Everyday i can just hear the constant abuse my maxima takes when i hit a bump or hole in the road. Its like the thing is gonna fall apart on me. I have a few annoying rattles here and there but im afraid the car will eventrually shake itself apart. But the on the flip side of it, i love seeing it dropped with the front lip, i get looks galore when cruising around.
Anyone else feel the same or regret dropping??

 

so tell me, was it worth it??

 

for me looks is what really counted, so yes it was worth the drop but i still hate the fact that it rides really rough especially on my summer rims, Konig Monsoons 17's with 225/45/17 Sumitomo rubber. The stock rims dont help out that much more, even though they are like 4 sizes bigger than my Sumtitomo's.

 

It was worth every penny for me. I really like it, I even want it lower too. Just dont know what to do.


Chris

 

I probably should regret it, but I don't. My car is dropped 3.5" on ground controls and 19" wheels. The ride is pretty much horrible, I have to drive so slow in downtown ATL that people stare at me, I scrape a lot, my car now rattles from the stiff springs, etc. But for some reason, I don't mind. Guess it's because I'm young and I expected all of these things when I lowered my car. I kind of wish I could make my car feel more solid so it doesn't rattle so much. But that has more to do w/ the build quality of Nissan's than it does the lowering. My car rattled before I lowered it or put rims on it. The lowering just amplifies things some.

 

ny96maxse, is it really that bad? I thought H&R was supposed to be cloest to stock ride already.

 

i think its ur tokicos...

im postive if i kept my H&Rs when i installed my konis..my ride woulda been the same as stock if not better..

 

I have the H&R with tokicos and I think the ride is kinda bumpy. My interior shakes from time to time and I hear some rattles every once in awhile. It's actually the combination of 17" wheels and the all the other suspension mods (FSTB, RSTB, and RSB). With all these mods, you are reducing the flex of the chasis and making the body stiffer. Along with the springs and lower profile tires, I'm not going to do another thing that compromises my ride.

 

Ofcourse not! If I never dropped my car, it would look like a big white boat on wheels, heheh. (stockheight)

 

I wonder if its possible for an accomplished suspension shop to weld cross-members to the under carriage that could possibly help with structural rigidity. Anyone here good friends with a suspension shop??? I think some strong and lightweight aluminum could possibly do wonders for the stiffness of our Max's. Imagine the way some frames feature cross members to support additional loads, sort like an SUV. Just a thought, I must say the Max can get pretty out of shape on very bumpy roads. Everything just starts to jiggle.

Any thoughts on this fellas???

 

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


you sacrifice something for style.........dropped is better ride is affected but hey it is well worth it in looks.....you have to "look" good......that is what it is all about...but maintain function for daily use....

 

damn...i really want to get H&R springs but i'm also thinking about cutting the stock springs right now...because eventually i will the aftermarket springs but i don't have enought cash right now

 

I have the GC's and I hate it. I dropped it to 2.5 inches and the ride was so horrible that I only set it at 1 inch. It kind of defeated the purpose of me spending all that dough on Coilovers.

L1fe: Your car looks really good with the red/clear's, but the mirror tint on white cars looks a little trashy. What you may want to do is have them put a layer of 10% or even 5% black tint behind it. My g/f has a white 2001 Celica GTS and she got the mirror tint at first and thought the same thing. So she went back and had them put a layer of the 5% black on, and it is the hottest looking tint around. She gets compliments on her tint from everyone. It's crazy. Just a suggestion.

 

metallic97gxe, Just wanna say that I really like that aluminium dash trim kit u got along with the shifter and the pedals.... matches very well.

 

thank you man I take pride in all my own mod/work

 

i thought about doing a double layer of mirror tint...what does it look like with that combination?...ne darker? do u have pictures?

 

I don't think a double layer of mirror tint will make it any darker, just harder to see in the car. Sorry, I don't have any pics of her car, as it is a slow piece of sh*t...lol But I can assure you that the black behind the mirror gives it a very classy look, and it will definently make your car look even hotter. Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

can u tell me what it looks like though?or sort of describe what it looks like...is there still a reflection?

 

The max has rough rides on any susp mod that is stiffer than stock. Theres nothing you can practically do about it because of the suspension geometry in front and the weak
max frame. Id have to say that on the max, the biggest weakness is the suspension/chassis. The front susp geometry allows the car to bottom out very easily and the car's frame is very flimsy (why do you think they were able to improve body rigidity on teh 5th gen by so much? and Why do you think th ftsb makes such a dramatic difference? Lowering wiith aftermarket springs, etc. just causese the susp to be impervious to road bumps, and transfer those shocks/vibrations thru the flimsy body.

 

ny96maxse: Lowering has its effects on every car. A friend of mine had an 93 Audi with coilovers and it was rigid. It clanked and made noises. He paid major money for the coilovers too. I think a big problem is the northeast's roads. They suck!

