First of all let me tell you that the difference was night and Day. Fellow org member njmaxseltd helped me out with the install took us the better part of Saturday to do it. Only issues we ran into was the rotor/hub coming apart from the driveshaft on the right side. It was literally hanging on by the rubber boot. Apparently when my car was repaired previously it seems that is wasn't clipped on all the way with the C-clip. It took some muscle (thanks Tom!) and I nearly crapped my pants trying to get that thing back on but we got it back on and it clipped in. After that the install was fairly easy. Spring compressors were NOT needed for the process. H&R's drop about a half inch lower in the front then the Eibachs did.

My impressions: AGX's ARE F*CKING AWESOME!!! For those that were on the early days in the forums who got Tokicos cuz they were the only thing available, I urge you to upgrade to AGX's! The ride is very firm, but not harsh. I kept settings dialed on 2 in the front and 3 in the back initially. Cranked it up to 4 on the back today and I absolutely love it! I actually think on the lower/softer settings you get a little bounciness and they feel more like the Tokicos when I had them on when they were brand new. Haven't tried anything lower then 3 in the back yet, but on 1 in the front I seems that the car is a bit softer then I like. I will have to let things settle a bit and see what is becomes like.
AGX's take the bumps well and don't throw your car around like the Tokicos did. The body roll is very very minimal, almost not even there. The car has a lot less brake dive and accelerates better too. Now I think I'll be going through tires, like crazy. You can't help but corner fast with this setup the car truly feels like a train on rails.

Additionally before the install I had a very bad vibration between 60-80 mph that would shake the steering wheel violently, but that is all gone now. I think it might have been the driveshaft clip thing. who knows....


Interesting Idea: Tom also mentioned to me an almost cazy idea, but now it's starts to make sense to me a little bit. He thought about putting Eibachs in the back with AGX's and H&R's in the front with AGX's on my car. This would give a th car a more hot-rod look and really tighten things up in the back with the axle beam. The rear suspension is a weak on Maximas and by putting the tighter Eibachs on the back you might make up for some of the weakness there. Furhtermore, the AGX's allow you to adjust setting accordingly for the springs that are there. The more I think about that idea, the more intrigued I am and I think if I have some time at the end of this summer, I might try it. I need to know the springs rate difference for each type before I do it though.


all in all it was a great move for me to do, and I think that AGX's are the best shocks for the 4th Gen maximas. If you've got hte budgetr for them AGX's are the way to go.

Kevin

 

Kevin I'm glad your "Enjoying The Ride!" Get that left rear caliper looked at, I don't think it's grabbing by the looks of that rotor. Also don't forget to keep your eye on the boot clip for leakage. Have it replaced if you see any signs of grease coming out.

I'd be happy to switch the rears some day soon for you. Get a new bolt for the left shock, the head on the old one isn't in good shape.

P.S. I found my cat trapped in my neighbors garage the next morning. I wish you could have met her. She's very special to me and has an awsome personality. Even more so then the one that was with us.

Lets meet up later on this week or next for lunch.

Tom

 

that would make handling great, but im pritty sure the ride would suffer greatly, the rear basically is what feels the bumps since there isnt as much weight to keep it down on the ground.i think eibachs on the front, to help stabilize the heavy front end, and h and r's on the rear with agx's set stiffer, would rilly be the perfect ride. i was thinking of putting eibachs on the front of mine. if its hard to understand wha ti mean, put ur rears on stiffer settings and notice how bumpy the ride gets, then tighten the front and notice how the ride is still the same, just more controlled, basically the rear of our cars controls the comfort level. ive learned from experience, and since i just recently moved to flint ive been messin with my agx's a lot since these roads SUCK

 

WE'll definately do lunch this week. Let me know what's a good day for you Glad to hear about your cat!

 

Did you use Tom's spring Isolators? Or did you get the wire wrap?

Also, how can you not need a spring compressor? I'm getting my springs and struts this week, and might do the install this weekend. But I'm replacing stock shocks and springs, so I'm pretty sure I'll need the spring compressor.

 

Acutally for Stock springs you will need a compressor, you are right. But since we went from Eibachs to H&R's the compressor was not needed. As far as isolatores go, I just used 2 OEM ones each side in the front( top & bottom) and I have no spring noise whatsoever!! the OEM isloaters are pretty good if you ask me. For those with a lower drop like B&G's the ones that Tom has are Excellent. Think of them as a heavy duty rubber stopper with a split on that that you can wrap around the closer coils of your springs.

 

OEM isolators? I dont think I saw anything like that when I did my AGX's and coilovers...and what about Toms isolators? Tom can you send me an email PLEASE?? jason.allio@genexservices.com My car makes the wors noises front and rear





Thanks!!

 

Glad to see you enjoy the H&R AGX combo. It handles better than you expected right? Everyone is always saying H&R's are soft and handling isn't that good, but it is actually quite good, much more than you can use on the streets.

I have set my AGX's 1 in front, 2 rear, which are soft settings, but the ride and handling are excellent. I noticed almost no difference in handling when compared to the 2/4 setting, and the ride is noticably smoother on the soft setting.

