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I'm about to order the TEIN Street Advanced Coilover Kit for my 2001 Maxima. Does anyone have any experience with them? Are they decent coilovers? Can I lift the car to the stock height with them, or will they be lower than stock at their highest setting?
I'm about to order the TEIN Street Advanced Coilover Kit for my 2001 Maxima. Does anyone have any experience with them? Are they decent coilovers? Can I lift the car to the stock height with them, or will they be lower than stock at their highest setting?
Thanks.
- Brian
they have a huge reputation of being great aroudn here, just double check the new models as Street Advance is new name to an almost existing name, and they introduced new levels, when there really just used to be one to go with, now u have choices which is a good thing just do your research.
Thanks. I did a search for TEIN, but no threads had TEIN in the title, so I didn't read much of them. So far, TEIN is the only strut I've seen talked about around here, for the most part.
The street advanced looks like it'll suit my needs. Has stronger springs than the street basic, which is what I need to carry the excess weight in the rear. Makes the ride bumpy as hell, but there's nothing I can do about that. I wish koni made FSD struts for this car. Those self-adjust instantly. Unfortunately, they don't make them for a whole lot of cars.
If I remember correctly, they don't have damping adjustments which is what can make the car softer overall and fairly close to OEM ride quality so you will have to go with the more harsher ride
They are great coilovers! I've had mine for over a year now and have had no issues at all. I've put about 10-12k miles on them. During the summer, I run them at 14/16 and it gives the car a nice stiff, responsive ride. During the winter I run them between 2-4/16 which gives the car a stock ride feel. I live in the inland northwest as well, so we get pretty decent winters, and they've done great on the bumpy snow and ice. I'm also a skier and go up to the mountains and have had no problems with them when driving up to the mountains. As far as ride height, I believe on their highest setting, they're stock height, and maybe possibly a little higher. And I believe you can drop them as much as 3-3 1/2 inches. I dropped mine 2 1/2 inches, and would personally not go any lower. Anyways, all in all, they're great, and I don't think you can go wrong with them.
That's great to know. Sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. I'm surprised they feel like stock on 2-4/16 setting, because the stiff springs are what give the harsh ride, regardless of what the dampeners are set on. I tried it with my SHO once. I turned the Konis all the way down, and I still had a harsh ride, but the rebound from the struts was just slower, and the car had more float to it. Like driving a schizophrenic boat.
Thanks. I did a search for TEIN, but no threads had TEIN in the title, so I didn't read much of them. So far, TEIN is the only strut I've seen talked about around here, for the most part.
search harder, and maybe more that 5-10 mins, there are so many threads, and talks, and mentions about TEIN, maybe it was your spelling or search methods, just saying
there are countless threads on that, as they were the almighty coilover for this generation.
if i ever replace my struts i'm SO going to just save the money time and get coil overs. unless you get a good deal on struts sometimes coil overs are 200-300 more and are mostly or fully adjustable.
Yeah, I was trying to save money at first, and I figured there might be a chance that the stock suspension would hold the weight in the trunk. Not the case, unfortunately. Oh well. At least the suspension is easy to change out on the car. I just hope it's cool weather when I have to install them, because excluding the past few days, it's been crazy hot here in Texas.
QUESTION: Stupid question, but do the TEIN Street Advanced Coilovers come with strut tower mounts? I'm pretty sure they have to, but I never see them in any of the pictures on any websites I've looked at thus far. Figured I'd better make sure.
Also, do the strut tower mounts have camber adjustments?
Nah, I can order the mounts online for around $22 and $35 each, so they're barely over $100. There are lots of online parts sellers now with really cheap prices.
Last night, I was searching for camber plates and found the thread that said there was a cheap kind of camber plate. The problem is, I can't find it again. All the other camber plates I looked up were really expensive, except for one. And it was a good brand too. I keep wanting to say Eibach, but I can't find that anywhere, and I can't find the thread where I read it after searching for it for half an hour. Does anybody have any idea which camber plates I'm talking about and where to find them?
I found these for the 4th gen: http://m.ebay.com/itm/MK1-Adjustable-Camber-Kit-Plates-Strut-Mounts-For-Coilover-Kit-95-99-MAXIMA-/141307569920?hash=item20e6966700%3Ag%3AlWIAAOxyrrpTjVer&_trkparms=pageci%253A09c5ba08-6618-11e6-a26b-74dbd180d565%257Cparentrq%253Aa32c65a11560a622971fc344ffff70cb%257Ciid%253A12
How different is the 5th gen at the strut tower mount? I thought 4th and 5th gen were very similar (though I don't know much about these cars).
I'm calling around now to see if any of the other coilover manufacturers like BC will sell me just their camber plates. I'd go with a different coilover, but they usually don't offer the electronic dampening adjustment that the TEIN offers.
Well, since I'm not slammin' it, I won't need the camber plates. I wasn't able to find any anyway.
FINAL PRICE:
I went through Autoplicity.
$913.77
That includes:
TEIN Street Advance Coilovers
EDFC
Monroe Strut Mounts
Shipping
Not a bad deal, but quite a bit more expensive than the $350 I spent on my stock suspension replacement struts.
I've wanted the electronic adjustment forever, but I've never had it on any of my cars. Can't wait to try it out. And from what I've read, it sounds like the TEIN ride really well despite being stiff for the track. I'll be impressed if I can get a decent ride out of them. My SHOs are rough as hell with the 450/350 lbs coilovers and Eibachs, or the SHO Source coilovers on the other one.
Thanks for all the info. It was a big help.
