Which is the best strut/spring combo for a smooth ride?
 

I live in Maine and our roads are known for being notoriously horrible. Frost heaves are everywhere and potholes, etc. When I first bought my Maxima in April of '03, my struts and shocks were fine...after the winter, they are horrible and bottoming out. It feels like I'm in a pickup truck more than a sedan. I need to find a strut/shock combo that has a smooth ride and reliability. I'm not looking for hardcore racing, just a smooth, comfortable ride. Any suggestions?

forgot to mention, I plan on lowering my ride this spring...so I need the best combo struts/shocks for a smooth ride.

Well i am getting H&R's and i already have tociko blues sitting on my floor. I heard the ride is pretty much stockish minus the nasty wheel gap.

good question
I do not like my 99s ride.
consumer reports refers to maxima's ride a "stiff and jiggly"

I agree

H&R and tokico illuminas

or

stock gxe suspension

H&r's and blues or illuminas, illuminas will give you better handling and better rebound from the struts, and the car will feel like its very well planted, the blues are a tad bit more floaty, and non adjustable

Illumina's it is. as well, as toxico sruts

illuminas are the struts. they are made by tokico, tokico makes the blues as well. the illumina's are a better choice, coupled with h&r springs u will get tremendous ride quality as well as much better handling

http://maxmods.dyndns.org/index.php?MaximaSprings
http://maxmods.dyndns.org/index.php?MaximaShocks

H&Rs or Tokicos for the springs...just the right amount of drop,excellent handling, good ride comfort.

H&r/agx


12312

What are all you guy's views of pairing Maxspeed's with KYB GR2's? What is the scoop on Maxspeeds?
Are they good, bad, or ugly?
I am not wanting too much drop, just enough to help out with the wheel gap. No so much that I get beat up though on the rough roads that we have here.

I have seen them in person before. The drop is decent and an inch more than the H&Rs. I chose the H&Rs for comfortability but if you were to close the gap on the 4x4 look, go with maxspeeds. You won't regret them, Brudaddy.

I want the H&R's but i dont want this!

http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...33_14_full.jpg

how do you keep this from happening, and in case its not noticable, the back is lower than the front! (please tell me he's got a cow in his trunk!)

Maxspeed springs have the least drop out of all lowering springs, I've seen at least 4 cars with them. I know them very well. There is no way they have 1 inch more than H&Rs, that would be a 2.5in drop. Please don't spread wrong information.

And also you can see the pictures yourself:
http://maxmods.dyndns.org/index.php?MaximaSprings

Are you guys all swapping these yourselves? It looks like a reasonably straight forward job, but I guess one has to be very cognizant of the springs and use a nice quality spring compressor, so as not to have a spring enter one's skull. Is it pretty safe if you go slowly and methodically?

H&Rs have this tendency with 5-speeds due to the lighter weight of the transmission.

If I were buying springs now, I would ask around about the ride/handling of the Tein springs, I woudl consider H&Rs, and I would look at the Tokico all-in-one package (if I had the money). I had H&Rs w/ tokicos and the ride was great. That was on an auto. I now have a 5MT, so I have Intrax (came on the car). If I was doing it from scratch, I woudl consider the Teins or Tokico springs and par them w/ Tokico HP struts, KYB AGX, or Illuminas.

Actually, preference for struts would go Illuminas, AGX, Then the tokico HP, then KYB GR2, though if I was on a budget I might go HP in the rear with something else up front. The softness of the HP makes for a good ride, but if it is w/ a stiff spring, you may want something more firm up front.

Also, if you have the $100, get motivational rear mounts.

tokico and eibach progressive springs.

What are motivational rear mounts?

Drewm, what is your impression of the Maxspeed springs. Thanks for the link, I have gotten it from you before and has been very useful. The reason I shose the Maxspeeds is for their drop (according to Maxmods......1.5" front and 1.3" or so in rear), and I picked them up for $75 shipped new to me. I have heard rumors of sagging and stuff though. Is this true, Drewm, from what you have heard? Also, I am on more of a tight budget than most. I was looking at pairing with some KYB GR2's because I would probably never adjust struts if I got adjustable ones. However, I have seen some Tokico HP Blues that look really nice and are priced right. Should I get those to pair with my Maxspeeds? Will those springs be too stiff with that combo. I have seen numerous people that like the maxspeeds with the GR2's, but I don't know about the HP Blues. I have heard that the Tokico HP Blues are the most like a stock SE strut replacement. Is this true? I mean, the reason I am asking is if I am going to buy some aftermarket struts, I don't want them to be just like the SE struts I have on right now. Please answer anything you can.

phrenryiv1, you list Tokico HP Blues higher than the KYB GR2's. Reasons why? I am just curious. Please read what I wrote above to Drewm and answer some of those questions too.

Thanks guys for the comments.

Any other answers to my question about safety of doing this swap? :D

Personally I wouldn't pair Blues up with anything but stock springs, because I know they will wear out eventually. But GR2s and Maxspeeds should be fine. About the maxspeeds, I really don't think they offer much more than a drop. Many springs that cost a bit more offer much improved handling (H&R, progress, Eibach). Shocks too, Illuminas and Konis are both great.

