juniper9803

Maxspeed Didnt Trim But Probably Should ,fronts Hit Once In A While

sublimer

iTrader: (7)

I have H-techs waiting to be installed eventually with Tokiko HP's. Anyone with this set up trim their bumpstops?

S00NR1

iTrader: (3)

Put my H&Rs on up front yesterday on stock struts and did not cut the bumpstops. I am most likely going to buy new boot kits for each side when I order the Illuminas and then I will consider trimming.

TDotMax

iTrader: (1)

ANymore on S-Tech's and Illuminas with trimming? How is a 2000/1 different from 02/3

chr0nos

iTrader: (1)

h&r's spring owners do not need to cut the bumpstop, according to their web site.
http://www.hrsprings.com/site/techni...nical_info.pdf

okay

I just did my suspension yesterday (progress with gr-2) on 01 Max. I trimmed where housecor trimmed also, but is the dust boot suppose to be loose? it was originally connected to the top hat but the part that is cut off makes it not fit?


what did other ppl do?

SEmy2K2go

iTrader: (10)

Didn't do any trimming on mine.

chr0nos

iTrader: (1)

Update: i know h&r says you don't have to trim the bumpstops, but, i recommend it now. for a few weeks i was bottoming out on medium-sized bumps and potholes. i cut off the top section on fron and back bump stops, and it's great now. the extra inch of travel space is definetely needed.
i have the same issue, but when the car settles on the spring, there is almost no travel room for the dustboot. the internal part of the strut is completely covered. the only thing i am conserned with is stuff splasing over the top of the dustboot.

MyownNismo

iTrader: (13)

The proper way to trim bumpstops is to compress the piston til it stops. Then measure how much piston is left. And add some length so that the piston doesn't bottom out the strut.

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Boy this thread is old...


What do you guys use to cut the rear bumpstops?
A utility knife is easy for the front, but the rear is solid thick rubber.

zoner

Interesting... I just bought some Eibachs second hand - didn't have the instructions - thanks for the info. I've been trying to figure out what to do - I didn't trim the bump stops, and I have experienced alot of 'bangs' since then in the front. I was trying to determine how badly I was hitting the bump stops. Maybe it's just the springs?

shurik

iTrader: (6)

I have Eibachs and didn't cut the bump stops. I know it's optional for a minimal drop, but did I realy needed to do so for an Eibach drop, because the boot will be loose and there would be dirt getting in? Any sugestions???
And how can a rubber boot prevent suspention travel, I mean it's only rubber.

chr0nos

iTrader: (1)

the top part of the dustboot/bumpstop is made of very hard rubber. the harmonica peice of the dustboot only covers the strut to prevent dirt from getting in. the top portion is what needs to be trimmed.
i used a cerrated kitchen knife to cut mine, both front and back. utility knife did not work well.

shurik

iTrader: (6)

NEVER MIND. I Got it.

Penguin215

iTrader: (1)

Ok, maybe it's me, but this thread keeps getting bumped, yet I dont see anything new?

TopSpeedNY

iTrader: (16)

tein s techs with illuminas front 1.3 and rear i couldnt cut cause it was allready broken on top so it was exactly 1 inch lol

housecor

iTrader: (2)

Threads are also bumped when someone merely votes in the poll.

shurik

iTrader: (6)

Hmmm, hey guys when you cut your front bump stops, doen'st your shock rod will rob against that hard rubber since the boot will be loose? Can this damere the rod since the rubber boot will rubbing the rod all the time? I thought about it and didn't trip mine. Anyone know anything about this???

MaxKlinger

Does cutting the bumpstops decrease strut life? Does it void the warranty on the struts? I just bought Tokico Illuminas and H&R springs for our '02, and this bumpstop cutting is news to me. They have yet to be installed, hopefully next week.

Chronos, i couldn't find any information about a Maxima on the pdf of H&R information you posted.

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Maxklinger YGPM

zoner

Mine's o.k. - though I recently cut the stops. The dust boot actually helped keep the bump stop from jamming up against the strut shaft. It might rub a little, but it doesn't seem to be affecting the boot or the shaft yet. I thought I would have to shim something in between the bump stop and the piston rod to hold it up against the strut mount, but so far so good without having to go through all that. Alternately, you could cut the bottom of the stop off (per Eibach's instructions). You'd just lose the boot (IMO - not a very big deal - but make up your own mind)

Can't speak for strut life - though I think the rest of my car really appreciates the fact that I cut the stops. I don't think I had more than 1/2" of travel with my Eibachs and complete bump stops in the front. If I didn't have the illuminas set on 3 or higher, I'd bottom out big time in the front. Personally, I thought it was a pretty rough ride with the complete bump stops - once I could have sworn I went airborne while doing 75 on the interstate after hitting a dip and the car was fully loaded. After I cut the stops, it was like a whole different car.

