Nubira < - > Lacetti Suspension

Audacity Racing · Post by **Audacity Racing** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:21 pm

I can't get to any parts manuals right now but I'm curious if the suspension members between the original Nubira and the Lacetti platform are the same.

Any idea?

Audacity Racing · Post by **Audacity Racing** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:19 am

Yet again, I can't confirm part numbers, but the lower control arms looks identical...

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:27 pm

Yes.... they are nearly identical.

In fact.... so were the ones for the Leganza.... Kinky was going to go to a 5X114.3 and I was going to trade him a set of Leganza front hubs for his Optra hubs.

They were all ready to go but then things got screwed up with his widebody project so he's changed his mind for now.

I also was modifying a set of Optra/Lacetti rears (which are not like the Nubira, leganza, lanos ) and changing them from a 4X114.3 to a 5X114.3

That project didn't go so well.... I'm not sure what type of steel they use for the hubs but I made a major mistake.

I built blanks to fit into the orignal 4X114.3 and tack welded them into place (since two of the 5 X114.3 holes overlap ever so slightly.

I tacking the inserts in place from the rear with very little heat (could touch the hub within 30 seconds of welding ) thinking that it shouldn't be a problem.

My cobalt end mill went through the three holes which didn't overlap like butter... perhaps 10 seconds a hole.. but as soon as I hit the overlapped holes where the inserts were tacked in the cobalt endmill would only go down about 80% of the way.

When it stopped I was a little confused then I realized "crap... the tack welds hardened the material right around the weld"

So I milled out all four overlapped holes (two per hub) down about 80% to ensure I could get down most of the way.

Next I tried to push through with the cobalt and only managed to go another 5% down before wrecking the end mill.

So.... given the hole was 14mm it was a bitch to find a carbide mill/drill to do the job.

After spending a couple hundred on a few bits I did manage to drill out the holes ( the steel was so hard it actually wore out/chipped the carbide inserts after four holes!!!)

So all the drilling/milling was finished and I went to put in the brand new wheels studs and the damned studs were to small ( roughly 12mm instead of 14mm )

After a bunch of digging and checking with the local GM dealership I found that all studs in their system came up with the same part number which was this 12mm stud.

The old studs that came out of his forenza hubs were some sort of freaks.... I even cross refferenced Lacetti and Forenza studs and they came up with the 12mm

At that point I felt really stupid.... I just assumed that the studs I took out would be identical to the brand new ones I bought from GM.

So then I dug around a bit and found that the SRT4 studs would work in my application and I just needed to drill the holes a tiny bit larger.

After drilling I tried to insert the SRT4 stud into one of the "hard" holes and it simply destroyed the stud.

That is to say that there was hardly any marking on the hole and the grooves on the stud were simply sheared off.

In the end I was simply going to buy Kinky some new rear hubs, drill them to 12mm and tack weld the inserts after milling and insertion of the studs.

Luckily kinky didn't go with the 5 bolt..... so we made other arangements.

I wish I knew the material used in those hubs.... it's just crazy how they went from a nice soft steel to ultra hard with a tiny bit of heat from four tack welds ( 1/16" penetration with TIG )

I know I'm rambling on.... but I figured you might find it amusing that I had massive troubles with the stupid ass rear hubs.

I'm actually planning to convert my Lemans (same as Lanos) over to a suspension similar to the Optra (using the front hubs kinky traded me )

The ball joint is different... but that's easy to fix.... the Tie rod on the lanos is way higher than the connection on the optra/nubira/leganza but I think I have that figured out (mount that attaches to the optra strut and to the optra hub to position the Tie rod correctly.

Oh..... speaking of Tie rods..... the one difference between the Leganza and Lacetti was that the connection for the tie rod was just a bit different.

The leganza one was further out (longer arm) but I'm pretty sure that it would work just fine after realigning the suspension and moving the tie rod end out a bit further.

I also figured it would give a better lock to lock ratio on the steering which would help on the track (wasn't much difference.... but it might be noticeable.... hard to say )

Audacity Racing · Post by **Audacity Racing** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:58 pm

The whole reason I ask is because at the local "pull-a-part" there is a 2000 Nubira that blew a head gasket and is fine everywhere else. Someone beat me to the head (though in the trunk of teh car are the caps and cams... recycling for aluminum I guess). I had been working on adjustable suspension members for Kinky but don't have a car to work on for fitment. With the Nubi, I can go take better measurements and buy the lower members to make my own from factory parts.

Any idea on the rear ties? I know it's a compound link on both, but I wonder if the lengths and mountings are the same...

Audacity Racing · Post by **Audacity Racing** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 7:02 pm

Also, when I get around to it in the next few weeks I'll check the casting sheets for the hubs on the Lanos and see if it turns up anything funny...

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:04 pm

I'm not sure about the Nubira rear end.... I have only had Lanos,Lemans,Leganza,Optra rear ends to play with.... never a nubira

the Leganza wasn't too far off length wise..... but it was enough that I couldn't use it (angles were off )

Audacity Racing · Post by **Audacity Racing** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 2:17 am

I may need some basic measurements from a Lacetti driver who can get under a rear wheel before long...