Drivesolo
Well-known member
So I had to revise my original post. In the past when I've sourced part numbers off of Courtesy Nissan's catalog and used them at my local dealership I was only using part of the actual part number. I took a look at the L32's front suspension page and saw that almost every part for the L32 matched the B16 which matched the ZE0. A red flag went up. I have a suspicion that this can't be possible. Upon clicking on the part and seeing more details of it, the 3 components for the ZE0's front suspension (dampener, spring and hat) is as follows:
Dampener: 54302K-ZE001(RH) / 54303K-ZE001(LH)
Spring: 54010M-ZE001
Hat: 54320-ZE001(RH) / 54320+A-ZE001(LH)
For an B16 (QR25DE, automatic ):
Dampener: 54302K-B16U005(RH) / 54303K-B16U005(LH)
Spring: 54010M-B16U005
Hat: 54320-B16U005(RH) / 54320+A-B16U005(LH)
It's that "suffix" of ZE001 that makes that part specific to the Leaf. In the past the dealership already knew the car model and year so when I would give the part number it the suffix was understood. I suspect that since they have different part numbers for different models of B16 Sentra models that the part difference between the likelihood that a B16's suspension and a ZE0 is unlikely.
Sorry if this caused any confusion. If anything this review of part numbers shows that the Versa's suspension components can not be used on the Leaf. The weight difference between the two is evidence of that. Until I can get a hold of the suspension components of a B16 and a ZE0 and compare the side by side, I won't completely rule it out as a possibility. Again, sorry for the confusion.
--- Original Post ---
At the time that I'm writing this post there currently are no performance suspension options that aftermarket manufacturers advertise for the Nissan Leaf. Not surprising since the car was never intended to be a performance vehicle and it is still very new. But a lot of people are looking to improve its ride and handling. The appearance by lowering it can be improved and also should result in a slight improvement in aerodynamics, possibly increasing the range for those that do a lot of highway driving.
Nissan is well known for being a manufacturer that has a vast amount of interchangeability of parts in between different models even of different years. If the Leafs suspension components could be mapped to other components in another existing model(s) it would be possible to acquire aftermarket parts for the associated model suspensions to use on the Leaf. When you think of a comparable Nissan chassis to a Leaf (Chassis Code: ZE0), the Versa (Chassis Code: SC11X) naturally comes to mind. I went to Courtesy Nissan's website; they have an online parts catalog of OEM parts w/ the Nissan part numbers. I did a direct comparison of the front suspensions of the Versa to the Leaf and found that there is a distinct difference in the suspension parts they used. Primarily I was looking for the 3 main components; dampener, spring and hat for the front suspension. All 3 were different parts between the two. Since the Leaf is considerably heavier vehicle than the Versa, I looked at the 2011 Sentra (Chassis Code: B16) next:
2011 Versa (SC11X):2610 lbs
2011 Sentra (B16): 2975 lbs
2011 Leaf (ZE0): 3354 lbs
So I did a comparison of the front suspensions of a Leaf and Sentra:
Leaf: http://www.courtesyparts.com/leaf-p...nt-suspension/-c-10282_10283_10323_10325.html
Sentra: http://www.courtesyparts.com/sentra...-front-suspension/-c-5907_5908_5986_5988.html
The front suspensions match!:
Dampener: 54302K(RH) / 54303K(LH)
Spring: 54010M
Hat: 54320(RH) / 54320+A(LH)
The rears suspension is not as straight forward of a match as the fronts. The rear suspension on both the Leaf and the Sentra are similar in construction however the dampeners are different.
Leaf: http://www.courtesyparts.com/leaf-p...ar-suspension/-c-10282_10283_10323_10327.html
Sentra: http://www.courtesyparts.com/sentra...1-rear-suspension/-c-5907_5908_5986_5990.html
For the rear suspension the parts of concern are the dampener, spring and spring seats (top and bottom)
Spring: 55020M
Top Spring mount: 55034
Lower Spring mount: 55032M
Luckily the dampener and all associated parts of the dampener are the same as the Altima (Chassis Code: L32):
http://www.courtesyparts.com/altima...1-rear-suspension/-c-6224_6225_6303_6307.html
Dampener: 56210K
Conclusion:
Seems like lowering springs for a B16 will work for the ZE0 Leaf if all you are looking for is a drop. For more adjustability, a compete coilover kit for the B16 might work well assuming that it the rear does not swap in a coilover setup and utilizing the OEM dampener. However it would probably make more sense to get a matched dampener for an L32 Altima to use in conjunction w/ the spring.