Everyday my car impresses me more and more with the Eibach/Koni/Motivational/Stillen Sway combination that I've had for the past 3 years. There really isn't anything I've found that beats its combination of streetable handling.

Just remember that when you take the cheap route, you're sacrificing handling and comfort. Make sure that's what you want.

And for the one question I missed, nope I've never seen Maxspeeds sag (with an empty trunk).

Thanks, Drewm. I will take all of that into consideration. Well, I think that GR2's are probably still in the running for me, but you have got me thinking about the Maxspeed's. Out of the Progress, H&R, and Eibach....which ones would you pair with the GR2's for the most handling?
Also, are you saying to go with the Illuminas or Koni's because they are adjustable, or just that much higher grade of strut? Are they just higher quality overall, even if I never adjust them? My only thing is just that I cannot pay over $400 for just struts, no matter how comfortable they are.

When you lower a car with lowering springs, the springs cause the struts to be in a semi-compressed state. When you do this, you lose suspension travel. Somehow, motivational rear suspension mounts give back approximately 1" of sispension travel w/o changing suspension height. I do not know how it does so, but many people on here use them.

njmaxseltd (Tom) swears by them.

It CAN be done with one person, though it is much, much easier with 2- especially if you have never done it before. You need a good manual (haynes or chiltons) and a spring compressor, plus a mess of tools. I have done a few, and I still could not do my own car by myself last month. It was too cold and I needed one more hand.

9 times out of 10 there is an org member who would be happy to help out- ask in your regional forum.

I used the HPs with H&Rs and they were fine, htough with any stiffer spring they could wear out prematurely. Tom swears by HP in the rear with H&R or similar springs, but the GR2s would be a better fit as far as non-adjustable struts, if the user is running a stiffer spring. I would say that Eibachs could run HPs, but that would be about it. With the maxspeeds being discussed here, the cheap route would be GR2 all-around, or GR2 up front and HP in the rear.

phenryiv1, what do you think about the Maxspeed's themselves? Quality? Not? Would you put those on if you were tight on money or would you go for Progress like Drewm and others have said to me?

I just got my Illumina suspension kit from 'CustomMaxima' installed today and all I can saw was WOW. The ride is perfect. Pardon my french, but it almost handles like a beamer. So I would suggest you get that package.

I have the kyb agx and progress spring combo that i got in november and they seem to work well. They have a nice drop and they have lasted through the terror that is my 1200ft crater filled driveway, especially during the winter. I mean my driveway is really bad. They are also pretty smooth for having them cranked up to 4 in the front and 8 in the back, just a little bumpy but you can adjust that. They progress springs give a nice drop too, just right. You should def get either illumina's or agx struts and progress springs. Good Luck!:thumbsup:

If I paid $75 shipped (isn't that what you said?), I would keep them but go with good struts- iluminas, Koni, or AGX. If I was on a real budget, I would do GR2 or GR2 w/ HP. They are not a bad spring by any means, just a bit more harsh than H&Rs or Eibach. I have heard no real negative feedback on them.

Post a seperate thread asking about sagging and see what you hear. If they sag, it is b/c the front is higher on 5MT due to weight differences between 5MT and auto maximas, not because of bad springs.

The roads in Maine can't be much worse than Jersey, and my Progress/Illumina combo has been treating me very well. The ride is comparable to H&R's (I've ridden in both) but it drops a little more.

I wanna see a PIC OF THE ILLUMINAS. Im plannin on gettin 18s and MAYBE the kit from custommaxima.com

Is the drop low with the illuminas? POST PICS!!!

thanks phen

Eibach for streetable handling.

Illuminas and Konis are much much higher grade struts. And also you will need a high setting for handling. For example, I'm currently running my Konis at full setting on front and rears. If I turn it down it becomes more floaty, less responsive, but less rough. But if all you care about is handling, you will need adjustable struts to be able to run such a high setting. Low settings (and non-adjustables) just bounce around and feel floaty.

It all really depends what you want... street performance... track performance.... comfort... a low drop...

Have you read my suspension selection article? It's a really good read:
http://maxmods.dyndns.org/index.php?SuspensionSelection

illuminas are just the struts. They are not the "lowering" ocmponent. You need pics of different springs.

i think he might be talking about the kit off CM...witht those tokico springs and all...i think im going to order that this summer but ill let you guys try it out first...always let somebody else try it out first

off the subject im really tired of it saying that i need to read the FAQ section etc. under my name...i wanna new title dammit

There is a whole write-up on this setup on the main org page. It is not in the forums section, but in the main page. Reviews are favorable. It can be bought on eBay now for much less than the CM price.

I believe it goes away @ 50 posts. Please don't PW to get your post count up. Noone pays attention to it anyway- when people have something intelligent or stupid to say, that is all that matters to other members.

H3ll, sprintmax has 20,000+ posts and noone listens to him... :wall:














j/k, Doug!