i've been pondering this idea through my head for the past few months. in my head it makes sense but maybe in writing and having other people's opinions on this idea can help me determine if it can be done or if i should not even attempt to do it.

OK, here is what has been floating in my head. since 4th gen's tend to break axles after lowering the car around 2in or so due to the geometry of the suspension and blah blah blah, i figured that if i raise that motor(and tranny) 2in it would compensate for the car being lowered. if i add 2in on the subframe mounts and add 2in on the mounting brackets for the side mounts (add reinforcement) should be sufficiant enough to keep my car from breaking axles. this is just a general idea not considering the other things that need to be adjusted like the hood and things like that. i DD my car and getting a little tired of replacing my axle every 2 months and figured this will be a good fix.

what are your opinions on this, do you think i shouldnt waste my time and money or maybe it can work?

 

Use better axles.
Geometry of the suspension will not change if you raise the engine, only the drive shaft angle changes.
Raise the car up a bit and you solve your problem.

 

That's what I meant, sorry I was typing this at work. The angle of the axle is what I'm trying to fix or adjust. Only reason I won't get better axles is because 1) the ones I have have life time unlimited warranty and 2) if I need to swap it I can just drive down the road and do a warranty swap and have it back on my car in within the hour, versus me needing it to ship it and wait for the replacement

 

I dont think there is a way to change the angle without serious fabrication. Raise the car

 

If you are manual the shift linkage might be a problem if you raise it. Im not sure, havn't been under the car in a while to check

 

Even if it could work, how would you go about raising the engine/adding to the mounts? Sounds like a lot of fabrication.

 

The shift linkage is something to consider. I'm not going to say it's impossible, but it would require a lot of custom fabrication to get everything to work properly. Probably more work than it's worth for worn axles.

 

There was a pic of someone that put spacers under the cross section bolts to accomplish this. Can't remember the thread tho.

 

There was a thread about this last year. The logic behind the idea makes sense but I don't think he ever got around to doing anything.

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...e-balance.html

 

u can fab up some spacers that go under the mounts but when i look at it if u drop it 2 in u really droping 4in thinking about it by droppping it and dean putting 2in at the mount i think this is a bad idea

 

Ways to battle cv axles failures

This was the thread I was referring to. However dropping the crossmember wouldn't be the solution, it would make it worse.

 

Is there 2 inches between the engine and the hook? And what if you have a tower brace?

 

the cross member bar mounts would be the easiest since its just adding extra metal that can be added from another set of mounts. the mount brackets in the bay are the ones that would involve some amount of fabrication
i'll look that up, thanx
I'm trying to raise the motor, not lower it
the strut bar i have currently wont work, due to the clearance issues. i was already going to try and get a custom on piece strut bar for both front and rear, i would just accomidate to the motor being raised. as for the hood, i now that there has to be some modifications to be done but i figured that would not be a problem since i'm concidering to modify the hood regardless if this is done or not.

 

Business 101 - Time = money.
Keep on swapping those cheap lifetime warranty axles. Eventually you'll figure it out.




Hint...
A lifetime warranty on junk, gives you a lifetime of junk.

 

my car is auto :/

 

Well the quickest way to do it is like this.

Remove the inners of your current engine mounts (not easy, quick or fun)

Re-position the bolt hole higher (but leave lets say .5" of room for bushing)

Fill with poly.

You've already raise them about 1 inch or close to an inch by doing that.

And do the opposite to the Transmission and TQ Mounts you will lower the hole for the bolt on those.

Just as a warning, remember you are compromising the handling performance of the vehicle even more by raising the center of gravity higher above the axis of rotation.

 

that is true, but performance is the last thing on my list/mind for this paticular "build", well for the moment

 

went to this local fad shop that those a lot of custom car builds, i got an estimate between $500 -$850 depending on what else needs to be altered (wiring harness, hoses, etc.) sounds reasonable so i'll be saving up to get it done. maybe they'll figure something out to where it may be cheaper when i get down to it when funds are there for the work.

 

your logic makes sense, but then you also missed my second reason why

 

Yea I thought of this a few times, might do it if I keep the car