After 8 years of owning my Maxima, I finally lowered it!! I purchased the Tokico Illumina Suspension kit from Custommaxima.com. After reading the article and seeing the pictures by Luke (Gtr_Rider) here:Tokico Illumina Suspension Review, I was convinced that this was the kit for me. In addition, I knew I could count on Custommaxima.com for their commitment to quality and will not compromise for any less. After driving the car for one day, I don't have any complaints(with the exception of clearing my really steep driveway upon entry...lol)! My Maxima has been very responsive to my every turn. Full size images are available on the second page of my webpage @ JeremiahMaximaSE's Cardomain. Below, I have included before/after pics:
Before:

After:

Before:

After:

 

Before:

After:

 

Looks Great!

 

Hey i am thinking about getting the same set up, is it bumpy? or it feels like stock, and is the lower inchs correct or is it a little more or less than what they claim. Thanks and it look awesome

 

Lookin good!

 

That looks awesome. I just wonder, hopefully someone can answer this, does lowering the car improve its performance somehow? or is it just for looks? Improve the coefficient of drag?

 

i also purchased the tokico illumans struts and shocks, and i was wondering how is the ride quality and u also bought the tokico springs right? I was going to buy the kit also but there was a group deal and i got my tokico illumans for 430 shipped, i wanted a good drop so i bought eibach springs which were like 170..... how uch did you pay for ur kit with s&h.... and also do you like your ride now or before u went lowered? and also did you get dustboots?

 

car looks great, but since when does CM have a commitment to quality? and yes, they will compromise for much less!

 

the rims look bigger now. loooks really good.
i wish i received the same service from custommaxima. not that i have any complaints about them, but thats just it, i have nothing to complain about cause they didnt respond to my inquiry about parts i wanted to order. BLABLA anyways back to the point.......ur car looks better i like it.

 

hey bud it looks great sounds like me I "finally" lowered my car too....welcome to the low...

 

looks like a completely different car!

 

Looking good Jeremiah! I'll be up your way soon and we can hook up again. Keep up the good work!

 

when he's your sponsor.

 

Glad you went with the setup, now crank up the dials and hit those turns

 

could you give us a review if possible, hopefulyl after driving for a couple of days in various road setups and conditions, including the different settings on the struts......I , along with a good number of other people on this board i'm sure are pretty interested in the Tokico Illumina/Spring setup but are kind of wary of going with the package as not very many people have it and $600 is a LOT of money. And my customer service experiences with CustomMaxima weren't too great.....if possible, please be as objective as possible in your review

 

The ride is excellent, in the morning hours driving the car you will experience some noise which is just the cold strut pistons moving up and down. When the pistons warm up the noise is completely gone. I got this similar noise with factory shocks, so I wouldnt worry about it too much.

The product is well worth the price tag it goes for and then some. Ground clearance isnt that bad, but you just have to make sure that you take it easy in some areas.

The drop to some may not sound to be much if any, but it is VERY noticeable even by non maxima owners. Dont be ashamed to say that you only lowered 1.5" because that does a lot for these factory 4x4 's.

 

take some pictures in a couple weeks, i want to see if it sage more in the rear.

 

looks great!

you have a sick car man

 

After a day of driving around today, I can answer some of your questions:

Colin--Depending on the dial you have your struts set on its going to be firmer than stock. Currently I have mine set up @ "3" (with 5 being the firmest). I believe the "3" setting to be firmer than stock but still tolerable for my taste without compromising handling (I like to take those corners ). The whole idea with the illuminas of course is that you can "dial" into what type of ride you want. In the future I may provide feedback with what it is like on other settings. As far as the ride height is concerned, the numbers seem to be right on targer...I'm still looking for another 1/4 of an inch(maybe even a little less than that) on front & back...but I'm guessing that it is still settling.

ThunderMax--I wasn't a science major in college, but I know that by lowering the center of gravity in a vehicle, this will improve handling around those windy roads!

Xopton--I like the the ride better now on this setup, so far it seems to be a lot more responsive to my stock setup. I took this turn at about 75 to test the rigity of the new suspension....it held right up....the Maxima never lost its footing whatsoever and I never had to compensate. I just have to be weary of some of the backwood roads here in Connecticut and those darn potholes this time of year! All and all though, I definitely do it again. And I paid retail & no shipping cost, because picked them up myself at the shop.

William-thanks--I remember your car being the 4x4 it was for a long time too. I dunno what we were waiting for?? lol

Corey--Cool let me know man, and thanks.

Luke--Thanks for your help again. Appreciate it!!

