Well Today I installed Sub frame Spacers and a Rear Strut Tower Brace. I picked up the Kazama Aluminum Sub frame spacers for 7,800 Yen and The guy had Rear Strut Brace that was used he let me have for 5,000 Yen. Not a bad deal.

Tools/Parts Required:
12mm Wrench
17mm Wrench
Air Gun (the Sub frame bolts would not budge)
Jack and Jack Stands (Used a Lift and Tranny Jack)
Tin Snips
WD40
Sub frame Spacers
Rear Strut Tower Brace
Pry Bar

Well let’s do the Spacers first since any moron can install a Strut Brace. These were the easiest MOD I have done except for maybe and Intake or something. This is what the Spacers look like out of the box, the ones with the slots go up top against the car and the cup shaped ones go on the bottom:

http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3057.jpg

Step 1. Get the car off the ground and the weight off the wheels. You could do this at your house with a floor jack and jack stands. I am lucky enough to have a lift available so I use the Lift. Once the car is off the ground and supported by Jack stands, Use you floor Jack and place it under the Rear Diff. Don’t jack it up, just make it touch so that it is flush. If you have a Lift like me, go ahead and jack the car up, then use a Mission Jack to hold the Diff up, remember just flush like this, then spray some WD40 on all the bolts I talk about in this write up:
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3061.jpg

Step 2. Let’s do the ones towards the front of the car first. You can see in this pic, that the Sub frame has this bracket held on by (2) 12mm Bolts. These come off quite easily and my car is 10 years Old so the ratchet works fine. Go Ahead and take these two bolts out and remove the bracket you see in the PIC….You can do both sides now:
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3073.jpg

Step 3. Now you can take out the sub frame bolt itself. It is a 17mm Bolt. I tried like hell with a ratchet and it just wouldn’t budge. I coulda used a breaker bar, but since I had air tools at my service, I grabbed the gun..go ahead and take the bolt all the way out:
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3064.jpg

^^^ Note in the Picture above the Bracket is still in place…I found out after that I could have just took the bracket out as per my instructions above…so follow the instructions above not the pic…I did it the better way on the other side.

Step 4. Now that you have the Bolt out. You can put the first spacer in. Use the Spacer with the Slit in it. The flat side goes up against the car and the side with the lip goes facing down. Lower the Jack that your Diff is on just a little bit, then use a pry bar to make room for the spacer to slide in like this:
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3065.jpg

Step 5. Now you can put the lower Spacer on. It will slide right in just like in the pic below.
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3067.jpg

Step 6. Now just tighten it back up, it will take a bit of torqing of you don’t have a gun, everything will have to seat back together, make it 80lbs of Torque:
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3068.jpg

Step 7. Now put the bracket back on and it will look like this when it is done:
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3070.jpg

Now Do the Other side!!!

Step 8. Okay now lets do the Rears. Go ahead and lift the jack that is holding your Diff up a little bit so that it is nice and snug. Now take out the Sub frame Bolt, this one was a PITA also for some reason. After you get the bolt out, remove it and the little cup like this:
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3071.jpg

Step 9. Now here is what I learned…Jack the Diff up a bit and then lower it down, this helps to get everything a bit looser. Now lower the jack that the Diff is on so that there is about an inch of empty space between the Diff and the Jack, this is your play space. Use a pry bar again as you did up front to make room for the spacer to fit in like this:
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3072.jpg

Now do the other side up do this point again.

Step 10. Now you can put the bottom spacer in, just slide it in, then put the cup back on like in the pic below. Then tighten everything down to 80lbs. Check to make sure all bolts on the front and rear are torqued down correctly and you can lower the car.
You are Done!!!!

BONUS:
As I mentioned I picked up a rear strut brace yesterday as well. Well this is easy, but we all like pics so here you go. All you do is cut out space for the Brace:
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3058.jpg

Loosen the four 12mm bolts and slap the Brace in. Then torque everything back down and your done!!!
http://www.b15sentra.net/gallery/files/7/1/5/4/IMG_3059.jpg

Whats the benefits of the subframe spacers?

Whats the benefits of the subframe spacers?


Wheel Hop is reduced significantly on launch...and if you are the kind of guy likes to induce oversteer;) they help there to...everything is stiffer..

The subframe will no longer shift around or bounce up and down due to the collars effectively eliminating the stock rubber bushings from the equation.

The subframe will no longer shift around or bounce up and down due to the collars effectively eliminating the stock rubber bushings from the equation.


yeah i am pretty happy with them..unfortunately as always after an install its wet out:(

thats the best time to go and get sideways ;)

thats the best time to go and get sideways ;)


Yeah...;) It's never really hard in my car no matter what..:tongue:

Well After having them on the car for a day I guess I should give a recap...the car feels a hell of a lot more stiff... I probably should have put the Strut Brace on a different day so I could tell the difference each made...I am sure the spacers are attributing to the stiffness. There is a sh1tload of Diff noise now...it is all together louder...I dont care since my car is loud as hell anyway..I just have more interior noise now than before...It handles like it is on rails if I don't induce oversteer, and when I slide wanna kick the ass end out, it is a really smoother transition than before... As for launching, my wheel hop has been cut by at least 80% and I can now get a nice catch all the way to 3rd Gear...I give thumbs up to the spacer/bushing mod...not bad at all.
Late
daryl

another awesome writeup daryl... keep em comin!!

you know what rear strut bar that was :) ?

another awesome writeup daryl... keep em comin!!

you know what rear strut bar that was :) ?


yeah it is a Cusco, It matches my front one...and it is tight as hell now in the slolom:tongue:

Looks good Daryl as always.

Did the clunking noise go away that you had?

Looks good Daryl as always.
Did the clunking noise go away that you had?


yeah..for a little while...now I know what it is..my coils are compressed a bit, fist time I really listened agfter I took the car off a lift...it was gne till they compressed again..so I am gonna lower the car 1 inch and see if that helps..it needs a drop anyway :cool: The Spacer/Collars raised it up a bit, or its just me thinking it did:confused:

Does anyone think there is a sig difference going with these or the SPL 8 piece spacers, versus the 4 piece spacers as from this shop:
http://www.specialtyz.com/suspension.htm

Thanks!!

James

Quote from SPL

"These 8 piece aluminum collars install above and below the bushings which retains the stock anti-squat geometry, vs. 4 piece spacers that just install on the bottom which slightly increases anti-squat."

So does that mean it gives you less squat or more squat with only the 4 lower bushings, and is that a good thing or bad thing (i reckon a bad thing, it wouldn't make since if the easier cheaper way worked better!!)

A little off-topic, but I enjoyed your performance in "The Mummy"

http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/movie/mummy_returns/10.jpg

AHAHAHA ^^ FTW!

Thanks for the awesome write up!! It helped me a lot with the install. I was able to get the front 2 spacers in without getting under the car; you can get to them easily from the side of the car. I recommend this set from the Zwiz guys, (they fit perfectly on my '96 S14 and had good instructions), if you only want to get the 4 lower spacers:
http://www.specialtyz.com/suspension.htm

Does anybody know if a rear alignment would be necessary after installing the spacers? Thanks!

At a guess, I don't think so. All of the suspension arms are attached to the subframe, and you move the whole subframe, so none of the angles between the various arms and links should change.