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FITTING THE HANDLING KIT
***** SAFETY WARNING *****
First, put on the handbrake and chock the rear wheels. Loosen the wheel nuts and jack up the front of the car. Support it properly on axle stands – DO NOT rely on the jack.
Take the wheels off and have a good look at the suspension to familiarise yourself with the layout. The Whiteline part numbers are given in bold at the start of each section. The numbers in [square brackets] are the Powerflex part numbers I used – refer to the text for details.
CASTER/ANTI-LIFT KIT (KCA 346 [& PF46-01])
Remove the split pin from the lower arm balljoint and loosen the castle nut. I found it easier to remove the brake calliper & disc for this bit (tie the calliper to the spring with a bit of wire). It's a 20mm nut, and it was really tight on my car.
If you have a proper balljoint separator, now's the time to use it. If not, wedge a piece of wood between the top of the balljoint thread and the driveshaft (I found 12mm MDF worked well). Now unscrew the nut – it will tighten up against the wood and put pressure on the balljoint. When its tight (and I mean tight) hit the hub carrier casting with two hammers (one each side of the casting where the balljoint fits into the carrier). The shock from this will free the tapered portion of the balljoint. You may have to hit the casting a few times, if it won't let go try unscrewing the nut a little more. Mine took a while, but it will go eventually.
Next, unbolt the anti-roll bar drop link. It has a 14mm nut underneath the lower arm, if necessary hold the top of the drop link with a 14mm spanner to stop it turning. Once the nut is undone, remove the washer and the rubber bush.
Now loosen the front pivot nut. This is a 22m nut, and again is quite tight. Once the nut is off, remove the pivot bolt – you might need to tap it out with a hammer and punch.
Finally, undo the two 17mm rear mounting clamp bolts. Once these are undone, the lower arm will be free to come off the car. Give all the mounting points on the car a clean with emery cloth and wire wool. Clean the lower arm as well.
Now you need to remove the old bushes from the lower arm. The handling kit doesn't come with a front bush, mine came from PowerFlex. If you don't want to do the front bush its up to you. Getting the old one out is a pain, the best method I found was to drill loads of holes through the rubber around the thick inner sleeve until I could twist it out with a pair of mole grips. Once the inner sleeve is out, use a hacksaw to cut the thin outer sleeve and remove it with a hammer and punch. Be careful not to damage the surface of the lower arm. Once the bush is out, clean up the surfaces with wire wool.
The rear bush needs to be cut off. Be careful with the hacksaw, as it's easy to misjudge and cut into the lower arm itself. Make small cuts until you are sure where the arm pivot is. My bush ended up cut into loads of little bits; it turned out easier that way. Clean up the lower arm pivot when it's done.
Depending on condition, it might be worth renewing the balljoints – check them for wear. It's a job that really needs a press, as the balljoints are very tight. I did it using a vice and some pieces of pipe as packing material, but I reckon it came close to wrecking the vice. Replacement balljoints are available from motor spares shops, but you have to get normal N14 Sunny ones.
Use the grease that comes with the bushes to coat any surface which will come into contact with metal. I also put some grease on the chassis where the bushes fit. For the front bush, insert the two halves into the lower arm and press the inner sleeve into place. The rear bush has to have the metal ring from the caster kit fitted to the arm first, then the new Whiteline bush can be pushed into place. Make sure the pivot stub is well greased, and stick some inside the bush as well for good measure.
Fitting the arm back onto the car is the reverse of taking it off, but it might need some pulling about to get the front pivot bolt back in. I always put a bit of copper grease on the pivot bolts, but its up to you. The rear mounting clamp should be fitted with the aluminium spacers between the clamp and the body, because the new bush is taller. Whiteline supply new Allen bolts to fit the clamp with – don't torque anything up yet as they have to be done with the car on its wheels (picture above). Push the arm up and slide the balljoint back into place, then refit the nut and tighten it up to the proper torque. Fit a new split pin if necessary – one of my new balljoints came with a locking nut instead.