Hotshtsr20--I'll take more pics in a couple weeks for ya...just shoot me an e-mail if you want around that time.

ZealotNYC--I'll try to write up more of a review in the future; however my car will be in the shop here and there over the next week getting some other modifications done, so I will not be driving it that much more until then. I'll certainly be objective as possible in my writeups so that you may make a decision as to what you want to do. If I forget, shoot me an e-mail in about a month and I'll post a run down of the different settings and impressions under the various road conditions.

Cashj2002, Geeshack, VQVroom, & Skiboarder72 - Thanks for your the props guys.

I don't want to stir up another topic along this thread regarding Custommaxima.com, but I just have to say one thing: I'm sorry that you have those negative impressions; however, you are of course entitled to them. I am not here to argue with them of course. My objective opinion of Custommaxima.com is a favorable one based opon my professional experience. As a business manager myself, I know what it takes to operate a business. I see these guys dedicate countless hours (sometimes 9:00 on a Friday night) into obtaining the the best products possible for our Maxima. Its not easy to re-invent the wheel, in fact it's not recommended--but that's what Custommaxima.com is literally doing! I simply just admire that.

Anyways, I don't want to start another topic within this thread I just wanted to address everything that was said in response to the illuminas, so lets please keep the topic reserved for any further questions in regards to that. Take care all! Lata! ~ Jeremiah

 

good going, shyts looking hot.. i only wish my max would look like that... max looks HOTTT... not to low not to high. just perfect how is the ride?

 

i like it, im going to be getting those when i get the money, i have 5 dollars at the moment

 

Lookin real good Jeremiah...Hope to see you at another show this summer...

 

Thanks man. Hey what'sup man? How u doin? I plan on attending the Hot Import Nights show up in Boston on July 17th. I already took the week off from work right around the show date. I finally will not be the only car in the whole show that ISN'T lowered...lol. Your car's lookin tight too...take it easy man. Talk to ya Lata! -Jeremiah

 

The drop completes your car. Looks great!

 

I agree with 007max, CustomMaxima has zero quality assurance. My DC's leak like sives, Trenz grill wasn't that great, and getting my UDP in polished was like pulling teeth. I won't buy there again.

 

doesnt seem like custommaxima is much of a sponsor if you have to purchase this from him?

for what you paid you probably could have gotten the sprints/agx combo and had a much lower drop that was a little bit more evened out.

just my 0.02, take it for what its worth.. sprint springs are greatly overlooked for those people who don't want/cant afford coilovers.

 

Now, u and I know, our cars are NEVER complete...lol. Haha...but thanks though, i know what ya mean. Sweet lookin rosewood Max u got..nice and clean. Lata man! ~ Jeremiah

 

Jeremiah i thought ur car was lowered long time ago! i guess i was didn't look at ur picture too closely, but A++ for the drop

i only bought progress RSB from custommaxima.com with stickers. they service is acceptable since they lied about the production of 95-96 red/clear tails

 

yo man I feel that everyone has there own perception, when it comes too service and quality there are some people who think quality is a starship in the neutron galaxy, and there are some people who are still here on earth. I think, and in my opinion custom maxima (enterprise) has gone too great lengths where others have'nt too reasearch and bring you new products that arent neccessarily available anywhere else. i have met greg twice he approached me and propositioned me about my maxima he took the initiative where I imagine countless others have failed not even too say hey I like your tints... give credit where credit is due I totally support c.e they are trying too do what they can and greg is an entrepeneur... when i bought my maxima I had no place in specific too get the quantity of parts and quality I found c.m. they had more too offer than any one else ......big props too redline max and bigsadler and everyone else that is trying too develop products.... peace

 

Sadler-I'm not 100% sponsored, but they look out for me though definitely. And the difference on my Illumina setup between the front and the rear is really negligable...like less than a 1/4 of an inch difference. As far as the height goes, I personally did not want to go any lower than 1.5". I don't know if you have been through Connecticut lately, but some of these roads are brutal..lol.

Happyricebob-Thanks for the kind words man, I think the car finally has a "normal" look. Lookin' sharp yourself!

Maximalnemisis-I hear ya man...much props to anyone investin' time and energy into creating new and improved products for our cars.

Lata! -Jeremiah

 

Looks great Jeremiah! Your car looks like a different car now, that's exactly what it needed.

Hopefully I'll see you at some shows this summer.

-Tony

 

Nice drop but the car looks a bit ricey. Take out the Maxima SE sticker on the side and it will look sweet. Then change the rims.

Just my 2 cents