What parts are necessary for lowering your car a comfortable distance for 18s? Also how low should I go? I dont want it to be slammed to the ground. I just dont want a large wheel gap. I was thinking about 2 inches. What do I need to replace and what would you guys recommend. My car has 150,000 miles.

 

I just did it look for the tokico Illumina suspension with springs on Ebay $537 shipped and has everything u need for a 1.5 inch drop. Or for more of a drop go with the Tokico illuminas (just struts) and some other springs, i believe teins are pretty low, as are HRs

 

H&Rs and tein h-techs are about the same as tokico.

tein S-techs are the low ones.

You may want to replace some of the stock parts too. Strut bearings especially.

 

Yea, thats what exactly I need to know. What is every part that I will need to replace?

 

what would a guestimate be on a decent set of Struts+springs? doesnt get lower than 537?

 

No joke, you cant get everything you need to lower for less than 537?

 

Dont forget the dust boots.. Seems like its a good idea to get the Nissan ones. With 150k, you might even wanna change the shock mounts, they're prolly shot.

 

So, basically, to do the drop, we'll need:

4 shocks/struts (2 front, 2 rear)
4 lowering springs (2 front, 2 rear)
2 strut mounts (2 front)
2 strut bearings (2 front)

Is this correct? Any other parts necessary?

Remember, some of us know NOTHING. (To wit, I don't know the difference between strut boots, dust boots, strut bearings, strut mounts, etc). Hell, I don't even know where I could find out what these things are, unless someone's kind enough to give a little tutorial.

 

I agree 100 percent Jose. I know nothing about suspension work......

 

if i were you i would go with the Tein s-tech coilovers. theyre a bit on the expensive side, but from my experience they are very nice, and will give you height adjustability, so you can fine tune the look you want. they are also fairly comfortable, but be prepared to avoid any rough spots on the road. hope i can help. ill pm u about specific components.

 

You're definitely going to need:

4 shocks/struts
Lowering springs
Dust boots
And don't forget tools.

You're going to need a good breaker bar, a standard wratchet, PB blaster (spray can) and a decent torque wrench that can torque up to 110 ft. lbs since the factory specs on the back shocks iirc are 102 ft. lbs. Don't forget the spring compressors also. This is the VITAL part in doing your own suspension install. Without them, you're not going to be able to get the upper mounts off safely. When it all comes down to the nitty gritty, suspension install isn't really that hard. It just takes patience the first time around, and care. Compressed springs are VERY dangerous. They could put a hole in your wall, car, or even you.

New strut mounts are optional, and so are bearings. You won't know until you've taken off the shocks and struts what you're dealing with. In my case, only one of my mounts needed to be replaced (due to my torque wrench failing to tell me when I was at 38 ft. lbs. leading to a broken strut tower bolt).

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to PM or email me.

Dan

 

http://www.vqpower.com/v2/article85.html that pretty much covers the install

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...947351785&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...947520137&rd=1

That look right? Those two items?

 

one thing i would never go cheap on is my suspension, you'll regret it later when your car rides and feels like crap

 

If you're lowering, those aren't for you. Please do yourself a favor, and spend the extra money on Illuminas. DO NOT go cheap. If you want a lower drop than 1.8 inches, get coilovers. Plain and simple. Save up your money.

 

Thats the thing, I dont understand coilovers. Whats the difference between coilovers and springs?

 

And how are Tokico HP compared to Tokico Illumina or KYB GR2?

 

Let's just say that Tokico HP are a good stock replacement, nothing more.


Tokico Illumina are some of the best shocks around.

 

Coilover's are height adjustable. The good ones are integrated into the shocks (unlike ground control's). HP's are essentially a stock replacement and perform this task quite well. They should absolutely not be used when lowering.

 

I like the setup of mzmtg and gtr_rider. I wonder what they are running?

 

http://maxmods.dyndns.org/
That site explains a lot and gives you different options

 

So coilovers are adjustable shocks, struts, and springs? You dont have to buy them separately with coilovers?

 

GTR-rider has the tokico kit. MZMTG I believe has H&R's, but I'm not sure. Judging by those, H-techs and eibachs would also be good choices as far as looks. Check out maxmods and see which seems best for the type of ride/handling characteristics you want. Honestly tokico, H-techs, and H&Rs would all be good choices, unless you want pure handling while sacrificing ride...then go with eibachs.

 

Right now I'm trying to decide between Tokico Illuminas paired with Tein S-Techs or the Tein coilovers.

The two factors I'm weighing:

1. I have a four to five finger gap right now and I want to get rid of it as best as possible. If the coilovers would give me significantly more drop, then they might be worth it. I just don't want my car to look slammed. I know the coilovers are adjustable (hence: prevent slamming), but if I just wind-up setting to them to something similar as what the Illuminas+S-techs would give, then it doesn't seem really worth it. Which brings us to point #2.

2. The coilovers are $300 more than the Illuminas+S-Tech setup. If both setups are comparable for issue #1, is it really worth it/necessary to spend the extra $300?

Let me know your thoughts.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=106476

Above is an old thread detailing recommended parts replacement when lowering our 4th generations.

It's very thorough and includes part numbers as well. It's not cheap to replace all of these parts, but at the very least, you'll learn which to inspect and which are prone to wear.

I went with new dustboots all around, yet determined that the strut bearings(sealed grey nylon bearing at the top of strut) did not need replacement - they spun perfectly fine, with little if any change in their tolerance.

In regards to which strut to use, I agree w/ those above, save your money and buy the correct strut if you're lowering your car - it's not worth the headache and frustration later - you will end up spending more in the long run, guaranteed.

I have the Illumina's and couldn't imagine a better made and user friendly strut for these cars.

Best of luck.

 

Oh, and don't forget to have your front-end realigned after doing the job. Also, if your CV boots are gone, or splitting, replace the boots or whole axle(s) while you have the struts off, so you do not need to realign twice.

Trust me on this!

 

Hey, thanks a lot man, that thread's really helpful. I appreciate it.

Do you know of any good places online to get those OEM parts?

Thanks a lot,

jh