The reason for the 300ZX visiting my garage was leaking rear struts. Not surprising - they're the factory originals with 32 years on them. Only 38,900 miles, but time doesn't care about mileage. I decided it was time for a full suspension refresh with KYB struts all around.
I started with the rears in early November. Getting the strut assemblies out of a Z32 is a bit of a wrestling match - the suspension arms don't exactly drop down on their own. My solution was a ratchet strap to pull the arms down far enough to clear the strut for removal and reinstall. Worked like a charm.
One thing I noticed during disassembly was that the factory rubber strut mounting gaskets were completely shot. The OEM replacements are absurdly expensive, so I designed a set of gaskets and printed them in TPU. The flexibility of TPU makes it a great substitute for rubber - it'll handle the vibration dampening while lasting a lot longer than the originals did.
I came back to the fronts in late December. Same process - old struts out, new KYB assemblies built up with the printed gaskets, and installed.
The difference is immediately noticeable. The car feels planted and composed in a way it just wasn't before. Thirty-two years of slow deterioration means you don't really notice how bad things have gotten until you put fresh components in. The Z32 is riding like it should again.
