# Check my notes?



## Piece (Mar 1, 2016)

I have a '98 200SX (1.6 + 5-speed) that needs a little TLC and I'd rather get some good knowledge before I start buying stuff all willy-nilly.

First up, and most important: My right front wheel is scraping at the back of the well during right turns and hard braking. The tires are brand-new 205/55/16s. I had a really bad experience with a bumpy road last week and the wheel is now sits visibly rearward in the well. It also moves fore/aft a lot, as evidenced by the change in scraping noise from gas to brake. I already ordered a set of Energy bushings, and I definitely need new tie rods all around, but I don't want to go to the trouble of putting in the bushings if the control arm is bent or something. Will bushings + tie rods + alignment fix me, or should I be looking for a bigger problem?

Second: Brakes. The stock 1.6 brakes are like squeezing pie plates with orange peels. Good lord. Searching suggests the ABS version NX2000 brakes are what I need, but I'm still not 10,000% sure of compatibility. I'm just looking for a final bright green flashing "YEP THEY WILL DROP RIGHT IN" type confirmation before I buy the parts... Yes? No? 

Third: Coilovers! I have no plans to race/autocross/rally this car, and probably will stick with stock 1.6 power for awhile, but those mushy 18-year-old fender gappers gotta go. I'm looking at Tein's Street Basis kit - research says Tein suspension is good stuff, but it looks like they have a lot of options in varying price ranges (not sure which lineups are available for this car, though). I'm not worried about spending extra if it means I get to keep my spine/organ/cranium privileges.

Pro tips are appreciated. Thanks in advanced.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Piece said:


> I have a '98 200SX (1.6 + 5-speed) that needs a little TLC and I'd rather get some good knowledge before I start buying stuff all willy-nilly.


Have exactly the same car, been a daily driver since '03, give or take a bit. I'm conservative. Trying to hop up a GA16DE on this platform to any decent level is fruitless unless daddy's wallet is pretty deep.

A) Tires - Too big. 'nuff said.

B) Front end slop - Just get new lower control arms for each side. Not that expensive and a piece of cake to change them out as long as you've got enough jackstands to hold everything else up while you're changing them. While you're at it, struts, upper strut bearings, tie rods, etc. And you'll be set for another 50,000 miles at least.

C) Brakes - I've always gotten the 2nd from the top of the line pads/shoes and rotors/drums at the local NAPA, CarQuest, etc. Seems like the top of the line are 2x more for 1.1x the performance and life. Don't remember any brand names, etc.

D) Stock suspension = good when new, KYB components. I'm guessing you've got old stuff in there. Last time I pulled out struts and shocks, they basically 'fell' in my hand while flipping them over after I pulled them out.

But before you get that far, better think about the important stuff...upper timing chain tensioner (bye bye timing chain = lots of valves and pistons meeting), front crank seal (nice oil puddles in the driveway), locktite on the distributor rotor screw (nice when that screw falls out in the middle of the night on the highway, just at the point when you don't have a flashlight or a philips screwdriver or maybe even a spare screw)...not to mention a few other things that can be easily found with a bit of searching around and reading various threads on the vehicle.


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## Jopet (Aug 10, 2009)

I did all those on my 95GXE
Found cheap used tires from a civic 55 series 205 16 just scrapes when you steer all the way, both ways- replaced them. 50s max on 16, 205. And, with 16"+ wheels, even lower tires, it will scrape if alignment is not correct. 
Brakes, solved the weak braking with replacement of both front calipers(ceased and almost ceased) combined with akebono pads. New rotors as well and bled/flushed all four brakes. All stock.
dropped my front 2.25" rear 1" with all new parts. Tein springs and kyb dampeners. Research more on this since this will be an upgrade from stock. I found that though part will show up on a search, they are not necessarily available. Took me a few months to complete all the parts I needed.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

Piece said:


> First up, and most important: My right front wheel is scraping at the back of the well during right turns and hard braking. The tires are brand-new 205/55/16s. I had a really bad experience with a bumpy road last week and the wheel is now sits visibly rearward in the well. It also moves fore/aft a lot, as evidenced by the change in scraping noise from gas to brake. I already ordered a set of Energy bushings, and I definitely need new tie rods all around, but I don't want to go to the trouble of putting in the bushings if the control arm is bent or something. Will bushings + tie rods + alignment fix me, or should I be looking for a bigger problem?


If the right front wheel is now in a new position after your accident, then you've got a major suspension problem. Most likely bent control arms or bent frame.


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## Piece (Mar 1, 2016)

I set aside six hours to replace my timing chain tensioner yeaterday and only ended up spending an hour on it. Easier than I expected. My car is definitely quieter, which is neat. Thanks for the tip.

