# B12 Tubular Suspension Components!!!



## SuperSentra4203 (Dec 17, 2002)

Alright, heres the deal... This is a little early, but I want to plan early so everything goes smoothly. Right now I am in the research part of developing tubual compenents for the B12 chassis. I'm talking A-Arms, Lateral Arms, Strut Tower Braces, Roll Cages, and maybe a plethora of components to reinforce the chassis since the front suspension is built upon weak unibody mounting points. I'm also scetching out details on pieces to run aftermarket Coil-Over kits to help the B12's rather than the weak suspension system. I am in the process of aquiring another B12 at this moment. After that the car will more than likely have the suspension ripped apart and I will be working on fabricating these pieces. All designes will be tested on my own vehicle before they are offered for sale. I only intend on selling them to y'all for a little over cost, maybe $10-$25 per piece. Meaning more than likely a set of A-Arms will only run maybe $50-$100!!!! I don't intend on having them powdercoated unless I can get the hook-up on having it done. More than likely they will come bare or a big possibility of being coated with POR-15. Depending on cost of material, ChromeMoly will be offered or it may be the only material used. Like I said, really depends on cost and availibility. I'm supposed to return to Mansfield this summer and aquire a cache of ChromeMoly tubing off of a friend for dirt cheap. From what he has told me last week, there is enough tubing to fabricate 10 Tube-Frame vehicles and the price for it all is $100. Now I'm not the only person that he has told, so it may be gone by the time I get to Mansfield in June.... Now I'm not sure if I will price the pieces to help compensate for the purchase of a new welder that runs about $1000, but more than likely not, all depends on demand. I want to offer them to y'all for a respectible price with minimal profit, but still cover overhead costs associated with this plan. Now of course I need all the feedback from y'all I can get and possibly some ideas as well :cheers: Why did I think of this, well as both a B12 guy and a diehard Thirdgen F-body guy, the idea came from the fact that for a Thirdgen, you can get just about any suspension component in tubular form, which helps reduce overall weight, unsprung weight, strenght of the chassis, handling, and appearence.

you can also E-mail me at [email protected] if you wish
Bob


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## SuperSentra4203 (Dec 17, 2002)

anybody, someone has to have some suggestions


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## Pzych0 (Mar 1, 2005)

well its abt time someone has decided that they wanna upgrade the b12 suspension and chasis i have ben wanting to do it for quite some time now but i dont know where to start. Its a brilnt idea jsut a pity looks like no one is taking interest in it.

More or less how much would it stiffen up the chassis and suspension on the car .


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## SuperSentra4203 (Dec 17, 2002)

Yeah like i said, im a big F-body guy as well. And something F-boby guys are well aware of is the chassis being way too flexible and they are heavy, so a way to solve both problems is with tubular suspension components, hence I wanna put forth the idea into the B12s.


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## 87SENTRASE (May 16, 2002)

Sorry I am late on this thread, I am an adult B12 owner, any updates?


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## bob89sentra (Sep 15, 2005)

87SENTRASE said:


> Sorry I am late on this thread, I am an adult B12 owner, any updates?


He has sadly moved on from his B12
He now drives a minivan (but hates it)
He frequents other nissan forums, using the username supersentra


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## SuperSentra4203 (Dec 17, 2002)

Hey dammit.. lol

Yup, no B12......... , For now.....Too busy with fun W-body stuff, and of course finding ways to destroy my mini-van 

Someone find me a decent non-rusted B12 in Ohio for a decent price, i'll be back at it, but they are going for around $1200 around here with too much rust..


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## Lazarus_023 (Jun 3, 2003)

i'm not overly familiar with B12s, but from what i remember, the chassis is pretty tough. 

for the front, i believe it could benefit from poly bushings and a lower control arm tie-bar, but i wouldn't bother with tubular arms. keep in mind, the stronger your controls arms, the more likely to bend an expensive chassis... the stockers aren't going to deflect much, they're well designed. 

for the rear, poly bushings again, but my memory of the rest is so cloudy, i can't recall what might improve the strength.