But you posted a great question seeing I am the process of deciding what springs/shocks to go with. My biggest concern is turning my car into a clanking, rattling ride. But a stiff suspension is what I want. I thought I was going to go with H&R's and Koni's. Now I am wondering about the Cattman coilovers? But even they have their problems. Whatever I decide I better make up my mind quick. Times a wasting. Thanks for the post.

 

Hell, I if the the government cared enough, none of us would be driving on bumpy roads that tear these cars apart. I think this summer, I'll be adding a lot of foam into my panels.

 

I have done and seen numerous posts about cutting their stock springs and they either say the ride totally sucks or they say do not do it. If you or any one else thinks H&R is stiff then cutting stocks will be even worse. I tell you this because I don,t recall seeing a positive post about cutting springs. Hopefully the guys Tokico,s are the reason for the stiff ride. When I too can afford it I will go with H&R and end up selling the Progress Sport Springs to whoever wants them. They have a good front end drop (about 1.8 inch) but it,s too much for me. I,ll be using the stock struts also.

 

Constant CV-boot failures.

 

Are the Eibach pro-kit springs gentlet than the H&R's? I know that the Eibach offer a slightly lower drop than the H&R's. I want something that won't have my passengers complaning. Are the AGX's really the best shocks? I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions, but I really need to know before I make an expensive mistake.

 

Eibachs are known to be stiffer than the H&Rs. Most people here say that the H&Rs feel very much like stock. The Eibachs feel more stiffer than the stock SE springs.

 

Thanks. I guess I may go with AGX's and H&R's.

 

how about b&g springs with the kyb agx's, what's the real drop on these springs and how is the ride? H&R just don't seem low enough for me

 

this thread was from last year. Who brought this back to life??

Ant

 

I think that might have to do with the auto/tokicos.

B+G/AGX is what I have and I love it I get some cluncking in the fornt due to my KYB front mounts, but other than that everything is good. I dynamatted my car for my sub which helped rattles all around, and I used some felt to pad things in the center dash. I put some felt in the ash tray (coin holder ) and that helps quite a bit as well. Having adjustable shocks with moderate springs is the key so that you can have hard suspension when you want it, but maintain the ride qualities for everyday driving
-hype

 

your car doesnt look very lowered. i know a guy with tokicos and eibachs that sits lower than that

 

what the... how is that possible for you? wouldn't you have 1 cm of clearence off the ground with it being that low? does your sig picture show that drop? i dropped mine a little over 2.5" and i only have one finger gap.

 

In my sig pic my car isn't lowered so that may be why I haven't taken new pictures because I've been doing more things over the summer. I'll have new pictures after that.
I have a few lowered pictures on my website, but I don't have any really good ones.

-hype

 

i regret putting coilovers on gc = bottoming out all the time, sqreaks and rattles, 3 out of 4 cv boots broke within a year + gc bent my front koni struts, cant have a conversation in the car because of all the embarrassing noises, i will never go coilovers again i love my sprints car can't even tell the difference in drop and the ride in a million times better

 

I'm surprised no one has brought up wsp subframes

 

You have to lower it properly --
Actually, I rode in a friend's car who has those new Cattman Gen 2 coilovers. The front end has a special upper mount design that allows lowering the body 1 inch without losing actual suspension travel. He is using KYB/AGX struts which I suppose are very decent riding.

Wheels and tires make a nice difference too... He has some nice Michelen Pilot MXX3 tires and lightweight Kosei K1s in an anthracite finish to match his green colored car.

He converted the rear upper mounts to the Ground control version while still using the same KYB/AGX struts. So in the back its lowered an inch but he has one inch less suspension travel in the rear since he got rid of the cattman rear mounts. The Cattman rear monoball mount(it didn't need to be a monoball mount to begin with) rattles quite severely.

Anyway, the car rides very nice considering his 375LB/In springs.
His tires are near stock size, suspension travel near stock size, good quality struts... Just the springs are 50% stiffer.

 

I hope you don't regret dropping your car...It looks sweet that way!

 

I'm serious considering the SFCs. It's a matter of $$$ right now...AND finding a reputable shop to perform the install.

 

B&G's on AGX's - Nice ride! Very smooth, almost stock like on the highway. Sporty firm "feels like a BMW M series" ride. Absorbs bumbs very nicely. Quiet ride. If you hit big bumps, pot holes or large dips - you know your lower. Other then that, this is an excellent spring/strut combo. My drop was almost 2 inches.

 

My front lip is the only part of my car that regrets being dropped No rattles / squeaks / other problems.

 

I went with an alternative spring - Progress. Front is dropped 1.7" and rear by 1.5". With my front AGX's set to 2, it's a stiff enough ride on smooth highways & it hugs the vertical/horizontal curves really well.

(I tried setting the front AGX's to 1 & my wife likes that for the soft comfy ride....though I feel handling is sacrificed more than I'd like.) So now we have His & Hers settings for the front struts. Gotta luv those adjustables!