well, as many know miss katrina visited south florida this week, as a matter of fact i just got my power bak. but anyways, these past few days made me realize that wow, stock suspension is underrated!, lol. if it werent for my 4x4, i woulda dragged home 20 branches, as the roads are now branches, not asphalt. downed trees, debris, and everything else makes for a good slalom on the way home. this is the first time i've ever driven through puddles that cover my wheels. at one point in the night, i had no other choice but to drive over a steel light pole in the middle of the highway. thats the one down side to everything. unfortunately i needed to be a few inches higher actually. the truck in front of me made it over just fine, but as i went over, kling kling bop, boom! i scraped the underbody a tad bit. i managed to get away with a dent in my muffler, only cosmetic tho, my underbody neons shattered, and the flex section of my budget y kinda ripped a bit. i dont think it will harm anything but if u guys know of anything let me know. the good part is that after that, ive noticed that an annoying rattle i had has stopped completely. maybe i bent something bak into place?? anyways, thank goodness i havent dropped yet, cuz if i were, no way in hell i coulda gotten away clean. that pole woulda f-ed me up. sorry so long, just sharing , to all of those who experienced the storm, or will be, good luck and god bless.

 

I don't understand what the obsession with lowering is. Sometimes you just need adequate ground clearance. Am I the only one who's had to hop over a curb while making a quick getaway? Ah well, to each his own.

Anyway, sorry to hear about the damage. Hope you get everything fixed up quickly.

 

im watching that storm on the new right now, dam florida sucks when it comes to august

 

For me it is handling, not ride height. I have D2s that could be dropped to the floor but I actually am right around stock BMW wheel gap.

Sounds like a crazy adventure in the Max!

 

I actually have been helped quite a bit by my aftermarket suspension. Two times I have been able to avoid accidents on the freeway (very close calls). Had the car still had the stock suspension I think I would have maybe avoided the initial impacts, but would have probably gone and hit something else while trying to regain control.

People need to tie down stuff better when moving, not cool having a couch fall off in front of you on the freeway .

 

The whole point of lowering and having tougher struts is to have better control for cornering. Even with just the maxspeeds and a KYB-GR2 struts, I've found it much more capable of cornering at higher speeds. Not to mention with a good set of tires, it makes it stick to the road like none other.

 

Only reason I didn't lower my max is b/c of all the ****ty *** roads here in the Metro Detroit area

 

I like my road height. Sometimes I weigh it all down hauling things and I will still have clearance looking like a lowered car. I wonder what all those lowered maximas can haul. Maybe a stereo system.

 

Actually I'm thinking of going back to stock height. These speed bumps and bad roads are all I get to drive on anymore. The cornering is much better with lowered suspension, but our roads need work!!

 

I have the same setup, have you tried setting the illumina's to '1'?

 

I've tried 1, however it was too bouncy for me. Today I just tried 4f/3r for the first time. It seems to better. For some reason, all the threads were recommending lower number in the front struts. After thinking about the Maxima's has the larger springs in the front, a higher number makes sense.

 

You know, I'll probably get flamed for this but when I bought my Max I had no clue about modding or cars in general and decide to have Les Schwab put a new suspension on. They used Gabriel high performance struts, which I've been told are just a nth better than stock and Eibach Pro-Kit springs. At the time I had 16" Focal wheels on low pro's no more than two inches thick (Falken Zieks)and I tell you the ride was ROUGH and I was definately not able to accomplish "quick getaways" by hopping curbs. I cursed them for 2 years then bought new wheels. Now I have the 2k2 5 spoke 17" wheels and at least double the tread (Kuhmo's). The ride is a completly different animal now. So stock suspension can't be that bad after all on our rides. Paired with the springs of ones own choosing for whatever reasons (drop, ride, etc), it should keep most drivers happy.

 

I guess that would be my next mod, switching to 17" wheels. Are you running 245/45 17's?

 

[QUOTE=FunLovinMaxima] I don't understand what the obsession with lowering is. Sometimes you just need adequate ground clearance. Am I the only one who's had to hop over a curb while making a quick getaway?


try getting away from molten lava or guys in a car behind you with guns trying to kill you and the road is all twisties with that 4 by 4 suspension

 

Fortunately, the magma flow in the northeast is at a minimum this time of year and I'll laugh at the thugs in the slammed civic when they bottom out on potholes and can't climb up their own driveway, whilst I'm crushing trashed Oldsmobiles like Bigfoot.

 

im still trying to figure out why he went over the light pole. in a truck i can see it, but in a max. no way glad you made it back safe

 

I don't mind floating over the pot holes. I go through way more pot holes and bumps than slaloms. When I went to purchase my maxima I wasn't looking for a race car. The unusually large wheel wells come in handy with road kill.

 

Cop cars aren't lowered.

 

i need help. i got a camber problem. The camber problem has started after i put oem spring back in. But i do not know if they are the same springs. My car is a 96 max gxe. I took springs from a 99 max se and put it in my car. Are the these springs different? if so could this be the reason for the camber problem?

 

I would like to lower my car at some point but while I'm living up here I definitely need my stock setup. It is a great height for winter driving when there is 10 inches or more of unplowed snow on the roads, plus its good for the gravel roads I drive on and the roads in town here are garbage too of course. Glad you and your Maxima made it through the storm okay.

 

hey maximaspd i feel u on the stock suspension. glad to hear nothin happened to ur car like having it get flooded or anything. i too live in miami....around coral reef area and damn talk bout floods!!! it is ridiculous. but hey nothin happened to my max....still running. jus dirty with all da crap flying around here after katrina.

 

no... 215/50's

 

I use my '02 Pathfinder for curb-hopping and puddle-jumping, Maxima for doubling corner speed recomendations. Either way it's a VQ

 

I can't say for sure they are the same spring because the se suspension is different from a gxe, the se suspension is supposed to be a little sportier, also the 99 sometimes seems to be the black sheep of the 4th gen family chassis wise, so... Either way, sometimes when you change springs it needs to be aligned; I took my strut out the other day to inspect the strut mount, put it back together, now the car pulls to the left.