Dampener: 54302K-ZE001(RH) / 54303K-ZE001(LH)
Spring: 54010M-ZE001
Hat: 54320-ZE001(RH) / 54320+A-ZE001(LH)
For an B16 (QR25DE, automatic ):
Dampener: 54302K-B16U005(RH) / 54303K-B16U005(LH)
Spring: 54010M-B16U005
Hat: 54320-B16U005(RH) / 54320+A-B16U005(LH)
It's that "suffix" of ZE001 that makes that part specific to the Leaf. In the past the dealership already knew the car model and year so when I would give the part number it the suffix was understood. I suspect that since they have different part numbers for different models of B16 Sentra models that the part difference between the likelihood that a B16's suspension and a ZE0 is unlikely.
Sorry if this caused any confusion. If anything this review of part numbers shows that the Versa's suspension components can not be used on the Leaf. The weight difference between the two is evidence of that. Until I can get a hold of the suspension components of a B16 and a ZE0 and compare the side by side, I won't completely rule it out as a possibility. Again, sorry for the confusion.
--- Original Post ---
At the time that I'm writing this post there currently are no performance suspension options that aftermarket manufacturers advertise for the Nissan Leaf. Not surprising since the car was never intended to be a performance vehicle and it is still very new. But a lot of people are looking to improve its ride and handling. The appearance by lowering it can be improved and also should result in a slight improvement in aerodynamics, possibly increasing the range for those that do a lot of highway driving.
Nissan is well known for being a manufacturer that has a vast amount of interchangeability of parts in between different models even of different years. If the Leafs suspension components could be mapped to other components in another existing model(s) it would be possible to acquire aftermarket parts for the associated model suspensions to use on the Leaf. When you think of a comparable Nissan chassis to a Leaf (Chassis Code: ZE0), the Versa (Chassis Code: SC11X) naturally comes to mind. I went to Courtesy Nissan's website; they have an online parts catalog of OEM parts w/ the Nissan part numbers. I did a direct comparison of the front suspensions of the Versa to the Leaf and found that there is a distinct difference in the suspension parts they used. Primarily I was looking for the 3 main components; dampener, spring and hat for the front suspension. All 3 were different parts between the two. Since the Leaf is considerably heavier vehicle than the Versa, I looked at the 2011 Sentra (Chassis Code: B16) next:
2011 Versa (SC11X):2610 lbs
2011 Sentra (B16): 2975 lbs
2011 Leaf (ZE0): 3354 lbs
So I did a comparison of the front suspensions of a Leaf and Sentra:
Leaf: http://www.courtesyparts.com/leaf-p...nt-suspension/-c-10282_10283_10323_10325.html
Sentra: http://www.courtesyparts.com/sentra...-front-suspension/-c-5907_5908_5986_5988.html
The front suspensions match!:
Dampener: 54302K(RH) / 54303K(LH)
Spring: 54010M
Hat: 54320(RH) / 54320+A(LH)
The rears suspension is not as straight forward of a match as the fronts. The rear suspension on both the Leaf and the Sentra are similar in construction however the dampeners are different.
Leaf: http://www.courtesyparts.com/leaf-p...ar-suspension/-c-10282_10283_10323_10327.html
Sentra: http://www.courtesyparts.com/sentra...1-rear-suspension/-c-5907_5908_5986_5990.html
For the rear suspension the parts of concern are the dampener, spring and spring seats (top and bottom)
Spring: 55020M
Top Spring mount: 55034
Lower Spring mount: 55032M
Luckily the dampener and all associated parts of the dampener are the same as the Altima (Chassis Code: L32):
http://www.courtesyparts.com/altima...1-rear-suspension/-c-6224_6225_6303_6307.html
Dampener: 56210K
Conclusion:
Seems like lowering springs for a B16 will work for the ZE0 Leaf if all you are looking for is a drop. For more adjustability, a compete coilover kit for the B16 might work well assuming that it the rear does not swap in a coilover setup and utilizing the OEM dampener. However it would probably make more sense to get a matched dampener for an L32 Altima to use in conjunction w/ the spring.