Upgrade Photos:
Sentra SE-R Suspension
Upgrade Photos:
Sentra SE-R Suspension
Introduction
In October 1997, George Roffe drove his 1991 Sentra SE-R through pounding rain storms from Houston to San Antonio for a little automotive maintenance in my garage. In a single day, he and I would replace the struts on my 1992 Sentra SE-R, and would then do a full suspension upgrade on his car, including struts, strut components, springs, anti-roll bars, and a front strut tower brace. While our loving women supported our noble effort at the mall and movie theater, we spilled blood and profanity beneath our vehicles in the quest for superior handling and stability. It rained all day Saturday, then cleared a bit on Sunday for his car's critical test drive. Our fun is documented here in the few digital photos I had time to capture in the poor lighting conditions.
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George's upgrade kit: Tokico struts; Eibach Pro Kit springs; Suspension Techniques anti-roll bars; front strut tower brace from Courtesy Nissan. He also bought all-new strut components, including seats, cushions, bump stops, bearings, and gaskets. |
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Complete strut sets, with front
struts are on the right. Top: George's Tokicos. Bottom: my Monroes. The Monroes are still locked down. |
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Front struts. Left: Monroe. Right: Tokico. Notice the ABS bracket on the Monroe. |
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This is one of the sneaky little cam bolts that come with each front Monroe strut. Notice the badge of honor on George's thumb. |
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The bolt goes into the top front hole and engages with the well. Rotating the cam bolt clockwise on the left strut (counter-clockwise on the right strut) produces negative camber. |
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The Screaming Deals Award goes to Auto Zone, which offers FREE tool rental. For a refundable $45 deposit, we used this impact-rated coil spring compressor all weekend. |
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After attaching and securing the compressor with the included safety hooks, we used an impact wrench to twist each side alternately. The 24mm socket we used was NOT impact rated, but it survived. Be sure YOURS is. We wore safety goggles. |
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An exploded view of all front strut components. The assembly sequence goes right to left, top to bottom. Aligning the top spring seat can be tedious. |
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To tighten the top nut, use a box-end offset wrench on the nut (Tokico 17mm, Monroe 19mm) and an 8mm open-end wrench on the shaft. Twist until you're SURE it's tight, then decompress the strut. |
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Front strut assembly comparison. Left: Eibach spring and Tokico strut. Right: OEM spring and strut. |
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Rear strut assembly comparison. Left: Eibach spring and Tokico strut. Right: OEM spring and strut. |
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The fully-installed left front strut on George's car. The stainless steel brake lines and big brakes were installed at Texas Rally I. |
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With Stillen header hanging down, we prepare to install the front Suspension Techniques anti-roll bar on George's car. Grease fittings have already been installed on the frame brackets. |
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The fully-installed Suspension Techniques front anti-roll bar. |
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My car, with rear struts and anti-roll bar removed. Notice the Stillen/Brembo cross-drilled brake rotor. The jack stands are topped by my custom slotted wood blocks. |
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The right rear trailing arm on George's car before removal of the flange bolt. We loosened the flange bolt by gently popping it with the impact wrench. |
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The installed right end-link bracket. Threadlock was used on the flange bolt. |
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The left end-link of the fully-installed Suspension Techniques rear anti-roll bar. |
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Front quarter view of George's car with the full suspension upgrade. Love those 16" BBS wheels! |
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Rear quarter view. Notice the GReddy exhaust. |
Original material is the creation of Rick Zotz, 1999, 1998, 1997, and has been contributed to SE-R.net.
