Project Nissan 240SX S13 Silvia Suspension - Brembo Brakes

1989 Nissan 240Sx S13 Suspension Ball Joint

They may look the same, but the S13 ball joint cannot safely be bolted to the S14 spindle. The taper is slightly different and though they will bolt together, the ball joint will quickly come loose or break. Nissan only sells complete control arms with the ball joints pressed in, and S14 control arms are too long for S13s. The only option is to use aftermarket ball joints. We used Moog joints for a 1995 240SX and pressed them into our S13 arms. Before attempting to press out the ball joint, don't forget to dig through the grease and remove the snap ring.

They may look the same, but the S13 ball joint cannot safely be bolted to the S14 spindle.

Up front, the conversion means switching to the five-lug front hubs from the S14 (1995-1998) 240SX SE. The S14 used larger front spindles, however, so you also need to use them. The S14 spindle looks like it will bolt on to the S13 suspension, but it won't. The strut bolts are larger so you'll have to use the bolts from the S14 and enlarge the holes in your struts to make this work.

Also, the ball joint is different. At first glance, the S13 and S14 ball joints look the same, and upon closer inspection, they still look the same. Don't be fooled. The S14 ball joint uses a slightly different taper. Although it will bolt together, using an S13 ball joint on the S14 spindle can lead to a very dangerous suspension failure. You must switch to an S14 ball joint. Nissan doesn't sell S14 ball joints separately from the lower control arm, and, of course, the S14 control arm is too long. Pressing the ball joint out of your S13 control arm and pressing in an aftermarket ball joint (we used Moog part number K9820) is the best solution.

It turns out we aren't the first people to ever try this five-lug conversion. In fact, the conversion is so popular, and the five-lug S14 so rare, that we wasted a month scouring every junkyard in Southern California to no avail. Eventually, we realized all S14 spindles are the same, so we could use spindles from a four-lug base model S14 and simply buy new S14 five-lug hubs. The hubs incorporate the front wheel bearings, so using new parts here is not a bad idea.

Nissan lists 13 different part numbers for S14 front hubs. After much head scratching and accidentally ordering four-lug hubs once, we found part number 40200-0V010 worked. Retail was $120 each.

In the rear, we simply pulled the entire rear hub, spindle and brake assembly from a twin-turbo 300ZX. This whole assembly bolts in with the exception of three complications. The most daunting is the fact the rear shock mount is different.

There are two options here. Either switch to a twin-turbo rear shock, or ditch the aluminum. The Z brakes can be used with a 240SX steel upright. Simply unbolt the rear hub (four big bolts on the back of the upright) and the drum parking brake (one giant nylock nut) and bolt them to the 240SX upright. Using the steel upright adds 7 lbs of unsprung weight per side.

The Z parking brake is a small drum brake in the center of the rotor. This design reduces the chance of warping the rear brakes if you set the parking brake while the rotors are hot, but it also means you can't use 240SX parking brake cables. The Z cables are shorter and use different mounting brackets. If you trim off all the mounting brackets and pass the cable between the subframe and body as shown in the photos, the Z cables can be made to work by either clamping them to the stock locations with some homemade clamps, or drilling into the floor and bolting the Z cable's mounting tabs in a new location.

Finally, the Z rear brake line attaches to the caliper with a female double flare fitting, while the 240SX uses a banjo fitting. Z brake lines will solve this problem, and Goodridge braided steel Z brake lines will give some added firmness to the brake pedal.

Springs And Dampers
The S13 Silvia and its 180SX sibling have been two of Japan's favorite tuner cars for nearly 15 years. In that time, Japan's healthy and fiercely competitive aftermarket has tweaked, tuned and dialed in their parts to near perfection. The desire to use Japanese suspension parts, then, should come as no surprise.

We turned to JIC USA for the suspension. This is our first project car to use JIC components, but our experience so far suggests it won't be the last.

The twin-turbo Z rear upright is forged aluminum, which shaves 7 lbs of unsprung weight. Combined with the larger brakes, the whole unsprung assembly comes out only 2 lbs heavier than stock despite a massive increase in braking power and heat capacity. Note the different mounting point for the rear shock, however (lower left on each upright).
The twin-turbo Z rear upright is forged aluminum, which shaves 7 lbs of unsprung weight. C
When pulling the aluminum upright from the junkyard, be sure to get this steel insert for the rear ball joint. It may be stuck to the ball joint when you remove the suspension.
When pulling the aluminum upright from the junkyard, be sure to get this steel insert for
The 240SX and 300ZXTT use different style axle seals. The Z has a seal, the 240 doesn't. The 240's axle has this metal dust shield which interferes with the Z's grease seal flange and must be removed. The 240 axle also doesn't mate properly with the Z seal, leaving a small gap for dust to get in. The bearings themselves are sealed however, so the Z grease seal appears to be redundant.
The 240SX and 300ZXTT use different style axle seals. The Z has a seal, the 240 doesn't. T