Stuntin' 101

after gathering all my parts, the installation is complete, courtesy of Tom (njmaxseltd) at Proline Body and Chasis located at Elmwood Park NJ. Let me first take the time to say thank you to Tom, who is very well the most knowledgable and meticulous (spelling? haha) mechanic ive dealt with. he is highly recomended to anyone within driving distance.

Thanks for a good experience Tom.

i have a 96 gle, with 87,000 which was fitted with kyb gr2's and h&r springs from the prior owner. i also previously had a 95 gle with the exact same set-up. both cars were fitted with 18" rims. the 95 had enkie v1's 18x8.5 with toyo proxies 245/40/18, the 96 had 18" giovanna corsicas with nitto's 235/40/18. i live in staten island nyc, home to many potholes. on BOTH cars, BOTH sets of rims had fallen victim to the streets of nyc and new jersey. not including how many times i had the bends in these rims repaired, i went through 6 of the enkie rims and 7 toyo tires on my 95 until the car was wrecked in a collision last year. the corsica's on my 96 lasted a year until every rim bent to the point they would no longer balance. the 1 peice rims did hold up much better as compared the the 3-peice enkie. i never got a flat from the rim leaking, and it held up to the impacts alot better. frustrated and exhausted, and i finally decided to downgrade to 17" alessio supers, with falcon st-115's 235/45/17 about a month and a half ago. i was hoping the larger rims were a big contributer to the horrible ride on both cars. both cars would literally slam into every bump and mild defect in the roads. i was wrong. after the 17's were fitted onto my 96, the ride on the car was still absolutely horrible. so bad, that i got annoyed every time i drove the car. i was actually embarassed to even drive around with people in the car. the "FOR SALE" signs are filled out, and sitting next to me right now.

yesterday, all that changed after the install of the illumina's. the comparison "night and day", isnt even drastic enough. it is now a completely different car. the difference was so drastic, that i could tell just by opening the door and sitting in it, without even driving the car. with the gr2's if i were to perform a bouce test, i could take both hands, and push down on the front corner of my car as hard as i could, the car would barely more. mabye a half inch of travel, if that. THATS HOW TIGHT THE KYBS ARE. now if i do the same test, i can take one hand, and just push down moderately to make the car move. the ride on the car is amazing. the fronts are set at 2, the rear at 3. it seriously feels like a stock ride compared to the gr2's. the car now absorbs all minor defects in the road, and the pot holes that cant be avoided are still well within the means of being " effectively managed". this car was trasformed from indy car tight, to "riding like a caddy", while still maintaining great handling. i have yet to play around with the settings on the struts, but honestly, i dont even need to. it feels great just the way it is.

i'd like to tell anyone thats considering upgrading there suspension, do not even consider buying any strut other than the illumina's. i should have done it when the first came out. the more expensive struts would have saved me alot of money in rims and tires, and WITHOUT A DOUBT, NO QUESTION, were the cause of all my rims being bent due to a lack of needed travel. the kyb gr2's are simply way too tight for anyone with a drop and big rims.

if anyone is intrested this is a list of all the parts i used to due a COMPLETE strut/spring swap this will replace everything that has any effect on suspension noise and your ride:

illumina shock and struts
h&r springs
bens extended travel rear mounts
kyb strut boots - part numbers sb103 and sb108 (2 of each)
- nissan part number 54320-40u00 (2)
- nissan part number 54034-31u01 (2)
- nissan part number 54325-5v000 (2)
- nissan part number 54329-39u00 (2)
- nissan part number 55338- 0m000 (2)
- nissan part number -54034- 85e10 (2)
- nissan part number -55034- 31u00 (2)
- nissan part number - 54034-31u20 (2)
- nissan part number - 55031-33p10 (2)
- nissan part number - 56218- 61L10 (2)
- nissan part number - 56217 - 61L10 (2)

this is a complete list of things that you can change. the other bushings are supplied with the rear shocks.

99SEL4ME

You should have been a lawyer......

dukelubas

iTrader: (10)

Good write-up... just one thing, I'm imagining the part numbers are for miscellaneous bushings and nuts. Could you put those descriptions in and the approx. cost for each?