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## 87SENTRASE (May 16, 2002)

Yeah, my dream car is a B12, I have one laying in ruin in a garage. I have all the needed parts to make it a super-car though I have total lack of motivation to do anything with it. there is a story behind this however I will leave it al that, though I have been looking for a B12 local in NOVA, So. MD, DC, or Baltimore to tweek/tune with and offer the light to my lamp. However I cannot find a B12'er that is an adult & is serious about the car like I am, and lives in the stated areas. . . Below my signature you can see pictures of my B12 as of July 2005. I just dug the car out of tons of trash, boxes, garbage, piss-bottles, and all kinds of slop. Though I really wish I could find good inspiration from a local. Pics show the car now, actually you could not even see it before, blankets, clothes, and all were all on top of it. Here you can some what see a car. This IS the car in the pics under my signature.
























Yeah, it is getting a sr20 too, thanks to Nismo Driver (Big-Ups) he sold me his sr20-to-B12 mount set I will build the RNN14 motor (left side) for the B12 but I have no motivation. 1 B13 sr20de, 1 PW11 sr20det, 3 RNN14 sr20det's, & nobody to spark me up! Wish I could find a local B12 lover. . . . . .


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## zero1dhd (Aug 22, 2006)

I am currently working on designing a dual wishbone suspension system for the B14 platform. If any of you guys have put toghether any plans or specs share the info. 
I know this thread is for tubular suspension components on a B12, but it's pretty much the same idea. As I put together the plans a little more I'll put up a link to them, so you guys can give me any suggestions.


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## Lazarus_023 (Jun 3, 2003)

zero1dhd said:


> I am currently working on designing a dual wishbone suspension system for the B14 platform.


um, why?

HINT: the only acceptable answer here is "cheesy ME senior design project"


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## zero1dhd (Aug 22, 2006)

Lazarus_023 said:


> um, why?
> 
> HINT: the only acceptable answer here is "cheesy ME senior design project"


What do you mean "why?". The suspension system of this car is crap. Limited travel, you can only lower your car safely 1.5", and it uses the strut to not only hold up the front end but also to tie in the top of the spindle. I will admit that it's clever engineering on nissans part to elinate multiple suspension components, but in this case I believe more will be much better. When u turn the wheels it twists the entire strut/spring assembly, which is also crappy. The spindle should turn freely of the springs - ie UPPER and Lower ball joints. I believe changing this setup over to a dual wishbone will improve the handling, travel, and overall look of the car (I love cars that are slammed on the ground) but still safe to drive.

Look at the suspension of any high end car and/or race-cars and they will all have a dual wishbone suspension. 

Take a look at this pic and tell me you don't think this would be a hell of a lot better that what we got now

Chassis Engineering - Drag Racing Chassis, Ladder Bars & Suspensions


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## SENTRASER (Jan 6, 2005)

zero1dhd said:


> What do you mean "why?". The suspension system of this car is crap. Limited travel, you can only lower your car safely 1.5", and it uses the strut to not only hold up the front end but also to tie in the top of the spindle. I will admit that it's clever engineering on nissans part to elinate multiple suspension components, but in this case I believe more will be much better. When u turn the wheels it twists the entire strut/spring assembly, which is also crappy. The spindle should turn freely of the springs - ie UPPER and Lower ball joints. I believe changing this setup over to a dual wishbone will improve the handling, travel, and overall look of the car (I love cars that are slammed on the ground) but still safe to drive.
> 
> Look at the suspension of any high end car and/or race-cars and they will all have a dual wishbone suspension.
> 
> ...


Love the idea, although I think the rear is lacking much more than the front in the suspension engineering department on the B14. Double wishbone is designed primeraly for RWD cars, as there is no room to put the cv-shafts through the shock assembly. There are some prime examples of this being overcome, such as the AWD Mercades, but they are an engineering feat. Best of luck.


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## zero1dhd (Aug 22, 2006)

SENTRASER said:


> Love the idea, although I think the rear is lacking much more than the front in the suspension engineering department on the B14. Double wishbone is designed primeraly for RWD cars, as there is no room to put the cv-shafts through the shock assembly. There are some prime examples of this being overcome, such as the AWD Mercades, but they are an engineering feat. Best of luck.



I totally agree with you about the back lacking big time in the engineering dept. the way the solid "axle" in the back is set up (not having the pivot point in the center) makes most of the rear wieght of the car ride on the passenger side. I haven't started designing the rear components, because I want to be the one who finally builds the AWD B14 so I have to wait till I can afford the BB motor and trans then I'll start that project. As for the axle needing to run through the center of the spindle I have a couple ideas a) offset the strut spring assembly for clearance or b) put the spring on one side and the shock on the other. More than likely I will just offset the strut assembly and engineer the upper and lower control arms to accomadate this offset idea.


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