FRONT ANTI-ROLL BAR BUSHES (SPF001-28 & W0007)
The kit comes with new D-bushes for the front anti-roll bar, and new bushes to go on the drop links. Unbolt the drop links from the anti-roll bar using a 14mm spanner. You will probably have to counterhold the drop link balljoint with a 12mm spanner to stop it turning. Once this nut is undone, you can take the drop link off the car. Check it for wear, as all four on my 'R were a bit iffy. Replacements are available from S&E Motorparts or any Nissan dealer. If you're reusing the links, remove all the old rubber bushes and washers and clean them up.
Now undo the four 14mm bolts holding the D-clamps and the anti-roll bar will drop off – be ready to catch it as its heavy and a bit awkward. Remove the old rubber bushes and clean the bar where they were. Also clean the mounting clamps and the chassis where they fit.
Coat the new poly bushes with grease and fit them to the bar. Bolt the bar back into place using the original bolts, but don't torque them up yet. Using the original washers, grease and fit new bushes onto the drop links and put them into place in the lower arms. Refit the nuts holding the links to the anti-roll bar and the lower arm.
Once the front is done, refit the wheels and lower it to the ground. Chock the front wheels, loosen the wheel nuts and jack up the rear end. Support the car on axle stands, as before. Have a look around the suspension to get an idea of what's under here.
REAR ANTI-ROLL BAR & BUSHES (BNR51, SPF001-20 & W0007 [or PF46-02])
Undo the 14mm nuts holding the drop links to the anti-roll bar. As before, you may need to counterhold the balljoint with a 12mm spanner to stop it turning. When they are off, pull the drop links away from the anti-roll bar and swing it out of the way. Below is a picture of the old and replacement anti-roll bars.
Undo the four 14mm mounting bolts (3 are easy, one is a bit awkward up behind the backbox – see the picture below). Remove the anti-roll bar and throw it away! Clean up the mounting points on the chassis with wire wool and emery cloth, and then smear some grease onto them. Apply grease to the new poly bushes and fit them to the new anti-roll bar. Fit it back to the car using the new clamps supplied and the original bolts.
Whiteline don't supply a set of bushes for the rear drop links in the kit – you can request some at the time of order, or get them from PowerFlex like me. I decided to replace them as a matter of course as mine were knackered. They are fitted in the same way as on the front end (see above). The only difference is that they are connected to the suspension strut instead of the lower arm.
When you come to attach the drop link to the anti-roll bar, you now have a choice of 3 positions to fit them in. These correspond to soft, medium, and hard (soft is the furthest from the bar). I set mine to medium to start with, and then try different settings until you are happy. Setting the bar harder makes the car more oversteery, setting it softer makes it understeer.
CAMBER BOLTS (KCA 412)
The camber bolts are not fitted until the car has its wheel alignment done. My garage had to check the car as it came in, then fit the bolts, then recheck and adjust as necessary. It takes ages and can cost a fortune – get a quote before you start. Whiteline give suggested alignment settings on their website – I'm giving them a try but my garage reckon they might knock the tyres out a bit quicker, so its up to you.
FINAL TIGHTENING
The suspension mountings have to be tightened with the weight of the car on its wheels – this is to avoid pre-loading the bushes. Nuts and bolts should be tightened to the specifications given by Nissan in the workshop manual – new ones should be used where appropriate. When tightening the drop link nuts, Whiteline state that the nuts should be tightened until the washer touches the bush, and then tightened a further turn. Make sure the drop links are positioned correctly while tightening – the balljoint should be square (as is possible) to the end of the anti-roll bar. Recheck the mounting nuts and bolts after a reasonable amount of driving.
Whiteline can also supply a kit to replace the bushes on the steering rack, to reduce the amount of movement. I ordered these as well, but on looking it appears to be an absolute nightmare to get the rack off – they remain unfitted
Written by Ian Ardley