Stuntin' 101

those part numbers are for front mounts, rubber seats, paper insulators, and i think the 3 different factory rubber "tubes" if you will, that go around the coils on the springs. its basically every part that could, or did wear out from driving. the only things not included are the metal mounting brackets that can easily be re-used. i will edit and try to give a description and price later.

pavelsmax

iTrader: (12)

thanks for the info very good write up... i am hopefully going to be upgrading my suspension sometime soon and this will help a lot

MDeezy

iTrader: (27)

Glad to hear your enjoying the car again, I remember your thread before where you told you story/trouble with the 18s pot hole and a whole lot of bent rims.

I'm still shocked at how much money was spend on rims, glad you have found a good setup.

99SEL4ME

How could ANYONE forget that story?!! It was 3 pages long..... But glad to hear everything is well now.

MDeezy

iTrader: (27)

I know, that had to have been the longest single reply I've seen yet on this forum.

nick

iTrader: (10)

hoo-ya !!! for Illuminas !!!

Nick.

Stuntin' 101

yea, and after buying all that, nick has me wanting to buy new control arms and tie rods.. thanks for the new obsession nick... lol j/k im literally forcing myself not order them until i have my alignment issue worked out.

nick

iTrader: (10)

get them !!!! you won't regret it !!!! and then get the car aligned and you will sleep peacefull nights from now on , knowing that you maxima rides nice !!!


Nick.

maximaah

iTrader: (1)

How do H&R's compare to Progress springs. I would like to change my GR2's over to Illuminas but don't want to spring for new springs also...

2 Da Max

iTrader: (2)

dam cant wait to put my illuminas and eibachs on!

Jepht20

iTrader: (10)

you're making me be scared of the gr2's i'm buying from you now


jk, i'm sure anything'll be better than my current old gxe suspension.

maximaah

iTrader: (1)

Get ready for a dramatic difference.

Jepht20

iTrader: (10)

dramatic as in good or bad...or just different?



i wanted illuminas but can't afford them...although stuntin'101 makes a strong case for them.

maximaah

iTrader: (1)

That's for you to judge. Much stiffer, you will feel the seams in the road, but you will freak out with joy when you turn hard into a corner and the car goes where you point it. Even better when you have 16" wheels and 245's (like when I mount my stock 300ZX wheels on my max with shorter sidewalls).

Stuntin' 101

i am probably gonna get em.. just wanna wait till this alignment issue is worked out. the car was just aligned AGAIN. this one finally got the passanger wheel camber into spec. so now both toes and both cambers are well within the specs they should be, but the car still pulls to the left slighty. ive had 3 sets of diffent rims and tires on this car and it pulled with all 3. so im hoping to be back at the shop this next saturday, and the mechanic is gonna try to shift the uni-body over slightly to compensate and correct the problem. we'll see how that goes.. once the car can drive without any pulling issue's, ill probably starting buyin the control arms and tie rods ends, have em replaced and get the car re-aligned again. just seems better to have the probelms worked out before i start doing more elective work. somewhere in the mix im gonna have the wsp sub-frame connectors installed too.. i have a pretty decent commute to work these days so i want the car to drive as perfect as i can get it.

Stuntin' 101

BTW. if someone is considering the gr2's with 16" rims, even with the h&r's the ride isnt that horrible.. your tall tires will absorb alot, and the struts/ springs will eliminate the body roll from your car.. it's gonna be real stiff no matter what with the struts. .. but with 16's its tollerable in my opionion if the tires are soft, and yoru not lugging around a big system in the trunk. but i love my illumina's and would never go back. my old gr2's found a new home in the dumpster behind Proline.

nick

iTrader: (10)

shifting the unibody ??? wow !!!! how $$$$ that is going to cost ???
have your car ever been involved in the front end collision and then repaired ?

the day I've had the car aligned - it drove straight like laser beam , but the steering wheel was slightly off to the right , so i took it back next day , he re-adjusted the toe-in on the right side , steering wheel is perfectly straight now , but the car now slightly pulls to the left !!!! , I am not messing with it till i get new tires and i will have the car aligned again.

Stunin'101 - you will enjoy the ride with new struts, if your LCA bushings, balljoints, and inner tie rods are stock - you should repalce them asap , and than have the car aligned. I can bet $$$ that it will ride like new ( on stock wheels of course)

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Glad you like your new set up Kevin, I told you it was going to be a completely different car.

