It is time for a suspension overhaul.

I am currenty looking at 2 setups with links to both below. My goal is to lower the car somewhat (nothing drastic at all), but the main goal is to have a SMOOTH ride. It's the wifes car until i get my license back, but for when i end up driving it i also want it to not SUCK at handling. Illuminas are obviously adjustable... so i assume this is what most people will direct me towards, but for those who have HP i would like to know how they are too.

Tokico struts/shocks/springs - Illumina

Tokico struts/shocks/springs - HP

Both state to have a 1.25 inch drop. Is this about right for both of those setups? A question i have is with a 1.25 drop front and rear, will the car sag at the front, sag at the rear, or be even? The last thing i want is a saggy ***

Lastly, the car has certainly racked up the miles over the years and i do not expect much (or any for that matter) of the suspesion parts to be in good order (as far as bushings etc.) I want to car to be QUIET and SMOOTH. I cant find it but I thought i remembered seeing a thread that had all the suspension parts broken down and part numbers were given. What is necessary to replace? And are nissan parts the best?

Thanks for your input.

 

Well, I have the HP kit, and the ride is great on GOOD roads. But on bumpy, pothole riddled streets, the ride is pretty bad. I was going to swap out the struts for some illuminas, but a member here told me that the Illuminas + red springs will lead to the same crappy ride over bumps. General consensus seems to be that Illuminas + H&R springs will provide the best ride and handling, so this is what I'm probably going to do this summer.

I think the HP kit was advertised as a drop of 1.5f 1.3r. The rear of my car is slightly higher than the front (barely noticeable unless you look pretty hard). My car is also an automatic. I actually don't mind it because if you add speakers, etc to the trunk, it'll balance out anyway. But if you're concerned about ***-sagging, then that definitely won't be an issue

I was going to order the Illumina kit, but I found out that the springs are identical in the Illumina and HP kits. So, my future plans are Illuminas + H&R.

When I did the install, the only new parts that I installed were strut mounts and bearings. I was able to reuse everything else. I used Tokico mounts. Everything was purchased from www.importrp.com. Great guys who actually price matched my order to an ebay link.

 

Almost forgot, I think this is the link that you're looking for with part numbers etc:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=384928

 

If I were you I would get an Illumina/H&R setup. That is said to be the best ride (close to stock) for a set of lowering springs/struts for our car.

 

Good info Crime. Maybe illuminas and H&R springs would be a good choice for me then. Are tokico struts fine? does it even matter what brand struts you have?
edit:^ as you can tell i really dont know what im talking about when it comes to suspension. the strut and shock arent they one piece? the shock is the piston and housing business and the strut is the rest

Now, with H&R springs, is there only one type for our 4th gen? As in one spring rate/lowering amount? I'm gonna check that site out now that you linked.

 

The entire assembly is referred to as the strut. Shocks are something else. Tokico struts are great and tend to be the preferred choice over KYB struts (I had KYB GR-2's with my OEM springs, and the ride was harsh even over decent roads!!). As for the H&R's, from what I see on ebay and also importrp, it looks like there's only one H&R spring set for the 4th gen, with a 1.4 front 1.3 rear drop.

 

Cool i emailed the place you purchased your setup from to see if they would price match the ebay illuminas. although the H&R's look to be pretty dear most places ive looked (around 230 shipped), so i will probably just get them from the same place. Do the struts come with the mounts or do you purchase all that extra jazz seperate?

 

I bought the front mounts separately. Tokico included the rear mounts and hardware with my HP kit, but I'm not sure if they include them with the standalone Illuminas (They probably do, but I don't want to give you the wrong info - you can verify that with importrp too). Also I should note that I bought the tokico strut boots & bumpstops and for some reason they didn't really work. You can check out that other link i posted with part numbers etc to find out which boots to look at.

 

You cannot get that SMOOTH ride on sport lowering springs. It just doesn't happen.

Springs - H&R's ride the best.
Shocks/struts - Illuminas ride the best.

Combine the two and keep your 16" rims with a nice cushy tire and thats the smoothest lowered setup you can put into a 4th gen Maxima.

 

Cool great info. If i were to save some pennies and go with tokico blues with H&R's, how will they differ from the illuminas/H&R's? I will be on 16's too

 

Are the rims in your sig 16"?

 

nah he was suggesting how to get a smooth ride, they look atleast 17"

 

That's what I was thinking.