Cattman coilovers installed
12-06-2003, 02:47 PM
#1
Cattman coilovers installed
Only 2 delays during the installation. Cattman's fulfillment warehouse forgot to send one box that had the rear mounts. 2nd trip to the installer.
Once they had everything disassembled we found my driver side front strut bearing had been shredded to pieces. Yeah that B&W poly washer thingy. Guess the large negative camber took it's toll. That explains the clunking. No local bearing shops had a metal piece in stock so we went with Nissan OEM ones for now.
We lowered the car down and boy was it low. Muffler scrapped, rear tire disappeared into the wheel well. Ok, raise it up like 2" please. We did some basic leveling and set a 1/2" rake to it. Changed some bolts to get approx -2.0 camber. Steering felt dangerously loose and car was skating all over the road. It bounced like never before too. Ok, let's not panic - tomorrow alignment and see what it says.
We'll I spun up the car another 8 threads (1/2") for fear I wouldn't even make it on the align rack (ground to top of wheel wells was 24-3/8 before raising). Oh, I have some toe-in?...
Drove home and car is much more stable. Steering is crisp even w/o the FSTB. Bumps are harsh on 50 series rubber but very cushy on 65 series. Most bounciness is gone. Car is very flat in slaloms and turns. Body roll has vanished.
Turns out at the shop we had like only .5 ground clearance to start. Geez. For hard performance we not sure of the setup yet. The front seems much firmer than the rear (more than the 50lb spring diff can account for). Got to play some more but we're already thinking of revalving and raising spring rates for competition next year.
Questions welcome.
Once they had everything disassembled we found my driver side front strut bearing had been shredded to pieces. Yeah that B&W poly washer thingy. Guess the large negative camber took it's toll. That explains the clunking. No local bearing shops had a metal piece in stock so we went with Nissan OEM ones for now.
We lowered the car down and boy was it low. Muffler scrapped, rear tire disappeared into the wheel well. Ok, raise it up like 2" please. We did some basic leveling and set a 1/2" rake to it. Changed some bolts to get approx -2.0 camber. Steering felt dangerously loose and car was skating all over the road. It bounced like never before too. Ok, let's not panic - tomorrow alignment and see what it says.
We'll I spun up the car another 8 threads (1/2") for fear I wouldn't even make it on the align rack (ground to top of wheel wells was 24-3/8 before raising). Oh, I have some toe-in?...
Drove home and car is much more stable. Steering is crisp even w/o the FSTB. Bumps are harsh on 50 series rubber but very cushy on 65 series. Most bounciness is gone. Car is very flat in slaloms and turns. Body roll has vanished.
Turns out at the shop we had like only .5 ground clearance to start. Geez. For hard performance we not sure of the setup yet. The front seems much firmer than the rear (more than the 50lb spring diff can account for). Got to play some more but we're already thinking of revalving and raising spring rates for competition next year.
Questions welcome.
12-06-2003, 09:06 PM
#4
Originally Posted by Oblongshapes
i like it
... thinking about coilovers here too.... would you recommend cattman?
... thinking about coilovers here too.... would you recommend cattman?
12-06-2003, 09:17 PM
#5
good , honest rewiew ....
I think its nice to have lowered maxima , but not as a daily driver
been there on Sprints and H&R's
but i'm happy with stock SE springs now
good luck !!!!
Nick
I think its nice to have lowered maxima , but not as a daily driver
been there on Sprints and H&R's
but i'm happy with stock SE springs now
good luck !!!!
Nick
12-06-2003, 09:54 PM
#6
Originally Posted by BEJAY1
Only 2 delays during the installation.
Drove home and car is much more stable. Steering is crisp even w/o the FSTB. Bumps are harsh on 50 series rubber but very cushy on 65 series. Most bounciness is gone. Car is very flat in slaloms and turns. Body roll has vanished.
Questions welcome.
Drove home and car is much more stable. Steering is crisp even w/o the FSTB. Bumps are harsh on 50 series rubber but very cushy on 65 series. Most bounciness is gone. Car is very flat in slaloms and turns. Body roll has vanished.
Questions welcome.
I couldnt imagine that setup for everday driving, especially with my 18's and 40 series.
12-06-2003, 10:04 PM
#7
Supporting Maxima.org Member
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Posts: 10,166
These are the New Cattman 3rd Generation Coilovers correct ??
I have them in my room ready to installed...Ive been on Sprint and Eibach..are these compairable for performance to these ?? hopefully better ??
-matt
I have them in my room ready to installed...Ive been on Sprint and Eibach..are these compairable for performance to these ?? hopefully better ??
-matt
12-06-2003, 11:21 PM
#8
Originally Posted by matty
These are the New Cattman 3rd Generation Coilovers correct ??
I have them in my room ready to installed...Ive been on Sprint and Eibach..are these compairable for performance to these ?? hopefully better ??
-matt
I have them in my room ready to installed...Ive been on Sprint and Eibach..are these compairable for performance to these ?? hopefully better ??
-matt
Performance Should be a LOT better.
04-08-2004, 07:37 PM
#11
Spring (season) update
These things rock! Ran my first autocross Sunday and damn this thing corners great. Ok, I knew from street driving it was better but geez - I didn't expect so much turn in. 
Found out what the bounciness was from. It was mostly the stock rubber upper strut mounts and a bit from the Cattman poly upper spring seat. Last year I had the Stillen plates matched with the Eibach/Koni's. It wasn't a harsh ride but did offer a solid feel that I came to expect.
We ditched both mounts, cleaned & re-anodized the Stillen upper plates. Then added some highstrength plastic inside to help em slide. Coated the lower plate with rubberized undercoating to help resist salt & grime. Oh vibration - hardly any even combined with poly control arm bushings and now 80shore filled engine mounts. The filled mounts make a huge difference in shifting and smootheness.
Now for the bad. Major weathering of the stuts themselves in just 3 months of winter driving. These things aren't coated for weather like Chicago or the northeast. Same problem Tein first had with their product.
I've got the valving rates from Progress somewhere if anybody needs I can dig em up.
Unless I wind up going for stiffer rear springs or revalving these shocks I'm gonna use this suspension setup for the whole year.
Found out what the bounciness was from. It was mostly the stock rubber upper strut mounts and a bit from the Cattman poly upper spring seat. Last year I had the Stillen plates matched with the Eibach/Koni's. It wasn't a harsh ride but did offer a solid feel that I came to expect.
We ditched both mounts, cleaned & re-anodized the Stillen upper plates. Then added some highstrength plastic inside to help em slide. Coated the lower plate with rubberized undercoating to help resist salt & grime. Oh vibration - hardly any even combined with poly control arm bushings and now 80shore filled engine mounts. The filled mounts make a huge difference in shifting and smootheness.
Now for the bad. Major weathering of the stuts themselves in just 3 months of winter driving. These things aren't coated for weather like Chicago or the northeast. Same problem Tein first had with their product.
I've got the valving rates from Progress somewhere if anybody needs I can dig em up.
Unless I wind up going for stiffer rear springs or revalving these shocks I'm gonna use this suspension setup for the whole year.
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