1.) O.k., it has always bothered me that the Maxima's spare tire is "bowl-side" down. What's up with that?! My Audi is bowl side up and it sure is really helpful as far as storage goes. Well, I decided to go for it. The only modification you will need to do is pull off two of the foam squares glued to the bottom of the trunk board. (No permanant damage as they can easily be glued back on). That's it! You now have a little storage under the spare tire as it is elevated some (put my jumper cables there) and now you have the whole "bowl" to fill (I have my Thomas Bros., flashlight, 1st aid kit, etc. in there now). Another benefit is it makes it almost exactly level with the trunk floor. So now if you have a sagging/cracked trunk board like myself, it won't be 'concave' any longer! The spare tire now supports the board - and at more points than before (and if your board isn't warped/cracked, this will prevent it). Hope this helps.



2.)A few days ago I posted a question about lowering the windsheild wipers. Lower, more under the hood. Although miner, it would look a tad better and who knows, maybe a tad more of aerodynamics. Well, NOBODY answered me! Kleenex? <sniff-sniff> Well, just in case others are interested, I went for it myself and boy was it a breeze! All you have to do is pop off the black cap (there is a notch cut away for you to get a small flathead under there). Then simply remove the one and only nut. Now the wiper comes right off! (Well, o.k., my driver side did, my passenger took some wiggling) There is a bolt coming out of the car with a million little "teeth" and the wiper itself has a hole with the inverse of all those teeth. So, all you have to do is pull it off, rotate it to were you want it and put it back down. Start with the passenger as once it is lowered, you can then get the driver side lower. They can't go too low as they start to hit things but I'd say a good 1.5 inches lower which ends up with them being half hidden by the hood instead of fully exposed. Looks cleaner.

Good luck. If you are not interested, I hope I didn't waste your time, if you are, I hope I helped. Have a great day.


P.s. Maybe if anyone else has thought of some neat, creative, FREE mods, you can list them on this thread. ?

 

How about some pics???

 

Does the range of the wiper change at all from the height/pattern the original wipe reaches to?

 

Yes it will. The wipers will travel the same exact arc sweep/path they did before. So if you ask it to start an inch early, it will end an inch early. Good question.

 

QikEnuf, well, I am not too savy on that digital camera, uploading, downloading, etc. stuff. But, I don't think the two things I mentioned are really picture-needed applicable. They can both be easily imagined and/or tried out for yourself. No permanant damage for either one, just go back if you don't like it. If you still REALLY want pics, I will try to borrow one from work and figure it out and e-mail you. Just let me know. (Probably something I should learn anyway - lol). Have a great day.

 

Your two suggestions are what makes this forum great! I've been looking for a place to store things like a flashlight, tire repair kit, etc. I'll have to give the spare tire trick a try. Thanks

 

Naww...don't worry about it, i can imagine it now...was having trouble with my brain yesterday , all better today though.

 

I must second Neptune on this one, "good show old boy" (to be pronounced in your head with a stodgy old-man British accent). That is just the kind of thing that i love to hear about, and I commend you for sharing it. I must, however, say that you do not need to apologize for offering advice. That is a gracious service, and anyone who f*cks with you over this will be dealt with...swiftly, I assure you of this. We are a protective buch when it comes to people picking on good people, at least some of us are. Have a good one, and keep 'em coming.

Lee

 

You put that Ptatohed to good use. You know what the say. "Use it or lose it", and you are using it.

Funny thing about the spare tire. That has always bothered me. I though that was a waste of space the way they had it. One day I turned the tire over and thought "Why didn't Nissan do this"? But I abandoned the idea without working it out. Very unlike me. Now you have forced me to revisit that project.

Thanks for the inspiration.

 

Neptune, Never,Tampa;
I really appreciate your kind words. That was nice of you to take the time to write encouraging, kind messages like that! And you're welcome! You guys have helped me so much here on the .org that I love it when I get the chance to 'give back'. Have a great one.

 

I'm doing both of those this weekend, thanks ptatodude! BTW, which styrophoam thingies did you have to remove? I don't remember how many or where they are...

Thanks,
Justin

 

Give it to honda,they put the subwoofer of the Rsx in the spare tire!

 

Just., I took a look yesterday as you had me second guessing myself - lol - and they are the two and only two that are even on there! That makes it easy, huh? All the plastic things around the edge stay. Just remove the two foam cubes. Good luck.

-Josh

 

cool thanks for the info

 

Just a thought,

If your wipers are going down lower and there is something jammed in there (Snow, leaves, etc) the wiper motor may be damaged trying to push the wipers down.

 

ptatohed,

I think the reason Nissan put the spare tire w/ Bowl-side down b/c of the location of the valve stem ?
If the spare is flipped over, wouldn't it be harder to check spare air pressure ?

I'll check the location of the valve when I get home.

Nevertheless, it's a great mod considering the benefits....

 

After reading this, I immediately went outside to try flipping my spare tire, cause I have a sunk in cardboard panel, a pair of jumper cables bouncing around in the back, and other stuff id like to put back there…

Anyway, I noticed you cannot tighten the plastic retainer down on the rim anymore (which is unacceptable for me… my car has enough rattles). Undaunted, I took those little foam blocks and cut them in half, then made a cube out of them standing up tall with a gap in the middle (lying flat they did not put enough pressure on the rim) and taped them together with a lot of thin packing tape so they wouldn’t come apart. Then I put the foam thing over the stand in the bottom of the trunk (after the wheel was in) then placed the big metal washer on top and tightened the plastic retainer as far as it would go…. Nice and snug

Anyway, great idea… we need more things for maxima owners with no cash to feel special