I was given my moms 96' maxima and it had a whole bunch of maintenance and other crap needed to be done. I've done a lot of the basic mainenance and such but she wasn't able to keep up with them sometimes so I did what I could. I also had to fix some other stuff up like the battery, alternator, radiator and at one point I had to reseal the head gasket because it was leaking oil.

She has about 177,000 miles. I've been on this website since I had to do the maintenance and I've realized how awesome the maxima can be!

Right now it's completely stock but I'd like to do something extra for it, but I'm not sure what I should do! My question is what are some mods I could do that aren't too expensive? Is it worth modding anything even though she's got a decent amount of miles on her or should I keep her as a daily driver?

 

Why not? You can do some simple mods like a y-pipe or springs/struts and still have it be a daily driver.

 

I have 166k miles and mine still runs like a champ, simple mods that people are gonna tell you to do is the Y-pipe (I've seem em around 150, but I haven't seen any for sale recently), just scan the for sale section for part outs and try to get yourself one, besides that it really depends on what you wanna do with the car.

Another common improvement is the suspension, illumina + H&Rs are a good start for most.

Good luck and happy modding... Oh yah what part of Houston are ya in?

 

Thanks for your input so far! What I want to do with the car is get some extra speed/performance out of it without going too hardcore into modding. I know I'm gonna sound noobish but what exactly is a Y-pipe and what are the benefits? I've read about front strut bar's and exhaust and different types of air intakes, should I do anything like that?

I live in the North west part of Houston, between 290 and I-10 on Barker Cypress. What part are you in?

 

Search, search, search...

and i10 and 290 is a big distance lol... I live in Sugar Land.

 

Y-pipe goes from the end of the headers to the cat. Stock y-pipe has pre-cats and the aftermarket y-pipe doesn't have any so it allows for better air flow out of the engine thus creating more HP.

Definately get a FSTB and a rear sway bar. You can get an aftermarket cat-back exhaust, but the gains are around 5hp.

Intakes ... Some say stock is best ... Don't get the injen intake. It sits right behind the radiator and is more like a hot air intake.

Rims, Brakes, Lowering, system ... The rest is up to you.

 

Thanks for explaining! I tried searching it up earlier but the search wasn't working for me on the computer I was on. That makes sense, I'll probably end up changing the y-pipe, getting a FSTB to start.

For the intake, how would a stock be benefitial? I could always put in a K&N filter or something, or should I get something better?

 

There has been much debate with dyno's and whatnot to see which type of intake was best (short ram, stock, cai). The intake gets you a MAX of 5hp.

If you have any questions about anything in the car, you can search on wikipedia ... They have the definitions of a lot of things there.

Keep searching here too. Right now the search isn't working as it should, so you'll get a lot of OLD threads right now.

The FSTB and RSB I would recommend doing first. They improve the handling drastically, they're not that expensive, and you can install them yourself.

 

Couldn't you get a really basic short ram intake by removing the stock top air box and use a cone filter? I'll have to get the fstb and a rsb, they should be pretty nice! I'm looking into the y-pipe, I imagine that's the next thing I'll upgrade. Is there anything else I could get that would affect performance, I'm gonna make her look nice later.

 

Seriously Bud, Do Not Do a RAM or anything other than stock; all you'll get is noise and probably lose horse power unless you really drop some money and time into it. NOT worth the effort; i promise you..

Seriously, look up the mileage thread and see how many people have over 200,000 Miles and still Drag/DD (Daily Drive) and Beat on their cars like its going outta style. Ive had my faithful maxima for over 3 years now; put over 67,000 miles on her; and in that time Ive beaten on her daily including revving her up to over 5K daily and i have never had a problem. General Maintenance Is KEY. Stock Engine and Tranny with over 257K miles..

I will warn you; if your partial to lots of boom in the trunk or even just after market speakers be gentle and get an upgraded charging system first. the maxima has problems in that area. Im on alternator 5, but i will say 1 was defective.. also all but 1 were remans. 650 RMS is where ive noticed she gets to be finicky; at least do the BIG3, which you can search for instructions ( Engine Grounding ).

00VI swaps are pretty easy, lots of stupid little things you have to know in advance first though. If your wondering what an 00VI is its the 2000-01 Variable Intake for the 5th Gen maxima. BoredMder.com/Tatanko

Y-Pipes help you harness the power above 4.3K RPM's the Nissan engineers engineered the stock Y for Mid range Torque.

And finally, remember functionality over pretty any day; the car can look like a million bucks but if it drives like crap.. well what can you say? Get all the general maintenance out of the way first.

Good luck man; got a great amount of people and information at your disposal put it to work.

 

You can install an 00vi or mevi, but they can get expensive and are a bit more involved than an intake or y-pipe. Plenty of threads on the 00vi and mevi in the all-motor section.

 

If only our search worked...... IF only

 

Thanks FallenOne, I'll just stick with my stock air box and focus on my other stuff. Since I'm gonna stay stock, should I get a nicer air filter like a Spectre or a K&N? Yeah you've reassured me about fixing her up even with higher milage!

schmellyfart, when I get some more experience I might get an 00VI but for now I'll just keep stock.

I've read a lot in the forum but I just like to be extra sure. I'm gonna get a FSTB, then a RSB, and then next up would be a Y-Pipe. I might get an 00VI but that would probably later on. I still have to replace my knock sensor and my front passenger window regulator but that has nothing to do with performance.

I'm on Barker Cypress close to FM529, that's basically where I live just to any Houston peoples wanna know.

 

Like anything that you rely on, take care of the maintenance first. Wouldn't hurt to have some cash stashed away in the rainy day fund just in case.

Sorry, that was way too parental of an answer, but I always crack up when I see the local tuners rolling a Civic that needs new tires or something super basic way before it needs cold air intake.

On the mod note, new shoes seem to dress a car up pretty quick. Nothing like a dropped Max on 18s.

 

didnt know some one makes sway bars for 4th gens...