i want to lower my car..but won't have money for rims anytime in the near future....does anyone have any pics of their car lowered with stock wheels and tires? i'm wondering if it'll look stupid or not...thanks in advance

 

Yes
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=192096

 

whether it looks stupid or not is on prsonal preference.
when people get cars, especially maxima's,they complain about the 4x4 look. dropping it just removes that look. i personally like my stocks, but i will go for rims in a few months (may-june) and right now i'm running on stock suspension, but in about 2 weeks (or when it stops snowing), i'll be on ground controls/agx's and i'll keep the stock wheels. i think it'll look pretty nice...not "hot damn that's sick", but it won't look ugly. i don't see many dropped max's with stock wheels. be different, who cares, as long as your'e happy.

 

check out my homepage......

 

Skandalouz, I was going to do the samething but Lumbee799 stated that it swollows up the stock 17's. Lumbee do you think adding wheel spacers will correct the problem to make the wheels appear fatter? Thanks.

 

My car was lowered in the first week I owned it. It makes the Maxima look more "normal" instead of having that ridiculous wheel well gap. To me, the ride height looks like all the bone stock BMW's that my co workers own. It doesn't swallow the wheel up at all.

 

something tells me when i put my GC's on, it'll really swallow up the wheels.

 

Try looking at members pages on car domain. There are plenty of pictures there.

 

There was a post about someone who used coilovers with the stock wheels. The lowered car looked awesome. However, he had too much trouble with the new stiffer ride. Too bad it can't be lowered from the factory with the same comfortable ride it has now. I would love to lower my Max but the ride comfort is 75% of the reason why I bought it in the first place.

 

Personally, I think rims look sstupid without a drop. Get the drop first for sure......

 

 

NO

 

+1 for this also.

I would drop *cough* like I have *cough* and then get the rims later.

Why have nice rims on the 4x4 setup?

that's Ghetto!

 

sure is, I had that setup for a couple weeks before I got my springs, fugly

 

You guys are sick.

 

No.

 

Yeah,I recommend that you lower it first. I'll be lowering my car as soon as weather permits. I'm gonna be running the AGX/PROGRESS set-up. Doing the rims first looks ghey.*too me at least*Your car will look like it's on a lift kit if you got rims especailly running low-profile tires at that. Talk about a wheel gap.

Here is a pic of 2001MaximaSe's max with the PROGRESS set-up running stock rims,doesn't look bad to me.

 

I love the way my car looks with H&Rs and stock wheels. No more 4X4 look.
Everytime I see stock Maxima drive buy, I love my H&Rs more and more

 

Do it!
I lowered my car with the stock wheels and drove it for 4 months. The ride, performance and look is much better than stock. Because I was happy with the ride and unhappy with the wheels, I stepped up to 18's. Now I am

 

I would use that money for the struts....

if you want to lower a car and have fun on curves...swap out the struts too. Otherwise, just go for the springs. I lowered my car and I dont have aftermarket rims. I used that money and bought something else.

btw, it doesnt look lowered on 2000's stock 16 wheels.

 

The stock wheels are only 7" wide. IMO they now have a tucked appearance. Does it look bad? no, but it is now more noticeable. 18x8's or 19x8's will fix that though .

Oh, one more thought. Has anyone noticed that with lowering the car on stock struts, the HARD cornering is not as good . I think it is due to the fact that the shorter springs don't allow the strut to work at it's maximum capacity and therefore cornering ability is reduced.

How long does it take for springs to settle. I have noticed mine appear lower now than when we first installed them but I just wanted a time frame to go by.

 

There is a stock 2k2 Maxima that sometimes parks next to me.

Wow, you can really appreciate how wierd and exagerated the wheel well gap is on a stocker, when its parked next to mine.

 

Thanx for the info, I will definitely do this now.

 

stock struts are too weak for aftermarket spring. You can tell if car's struts are busted by how bouncy the car is.....one time I saw a Honda bounced 4 times after hitting a bump on the freeway. One of the passenger in the back hit the roof. either bad struts or stock springs are cut.

One thing that I keep telling people here is that you want to do this, replace them all at once so you dont pay labor twice.

Quote:

How long does it take for springs to settle. I have noticed mine appear lower now than when we first installed them but I just wanted a time frame to go by.

takes a week to settle.

 

Yup, do everything right the first time around or you'll be sorry you didn't

 

Not sure why you saying cornering didn't improve with lowering springs on stock shocks, on my car it improved 100%. I have H&Rs though. Car is much flater in corners. I have been running H&Rs more than 6 months now and car rides great and much more stable.

 

I think it's fine to lower first, since our Maximas come stock with a lift kit. Also gives you time to get used to the lower ride before you throw on a kit, rims, etc...

 

Cornering is improved by if you dive into a turn and jam on the brakes you will notice that the car dips heavily. The strut were originally designed to work with a much higher spring. Since they are constantly in a compressed state they do not work as well.

 

Guess it's time for some AGX's

 

It will look stupid if you buy rims and don't drop it. So, get your ride lowered first. I just put my maxspeeds on last week and I love it...car looks phat.

 

AGX's

 

please correct me if i am wrong about this: but i though structs are just dampers that resist change in position. there is compression damping and rebound damping. that's it. they don't really have a "compressed" state?!
by using a shorter spring you simply decrease the working range of the structs, but not their damping properties.

 

Yeah i had my rims on my car for a while before lowering it and it looks so much better lowered so definately lower the car first. When i park next to one of my friends who has a stock height 2kmax its amazing how much better the car looks lowered. Right now im lowered with my stock 16s and some winter tires on it for the winter and everyones tellin me my car looks tight lowered and rollin on stock 16s with beefy winter tires lol.


-Steve

 

please correct me if i am wrong about this: but i thought structs are just dampers that resist change in position. there is compression damping and rebound damping. that's it. they don't really have a "compressed" state?!
by using a shorter spring you simply decrease the working range of the structs, but not their damping properties.

 

I would rather lower my car first then get rims...
if you get rims your car still looks like a 4x4...
but when you lower it...it looks tight as hell
then when you put rims on it and you step away ....its like daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn
that looks sexy
haha

 

I believe the problem is that the dampening is not linear. Consequently changing the operating range by lowering your car will MIGHT yield different results. I have Eibach's with factory struts/shocks. I have only noticed positive improvements with the handling/cornering. But I don't drive like a mad man and I don't have as many miles as some of the other people on this board. Hope this helps.

 

I would get the car lowered first. this way the place doing your work won't beat up your new rims taking them off to do the work and putting them on the shop floor and possibly scuffing them. I know that's a little extreme but just my opinion