I also bought a pair of new control arms and outer+inner tie rods. My tie rods are toast and need to be switched out. I'm hoping the control arm is to blame for the wheel being out of whack, in which case all of my real headaches will be easily solved. Gonna install the Energy bushings as long as I'm doing the arms.

From there I'll look at suspension upgrades. It looks like a decent aftermarket setup is less costly than I planned for. I'd like the car to sit a bit lower and less dive/roll would be nice, but I don't care for the slammed look and I don't exactly need the thing to corner like a slot car, ya know? 

Anywho, that's where I'm at. Thanks for the input, guys. I'll check back with more progress whenever it happens.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

hamish05064 said:


> There is a major suspension trouble to be checked now


SPAMmer...


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## Piece (Mar 1, 2016)

New outer tie rods were my drop-in improvement for today. Nice. The old ones were pretty frickn bad.

The inner ones are like a bad joke from hell. What kind of tool do I use to remove a tie rod with no flats? Or more importantly, how do I put in the new ones and keep my peace of mind?


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

This might help...
http://www.sr20forum.com/chassis-su...e-rod-cant-remove-cause-its-smooth-edged.html

Or a tool like this would help...
http://www.autozone.com/test-scan-a...val+kitfromString=searchCJPID=3193466cmpid=cj

I did mine a number of years ago, but damned if I can remember what trick I used to get them out...or how long it took...or where I was when I did it...or who I was! wait...what?


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## Piece (Mar 1, 2016)

Hey guys, just thought I'd drop by with some updates.

I finally stuffed those ES poly bushings into my new control arms and installed them tonight. It went smoothly despite being four below zero outside. My left front wheel had started to thunk and rattle so I figured I'd re-blown up the O'Reilly bearing I put in a few months ago, but when I took it apart I discovered the bearing was fine (thank you Jeebus) and the trailing bushing was completely bombed out. The suspension assembly on that side had about 1.5" of fore/aft play. Yikes. No wonder my new tires didn't last.

On the opposite side, I was finally able to get the wheel back to its normal position. The forward arm mount was tweaked backward a bit, so I just bent it all forward with a big wrench. My alignment is shot to shit now because the knuckle is in a different location than it was when I started, but it looks 100% normal again and I can steer lock to lock without any scraping, so I'm happy with it. A new alignment will make it perfect.

The other thing I did a few days ago was repair the nasty noisy exhaust I've been listening to for over a year. The mini-muffler under the shifter had broken away from the pipe and all the nuts were too rusted to turn, so I Sawzall'd the exhaust off the car, drilled out the bolts, welded the cuts back together, replaced the broken muffle-thing with a bit of pipe from Autozone, and reassembled with fresh bolts. She's quiet like mouse again, I got some welding practice, and I only spent $10 on parts. Couldn't be happier.

It's really kind of fun to make broken stuff better. All the grease and profanity is worth it in the end.


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## Piece (Mar 1, 2016)

Wow, been a long time since I posted here.

I ended up installing eBay coilovers, which finally exorcised the last of my front-suspension demons. It's all straight and dandy now, with no weird camber and no strangely positioned wheels. Plus the car drives better, like, 100%. I used to have to brace myself for certain bumps because I knew I'd be sent pogo-sticking all over the freeway when I hit them, but now it just munches them up and keeps going. It's amazing. And, of course, they're height adjustable, so I dropped it two inches and now it carves like a little slot car. The tires don't rub at all, and the chassis doesn't scrape on any driveways, so I've got no complaints. 

Oh, and I'm running my tallest wheels ever: Meaty 205/45 snow tires on 17" Sparco rims, offset +35mm. I bought them off Craigslist because they came with brand-new snow tires, but they do look excellent, and now that the car is lowered, the fitment appears intentional. Like I said, lock to lock, no rubbing, no nothing. The tires are ridiculously grippy in snowy conditions, too - I've been stuck a total of zero times all winter, and this has not been a friendly winter.

Aside from that, I've done little stuff here and there. My cracked front bumper cover disintegrated while driving one night, so I replaced it with a '95 version (slightly more squared off) from good ole eBay. No more ghetto zip ties for me! 

My transmission blew up last summer at 146,000 miles because I drove it like a rented mule, but I found a used one in a nearby scrapyard and learned the Zen art of replacing a transmission and clutch in the garage. It's been in there for almost 14,000 miles and it's going strong, which is pretty cool because 90% of that operation consisted of me saying "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing".

Anyway, now that the car handles and drives like a real car (versus a refrigerator mounted on pogo sticks), a turbo is a much more realistic prospect. It doesn't really neeeeeed boost, but man, it would be a lot more fun with boost. GA16 engines are a dime a dozen these days, so there isn't much stopping me from picking one up, rebuilding it, and strapping on a little turbo to hit my 180HP goal. Maybe, maybe not. We'll see....


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