Nick, it's not the unibody were going to shift, it's the subframe. Kevins car pulls slightly to the left for some reason even though the front end is set up to factory specs. What were going to do is shift his subframe over to actually change the specs to induce a slight pull to the right. This should compensate for his slight pull to the left and cause the car to track straight. We'll shift the subframe to induce more negative camber & some caster into the left wheel, which should offset the cars tendency to pull in that direction. We'll keep it all within factory specs, hopefully just on the outter limits. When we get the steering at a neutral feel, we'll reset the front toe and he should have a perfectly straight tracking vehicle.

JeffesonM

iTrader: (5)

Congrats on the new setup... I had Tom install my Illumina/Progress setup and was very satisfied with both the work and the ride.

MaximaSE96

iTrader: (8)

i had gr2s with sprints w/16s 225/50 and the rid ewasnt that bad....wasnt near stock but it was defiantely bearable..i live in buffalo...pot hole city 2

MAXRB8

iTrader: (19)

Funny, it doesn't seem to matter what springs are mated to the Illumina's everybody loves em! Including me with Eibach's, so basically you can select the spring for ride height preference and slap on the Illumina's, there's enough range in adjustment for everyone's needs

Stuntin' 101

tom i have yet another question for you. im not going to touch anything until the alignment issue is resolved, but i still think im gonna do the inner and outter tie rods. the more i drive the car, the more it seems that i have to correct the steering slightly. mabye im just paying more attention to it now. also seems like a SLIGHT delay from when i turn the steering wheel, till the wheels follow. id just feel better knowing they were new, even if i really dont need them. so my question is, if after the sub frame is shifted over and the car tracks straight, will changing anything AFTERWARDS, like the tie rods or the control arms cause the car not to be able to be properly aligned at any point in the future after they are installed. will i be able to bring the car anywhere to have an alignment, or will i need to go back to the original person who did the alignment because only he'll know how to align my particular car? you know what i mean?

blueice

iTrader: (1)

Man, you couldnt describe the GR2's better. I honestly dont like mine. I have springtech springs, which are a 2 inch drop, and gr2's with the stock 15 inch sawblades. The car is extremely stiff. Rattles have developed throughout the car gradually since I installed the suspension in November. It slams down on every imperfection on the road. Is this how the Gr2's are supposed to ride or did I blow the shocks already on the potholes? The potholes where I go to college are probably as bad if not worse than in Staten Island, and Ive been in both places numerous times to compare.

I wish I went with Illuminas or something else besides this setup. Now its too late tho, I dont feel like paying more money to get new shocks and then paying for labor to swap and another alignment etc. Im just going to deal with it for as long as I can. Furthermore, some 19 x 8 Katana Inspire rims are coming to me soon in the mail. Real soon. Im putting them in Nitto 555 235/35/19. Am I going to be bending them? Do you really think changing the shocks will prevent rims from bending?

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Good question!

After we set up the camber and caster to get the steering neutral it will remain that way. The tie rods will only change toe and toe doesn't cause a pull. Any shop will be able to reset the toe for you without any effect on the tracking.

The lower control arm might have an effect on the camber and caster set up. Remember what Ted said, keep the print out he's going to give you with the settings that make the car track straight. You'll need to have the car set to those specs every time it's aligned.

Doc

So, what was your total cost for your new set up? I may have missed that. I'm glad your new set up works well. One may be in my future. Great info!

Stuntin' 101

struts - $408
kyb boots - about $60
bens extended mounts - about $90
all replacement nissan parts - $280

so in total- about $840, not including the install and alignment

tonelocnyc

iTrader: (3)

damn how much would labor cost on this if it were done at a shop u think

Stuntin' 101

all depends on who you bring it to.. usually most shops charge about $200 to do struts.. im sure they'd want more to do the mounts too.. and the alignment is probably anywhere from $45-$90

paultyler_82

iTrader: (1)

I checked with my local Nissan dealership and they stated that the Lower Control Arm WILL change at least caster, they beleive camber as well.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Do yourself a favor and don't go to that dealership to have work done.

Caster cannot be modified AT ALL on our cars. If Caster is off, you have BENT suspension components.

Camber can be changed slightly, maybe 1/2 a degree, but not via the control arm. Camber is modified 2 ways, one being the bolts in the lower sturt mount on the knuckle and the other way is to move the subframe. Again if it's way out of spec, you have bent suspension components.