 

Yeah, I definatly enjoy it. I will have to try out 1/2 and
see how that is for the everyday ride. Plus it should
probably take a week to settle too. I also am curious how
Eibachs would work with AGX's since KYB reccemends Eibachs
for use with the AGX's . But I definately did notice a big
handling differenc from
3-4 in the back and 1-2 in the front. I'll have toy around
with it some more to see what suits me best.

 

This guy is right with the rear and the comfort level!

I discovered my rear B&G setup was actually riding on the bump stops. I thought the car rode OK before I discovered this too. Upon trimming the rear bump stops and finally giving the rear suspension some travel my ride completely changed. For the better of course.

The only problem with going Eibach up front and H&R in the rear is that you wind up with the rear sitting lower then the front. Thats not going to look right. Personally I thought the rear Eibach springs, which actually made the car stand up a touch higher then H&R's were pretty soft too. The front Eibach's are stiff. That gave the car better handling but still a descent ride.

The idea behind going with rear Eibach and front H&R would be for the best of both worlds and a slight rake to the car which gives it an agressive look.

I hope Kevin and I can actually try this out one day and report back to this board how it works out. It's a very easy swap, couldn't take more then 1 hour to swap everything over. Maybe when he gets the new KYB rear dust boots we can experiment.

 

sounds like it might be fun...speaking of dust bots, how
are your rear's holding up Tom? I think the glue should be
just fine since it will just be reinforced with the wieght
of the car.
Kevin

 

So I'm guessing you guys just cut Kevin's OEM dust boots? Take any pics of the size?

I'll take pics of my KYB dust boots when I get them this week.

 

Kevin - So far so good with my rears. Yours were done perfectly and I'm sure there gonna hold for a while. Mine I did while they were still on the car. My cuts weren't as even as yours were. I dont care cause as soon as they fail the KYB covers are going in.

JustMaxin - I sent you an email. Coilovers = Noise Don't think I can help you out.

Kevin, can you post the P/N for the OEM isolators you got from Nissan???

There were nice and beefy!! And as we found out work excellent. Your install is silent!















I'm good aren't I

 

so basically u guys all want progress technology springs. that is what i have, and they ride awesome, and have a lil lower in the front, but on mine(5 speed) the ride looks almost flat with a lil more lower on the front.

 

post some pics!!!

Kevin, you live in Edison, NJ right? If you ever need an extra hand let me know...

 

Tom.....you da man!

seriously without your help I would have had a hell of a time geting that drive shaft together.

 

I still can't believe that drive shaft fell apart like that. Never in all my years working on cars have I seen anything like that happen.

 

better that happend then, as opposed to while doign 90 on the Parkway.

 

FYI...the part number for the "beefy" OEM front spring isolation sleeves is 54034-85E10, should be $6.55 from Courtesy Nissan.

KEvin

 

Kevin, you said you have a clear spoiler LED's..... Where'd you get them and do you have a pic??

Ben

 

http://images.cardomain.com/installs...400_8_full.jpg

Got it from a flea market in NJ on Route 18 in East Brunswick.

Kevin

 

and it still lights up red??? i know you don't like it so just name your price.

Ben

 

Yup it lights up red.

I should have bought like 30 of these things and sold them here.

 

Yeah, you could have made some decent $$ on that!!

Ben

 

how's the ride? I can't stand the floaty feeling of H&R and AGX. too wimpy. I'm going to take apart my entire suspension this weekend, I think, and redo it again, with or without help.

 

I think tha ride is great!! I'm wondering how it would be with Eibachs. Gonna have to find someone in NJ with Eibach/AX to get a ride in their car. Tom was telling me you have access to a lift, very nice!

Kevin

 

I rode in a max with Eibach's but i don't know if he had struts or not.... anyway, it rode so much better then mine. (intrax and tokico blues)

Ben

 

I have H&R/AGX. Very, very nice. The ride is better than our other Max with stock springs and AGXs.

The ride isn't float for me. I've driven it hard on these sharp twisties for about 20 minutes straight, got me exhuasted, but the H&R/AGXs did their job, very well.

Lime, do you have aftermarket wheels (wider wheels)? maybe that could help you.

 

I have eibach/tokikos on my 96 Max. I've had them about a year, and they are a bit stiffer than I like, but endure it for the great handling. Now my back right tokiko blew out and I'm bouncin everywhere. Should I just buy the AGX, or do I need to get new springs too (HR or maxspring)?

Thanks

 

UPS yesterday dropped off my AGX /B&G springs.

Not I have to wait for my KYB dust boots and the OEM parts I ordered.

 

get agx's all around, rear blown shocks are gonna get u into an accident. nothing ground them so they bounce around and u can lose traction on a turn, at the least get rear agx's if u cant afford all 4, u dont need new springs.

 

Keep the Eibachs, and try AGX's with them. I think that would be te hultimate combo. EIbachs were made for stiffer struts/shocks like AGX's. H&R/AGX is awesome too but if you want to save some $$$ keep your eibachs.

Kevin