Quick question, with my Intrax Springs I got an orange paper instructing me to cut 1" off the front bump stop on each side. Where is the bump stop? I thought it was the rubber piece in the plastic piece under the dust cap, but I couldn't get that piece out to cut it.

If I don't cut the bump stop, what will happen?

thanx
ryan

 

Sup man, thanks for the alarm help again.....

Anyway I belive its the last rubber piece you put on before the washer and the strut nut. 1" seem like alot to me since that thing is pretty small, i dont see why you would need to cut it, but i can tell you that nothing(meachically wise) will happen if you don't cut it. What it seems like to me is that by cutting the bump stop you are enableing the strut nut to be tightened much futher than before.....in a sense this would cause you car to sit lower.....thats cheating if you ask me. I would think that harshness in ride would also increase by this. If I were you i would not cut them. If you wanted a lower drop, get lower springs or start cutting coils if that you thing.

 

You should cut the bumpstops to allow full suspension travel. If you don't you'll find yourself bottoming out more often than you should.

 

dont cut it. You may loose 1/2 inch of wheel travel, but I think thats better than having concrete contact to your crossmembers on bumps. Its your call, I didn't cut mine and I'm yet to find a situation where I wish I did cut them.

 

I cut mine and they have been fine for over a year. They are right, it allows your shocks/struts to travel and you need this with a shorter spring.

 

Let me get this straight, a shorter spring which has less load travel-you think you need more available travel? Please explain. These aren't 4x4's that need 24" of articulation. For some reason NISSAN wanted your wheel stop to stop at that particular height so you don't clip or bend your steering components. I would keep that in mind, also remember how much your CV joints love to turn underthese difficuly angles.

 

The issue comes when you put on a shorter spring that allows the strut to move less. In this situation, an uncut bumpstop takes up a larger percentage of travel than it normally would. The purpose of trimming the bumpstop is to reduce the percentage of room it takes out of your suspension travel.

 

Thanx for all the replies, although there seems to be some conflicting opinions as to whether to cut or not to cut. As of now I left the bumpstops uncut and have no handling problems whatsoever, and havent bottomed out once.

One thing I did notice though is that the front sits slightly higher than the back. This may be the springs, but is it possible that it is due to the bump stop issue? I looked through a Haynes manual and found no mention of a bump stop. Where exactly is this bump stop, specifically?

ryan

 

If you look at the top 2 items on my suspension listing, the bumpstop/dustboot combination is the top two items. The top part is the bumpstop, the bottom part is the dustboot.

I've heard that the SE uses a 2 part front bumpstop, but the rears are all the same.

 

Ah, I see now. Thank you very much for the exact picture. That was very helpful. I need to remove the spring assy. again anyway to silence the slight noise I have. I guess I will cut the bump stop while I am at it. I am new to the strut/spring thing, so this is a learning experience for, thanx for your insight I appreciate it.

 

I've got Intrax springs and IMO, cutting the bumpstops is MANDATORY for safety. Intrax springs are some of the lowest springs you can get. On my car, the Intrax were good for a solid 2" drop in the front and 2.00" in the rear. At first, I only trimmed 1/4" of the stops, but I still felt the car rebounding off of the stops. I stuck my hand thru the spring while the car was on the ground and felt that I only had 1" of upwards suspension travel. IMO, that's unsafe because in tight bumpy turns with only 1" of wheel travel means you'll be hitting/riding the stops in no time which could completely unsettle the chassis and cause a loss of control. I trimmed my stops 70% in the front and back. This gained me over .6" of travel and my car rides FAR better. Until you do this, you'll have no idea what I'm talking about. I've had my stops cut back this far for nearly 1 year and I've had absolutely no problems with my Koni/AGX setup.


BTW, with Intrax, the gap in the front will be slightly bigger. The car is completely level, it's the larger front wheel gaps that give the appearance of more gap.


Dave

 

Also if you have a full tank of gas the rear will dip a little more than the front. I think it has something to do with the spring load being less in the rear.

Thank you Dave B for your insight, I guess I'll have my springs apart soon.

 

Thanx Dave for the tip. Hopefully I will have time on Thursday to redo the front. My car does not sit perfectly level though. It's about 1/2" higher in the front (measuring the distance from the ground to th bottom of the sill in behind the front wheel and in front of the rear wheel on level ground). It not TERRIBLY noticeable, but I know the difference is there and it drives me nuts. Thanx again Dave.

Ryan

 

Hey Louie,
Let me know when you plan to do yours - I'd like to do mine as well. I also want to put some silencing material on some of the coils. Thanks

 

or equivelant...ask for spring spacers adn throw a couple in the rear springs...dont help out handling much or make it terribly bad...then again if you were looking for performacnce in a spring you wouldnt have gotten intrax.

 

Why am I not looking for performance out of intrax?

 

I love my Intrax and the cars handling is improved 10 fold not to mention it looks better. What spring would you get for performance?

 

I agree that the Intrax aren't the best springs for performance. Now with the other brands offered there are other springs that outperform the Intrax.

 

Somebody please tell me what springs outperform the Intrax. ALso, is that in handling (slalom times/speeds), ride comfort (is that really performance?), looks (degree of drop)? Just curious.

 

In my opinion it's mainly the ride comfort.

 

So RAvQ, do you like your intrax ?? all around on bumpy roads, highway, driveways, after dinner tell me all

-matt

 

No I don't. And as a matter of fact I'll be replacing them soon with Progress springs. I bought my springs a few years ago when they only had Intrax and Eibach available and thus I went with the lower drop mainly for aesthetic reasons. The ride is very harsh and some owners claim that Intrax are prone to sagging in the rear. I have not had that issue. Although it may look like it it is because the fenders are not the same in the front and rear. I have compared my ride versus friends with Eibach and Sprint and I don't recommend Intrax to anyone.

 

what struts do you have ??
Does anyone like intrax ??

what do i get ?? I dont want to scrape at all anywhere
-matt

 

I like my Intrax and they don't scrape. If I were getting new struts/springs I would consider the KYB/AGXs w/ Progress.
I currently have Intrax/Tokico with no issues for 20,000 miles.

 

Just out of curiousity Mr. Toolrocks, does your car sit level with the Tokico/Intrax setup? I have the same combination.

 

Yes it does. I occassionally have a sub box or my hockey equipment in the trunk but nothing is in there long term to "sag" the springs. The top dead center of the fenders both sit evenly at 26" HOpe this helps.

 

I agree with Steve, my car sits very even.
This is with a full tank of gas and stuff in the trunk.
http://www.max-performance.net/image...new%20rims.jpg

RAVQ-Try getting better struts if you think that your ride is to harsh. My car rides totally different than steves, Maybe he can attest to this since he drove my car recently, and I have been a passenger in both cars.

 

Thanx Toolrocks, I have sme adjustments to make to my setup to improve the install. Hopefully I will be able to level off the car. Like I said the difference isn't huge or even very noticeable, but once I throw my subs in the trun it probably will be. Thanx for the info.

Ryan

 

AGX's on the way but the Intrax are coming out and Progress will be going in.

 

Staindmaxima, What struts do you have with the Intrax ?? does it sit even ??

RAvQ- You want to sell me your intrax, maybe, if you get em off in the next week ??

-matt

 

Sure I'd be willing to sell them. Check your PM's.

 

Matt, I have Tokico's with my Intrax and as of right now it does not sit perfectly even. It sags slightly in the rear. I will be making adjustments though, I missed a couple of things during the install. I will let you know how things look once I am done.