Also, that google trick someone above showed me to search Maxima.org was really helpful. I found lots of TEIN threads here that way. Didn't find the camber plates I was looking for in the threads, but that's okay. Thanks!
the reason the TEIN coil overs are so nice is because they use the stock mounts, and not pillowball mounts like 80% of the remaining of coilover types for our gen.
yea that EDFC sounds awesome, post pics, and that price sounds pretty good, that must be the starter model now? what models did you figure out that they had? street advance is one for example.
the reason the TEIN coil overs are so nice is because they use the stock mounts, and not pillowball mounts like 80% of the remaining of coilover types for our gen.
yea that EDFC sounds awesome, post pics, and that price sounds pretty good, that must be the starter model now? what models did you figure out that they had? street advance is one for example.
Sure, I'll post pics if I don't forget to (some things tend to slip my mind).
So it's the pillowball mounts that make the ride so rough? Interesting. I didn't think they'd make that much difference. I'm kind of excited now. My wife will be pretty happy about that, as will my butt. Then again, I got used to it in my SHO.
I don't know what other types of coilovers TEIN has. The Street Advance is what I purchased. I've seen the TEIN SS (Super Street, I think), and the TEIN Street Basis. The Street Basis have great front springs (~450 lbs) but their rears are too weak for what I need to carry. Not sure why they're so week. Seems like the car would be out of balance.
The TEIN Street Advance, on the other hand, has a little bit weaker front springs (~396 lbs), but much stronger rear springs (~325 I think). I need at least that in the rear to carry the weight, so this should work fine. I was using 450/350 in one of my SHOs and 425/325 in the other. So this should work well in the Maxima.
As for the EDFC, I don't know what models they have. I did see a more expensive model that was pretty nice. It had one or more multi-color displays rather than the monochromatic display mine has...but I don't care about looks. Functionality is all I care about. I keep looking at my car going, "I could paint it and it'd look really nice." Then I remember how I tow it around on all four and could lose it while towing and think, "Okay, let's forget that idea." lol
Thanks for all the info so far. It's been a big help.
The Moog rear strut mounts I purchased will work fine. But the front strut mounts I purchased aren't the full strut mount assembly. I had to pay another $10 per front mount to get the plate with the bolts on it so complete the mount. So that $913 price should be $933.
Also, I may return the EDFC. The advertisement showed the EDFC as a complete kit, but it was just the servo motors--no control unit. I may hang on to them and get the control unit separately later. Haven't decided yet.
Yeah, I couldn't believe how cheap it was. The picture showed all the pieces needed, including the control unit. I probably got in a hurry and didn't read the included items list. I've been doing stupid stuff like that the past month or so. Par for the course... lol
Struts are installed and you guys were right. Feels nearly like stock over bumps, but handles great. Damn good coilovers.
I've never used the kind where you crank up the spring tension. With the TEINs, you can only get them so high. Whoever said it was close to stock height was a bit off. The front dropped nearly two inches and the rear dropped quite a bit too. But it's not too low. It's a good stance. I think I'd rather drop it a tad in the front, but I'm afraid it'll mess up the spring rate in the front. And it's a pain in the *** to adjust these springs. lol The adjustment wrench slips off so easily. I have it down to a science how not to slip the wrench and it still slip periodically. lol I sat on my couch for an hour and a half building and cranking down the rear springs to max height. I should've eaten some protein afterward, because it was a hell of a workout. lol
I kept forgetting to take pictures of the struts, so I have the next best thing...the box!
Beautiful box, eh?
And here's how the car sits now:
Its on an incline, and loaded down with my hitches in thd back, still, not bad!
It ain't pretty, but at least it rides well now. Feels a hell of a lot better to drive. I think the suspension, seat, and the loose shifter is what made the car feel cheap at first. Once I change the seat and put the polyurethane shifter bushings in, it should feel like a solid car. Someone really didn't take care of it. I'm paying for their 15 years of maintenance neglect...
I'll try to get some pics on flat ground. And I'm gonna have to drop it in the front a little. It's slightly higher in the front with my hitches weighing down the back. I'll try to take a pic without the hitches in the trunk so you can see how the TEIN coilovers sit when at max height.
Driving on them today was great. Just need to replace all my bushings with polyurethane bushings now. They're all shot. I can feel the trailing arm bushing moving when I turn or shift directions. I'm a little perturbed that I just put nice suspension on a car with a trailing arm. lol I can't believe the car doesn't have independent rear suspension.
Funny, but some of the SHO guys are thinking about switching to an '03 Maxima for their race car now that I have mine. They're tired of replacing expensive parts on the SHOs, and we're running out of engines. lol
One of the struts is creaking constantly, but that was happening with that same corner before, just not as bad. Can't figure out what's causing it. Can a gasket that's in pieces, but fully there, cause that? It's the only common denominator at this point. Or maybe it's the new polyurethane sway bar bushings...but I doubt it. I can't remember whend it started happening. Maybe a few days after washing the car (some say rain can cause it after the car gets wet and then dries off).
I read several threads about it here. No real consensus on the cause.
So I've determined that the OEM replacement strut assembly spring or spring seat was defective, causing the bed-spring creaking.
The TEIN coilovers are fine, and not the cause of the new, different-sounding creaking sound. That's caused by the seam between the door and quarter panel, or possibly the door seal (which would just need to be cleaned really well). After a day or so, the creaking went away, so I'm assuming the seam just got wet. Once it was dried out, that probably stopped it. Next time it happens, I'll have to try using a hairdryer on it to dry it out quicker.
Oh, it's not the mount. It's that issue with the body seams creaking when it gets wet. Nothing I can do about it. It stopped after the seam dried out a day later. Thanks, though.
08-16-2016, 07:40 AM
