So I am the first person to try these new engine braces on a 4th gen. This product is suppose to help reduce wheel hop and improve driveability.




That is what comes in the box. Everything is made of very high quality materials and I was very impressed with how everything looked and felt.

Installation
The install is just like the instructions that came with the brace say it is. It is very strait forward. Just be careful when removing the 10mm bolts from the chassis. They might be old and corroding; thus the heads might strip off the bolts. I did not have this problem but others might. We can only use 3 of the 4 bolt holes on the chassis bracket. But this is fine since the hole we do not use is 1in away from the bottom bolt. The brace is still plenty strong and those three bolts that we do use are fine.


I started by hand tightening one of the brackets to the pass side engine mount.

 

Hand tighten those three bolts in.

Next you will want to get the brace and adjust the ends so that it lines up with both brackets. Make sure you test fit it in before tightening anything. Once that is done, tighten the bolts to the specified tq in the instructions.





Review
I have only put a couple of miles on the car so far but so far I love it. I used to have a lot of wheel hop and it would make the car somewhat annoying to drive in first gear. But now with the brace in the engine does not move as much and the shifting is so much smoother. This is how the car should have felt from the beginning. Every shift is easier to do and feels better. At WOT, the shifting is nice and smooth.
I would say this mod is a must for anyone who is modding and has wheel hop/jerking. I highly recommend it and it is easily one of the best mods I have bought. I will update the review once I get more miles on it.

**I just put more miles on it. It SEEMS to make the clutch engage smoother, the car doesn't vibrate as much when starting from a stop. Simply perfect! They might seem expensive but you gotta pay to play, this is some real high quality stuff and it really improves the overall feel of the car. I will try to get a vid of it with and w/o the brace eventually to show you guys.

You can purchase it here:
http://forums.maxima.org/group-deals...now-stock.html

 

yeah i just saw those on his site....will be getting them soon for my 5.5 gen

 

Thank you Kevlo911 for testing this kit in the 4th gen Maxima!

 

Looks like a nice set up. But whats wheel hop?

 

When did you put them on your site? Got a lot of 5.5gens out there with it?

 

where it feels like your car is skipping when you smash on it...

 

^on the brakes or on the accelerator?
And does it matter if you have an auto or manual, cause i might be interested in this mod.

 

when you go WOT right off the bat, your car jumps during this heavy acceleration.

 

^Oh ok... i understand now.
Thanks for clearing that up.

 

Ill test one for you....just bill me for shipping.

 

The Engine Torque Link kit has been released for over a month now and a lot of 5.5 gens have had them installed during most of that time. We spent the last 6+ months doing nothing but testing this kit in a 2002 Maxima. It's way overengineered, which the way I like it.

 

It even helps when you are driving normally and let off the gas; say in 1st gear you hit like 3k rpms and let off the gas, it is much smoother and does not jerk like it used to.

 

auto, or manual doesn't make a diff for this mod.. read up on this thread and you'll get more info..

http://forums.maxima.org/group-deals...now-stock.html

 

Did you have motor mounts already Kev?

 

Automatics tend to not get wheel hop, the torque converter and trans soak up most of the shock that would induce it.

A good video of some (rather extreme) wheelhop - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHGQ6mR7q_o

And another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHlEW...eature=related

Wheelhop in first and second, GTO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anHrv...eature=related

 

Very cool! Its nice to know we have NWP as our premium parts guys with top quality and price. Very cool!

 

I have poly filled crossmember mounts. Trany mount is next.

 

i was wondering if these worked on the 4th too. like it so far?

 

Nice job Kev. I still want to get a ride in your car man...

 

Nice! GJ man! Can't wait to order mine next week!

 

how is wheel hop now? does it still exist or completely eliminated?

 

Read the very first sentence, post #1.....these are on a 4th gen.. Yes, he likes them. Read the review!

I doubt this will work for us supercharged guys......gonna have to go look to confirm.

 

Even with ES mounts, this brace is necessary?
Dr J

 

Even better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOVtnAZYBgM

 

Too expensive. I'm sorry. Just can't see paying $170 for this(IN MY honest opinion). Maybe like $75 or less then $100 but only if it including one for the transmount. Arron is a good guy and I support his name(and wear his stickers on my car) but I just can't see myself getting these until the price goes down a tad bit. I am also affair of it possibly cracking over time around the treads once that timing cover motor mount gets weak because I drive like an animal.

 

Added more stuff to the review

 

I think it's interesting how the posted reviews from several people don't talk about upgraded motor mounts. I'm assuming most are on stock mounts, which would make these braces feel like night and day, and in which case I would highly recommend them too. It would also be a great idea for automatic transmission people who are too afraid to unplug the radiator mount electronic control mount.

Dr J

 

I just hope people replace their worn out control arm bushings and mounts before or when they do this mod, cause I can see someone trying to make a thread now bashing this item.

BTW Kev that makes me ask what condition are your bushings in and what is the hardnest of your poly mount

 

Why do you say that? I am honestly clueless, as I don't know a ton about suspension stuff. After reading Kev's review (thanks, btw!) I was considering purchasing a set next month, since I have some nasty wheelhop myself even at partial throttle in 1st gear, and I'm nearly stock!

 

I used the poly mount that they say to use in the stickies/howto's. I believe the Hardness Shore is 80A.
My control arms are new from nissan with less than 20k on them. Tie rods were replaced at same time. I have ES sway bar bushings.

The only worn bushing is my tranny mount and my rear trailing arm bushings.
The 1-2 shift at wot feeels GRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT now haha

 

Where does the horn get relocated to?

 

I am going to move it to the front grill with the other one. I really don't even know why one is there. BTW I have Z horns, they sound 93958384583858375x better

 

Kev, did this add any NVH that you noticed?

 

Barely, not as much as after I put the poly mounts in.

 

Why would this play a factor? There should be no load on the brace when idle/neutral, and wind/road noise in 4th gens trump NVH. Unless... Kev, did you pre-load your brace?

Dr J

 

I say that cause worn bushings will cause wheelhop, remember these cars are 10+ years old and most have the orignal bushing and mounts

 

Man you beat me to it.. no WAY in hell am i gonna pay 170 bucks for this.. its not even worth 20 bucks in steel.. sorry guys but its true... and for 170 you can get all new motor mounts

 

... without the tranny and front engine mounts... Well, you could get new stock-specification ones. Better bet is to gut them out and refill with Poly or even jb weld. That'll be pretty solid. Or go hard-core and weld straight onto the chassis.

Anyways, as others have stated, the $170 is legit. Yes, the parts could be found cheaper elsewhere, but you won't have the R&D behind it. Your parts aren't likely to fit as perfectly as NWP's. You're not gonna have the hours of testing to be sure it works. You're also missing out on having others with the same part for several months and report/review the positive gains. You're taking a huge gamble if you DIY on this. Worth the $170? Better think long and hard...

Dr J

 

That's the reason why no one makes/sells aftermarket parts for us anymore. Congrats.