isnt a whole lot of work to get skyline(r32 or r33) brakes on and they sit alot further back than the similar setups to suit r31 struts, need to use the r32 non gtr or 300zx calipers as the mounting tags will hit the strut with the larger offset ones
also need to have the disc 290mm or bigger

r31 struts if you want big wheels and not a whole lot af camber

that is assuming you will get shorter inserts no matter what, and coilovers are the same for each


these bmw sports option coilovers you speak of whitesedan, what year BM would we be looking at?

Late 70's early 80's 320i, probably come in a lot of other too, ive pulled 3 pairs of these so far and sold two pairs, the shocks Ive used in the rear of the daily.

got a pic of the setup? ive got 2 early 80s 5 series here that might have something similar