510 front strut inserts

[jonahsturdy14]

I have been driving my 72 510 2 door and lowered it some and realized that my inserts are shot, but i cant find inserts for the stock 510 struts.  

 

Do the 280zx inserts fit in 510 struts or another inserts fit?

[TENDRIL]

the stock 510 strut needs to be rebuilt new seals and recharged/refilled 

 

the 280zx insert i think will work with a really large spacer/shim in the tube, however i dont think it very practical 

 

 

or you can shorten (cut and weld) the 510 strut to accept 280zx inserts 

[datzenmike]

Yes the zx inserts will fit. Any other insert that is shorter than the 510 strut inner length will work, but you must stack washers under them to take up the slack.

 

When you take them apart you may find the factory didn't use inserts. The internal valving is in a hydraulic oil bath inside the strut. What I did was empty out this thin watery oil and replace with motorcycle fork oil. Motorcycle fork oil comes in a variety of thicknesses or viscosity so riders can 'tune' their suspension dampening. Thicker oil is harder to pump through the same size valve hole as thinner fluid. A thicker oil will increase the damping effect and thus improve the ride. On my 710 struts I used 20W oil and like the feel. I'm guessing the stock oil is maybe 5W??? Anyway I used Bellray oil and a liter cost $17 and there's enough for three struts. 

 

Now if a previous owner has already thrown the stock internal dampers away and replaced with a throw away insert then you are stuck with replacing them. A lot cheaper than $80 per strut for inserts and will last virtually forever.

[flatcat19]

Does anyone even research at all anymore?

 

Way too many spoon-fed threads lately.

[freetheoranges]

This topic is now only covered in a handful of threads. I ran blown front struts for 2 years because I couldn't find any 510 inserts and all the threads recommend the infamous conversion; however the short answer is yes 280zx struts fit with a spacer and some 20W fork oil. And that's all she wrote..

[jonahsturdy14]

Thank you to everyone that helped, i will try something,and see what happens

[datzenmike]

Does anyone even research at all anymore?

 

Way too many spoon-fed threads lately.

 

Well I'd like to think we help out the noobs and give them a pass or two. A learning curve if you will, lest we become like another famous forum of elitists that bounce posts for punctuation, spelling, poorly asked questions andfor having opinions that differ from the norm.

[flatcat19]

y bad.

 

It has been a huge, consecutive string of them though.

[KlassicMotion]

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/39512-strut-insert-and-rear-shock-guide/

 

That link^^ should give you some ideas of what you might want to run.  Like stated before, just figure out the specs you need, like; overall length, and length of travel you want, and you can shim the bottom of the insert to fit your housing tube.  It's not perfect science, but it will work. Keep in mind that the MR2 inserts use different threads at the top mount.  Plus they don't have the notch cut in the end of the strut rod like the Datsun inserts do.

[datzenmike]

y bad.

 

It has been a huge, consecutive string of them though.

 

Hey, someone has to tell them off. Good cop bad cop