Here's Eibach's recommendations on trimming bumpstops (note that they recommend cutting the stops roughly the same amount the springs drop the front and rear):

http://www.eibach.com/downloads/instructions/D2256.pdf

Adrian112597

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for this Installation instructions from Eibach, guess the original guy who put in my GR2's never read it. The worse ride in the world with GR2's and Eibachs..I thought. But now that I am reading this, maybe it had to do with the not cutting of the bump stops. I just bought some Illumina's, started doing them myself. I bought the KYB boot kit with bumpstops. I'm going to cut them according to the Installation instructions from Eibach. Also, it looks like the mechanic that did it originally, left the OEM bump stop in there as well.

zoner

Hope it helps! Let us know how it goes. As another .org member pointed out that a serrated kitchen knife does a good job of cutting through them - I found it was 10 times easier that way than with a razor knife.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

It wont decrease the life of the strut. If you didnt open up your Tokico Illuminas there should be a paper advising to cut your bumpstops in half. I received mine for my 4th gen and it states to cut your bumpstops in half to increase the travel of the suspension due to lowering if you are going to lower the car.

Cerebros

i put tein and stock shock, but need to cut the bump stop an inch in the front and back

Josh_0351

iTrader: (1)

I trimmed 1.5” in front and back for the H-Tech’s FYI.

VQuick

iTrader: (17)

What Galo describes is exactly what I've experienced. Before cutting the bumpstops with my TEIN H-Techs and Illuminas on my 4th gen, I had not noticed any bottoming out but I heard so many good things about cutting bumpstops so I cut them about an inch. I didn't really notice a difference at the time, but now riding on rough rouds I get those loud bangs and crashes ALL THE TIME and it's awful. I bet it's bad for the struts too. So I'm planning on buying some new bumpstops/dustboots and putting those in to see if that eliminates the bottoming out. Also, I think the H-Techs aren't stiff/progressive enough so that causes more bottoming out than there would be otherwise.

It's extremely puzzling and frustrating that there is such a wide divide of opinions about cutting the bumpstops. Basically, some people are saying they bottomed out all the time before cutting and other people are saying they never bottomed out UNTIL they cut them. Spring/strut combo is a big variable but even so I'm surprised that there is such a disagreement.

NOCturnalI30

iTrader: (1)

Wait im a lil lost why do you guys cut eh bumpstops?

zoner

Yeah, I think spring/strut combo and road conditions have alot to do with it. I can duplicate the same problem you describe w/ my Eibachs if I set the Tockicos lower than '3' and take on some pretty rough roads. As it is, I would classify the ride at the 3 setting as 'very stiff' personally.
Given the length of the stock bump stops, the short suspension travel, and relatively easy ride of the stock suspension, I'd be suprised if the stock struts didn't regularly hit the bump stops and folks (including me) didn't really notice that much. I'd guess that the folks that say their car didn't bottom out until they cut the bump stops fell into this category, even with lowering springs. (logically, increasing suspension travel should make you hit the bump stops less).
In my case, I found the increased impact against the bump stops (from lack of travel) very disconcerning, especially at higher speeds.
As it is, I'm pretty much convinced that the handling/comfort tradeoff really isn't worth it, and I'm about to go to either H&Rs, or back to stock.

VQuick

iTrader: (17)

I forgot about this thread. I just posted in a 4th gen thread about H-Techs where I explicitly and firmly stated that all who have TEIN H-Techs (and probably anyone with any lowering springs, especially the softer your springs are) should NOT cut their bumpstops.

On Saturday I took apart my entire suspension and replaced the bumpstop/dustboot units with brand new OEM units. (Just the front; I never cut the rear due to their design and because I have Ben's rear strut mounts that increase travel). On Sunday I took a very spirited backroads cruise with friends, 80-100 MPH at times on deserted and often bumpy roads. There were no cringe-worthy crashes; the few times that I bottomed out I just heard a lot of interior rattles (need SFCs!) but it wasn't painful. That's the way bottoming out is supposed to be. So I am a happy camper now.

Anyone reading this thread who is trying to decide whether to cut your bumpstops or not, here is my advice. Even if you have Eibachs or another stiff spring, I highly recommend that you install the springs with the bumpstops uncut, see how you like it, and if for some reason you feel like you're losing travel or getting weird progressiveness of your spring rates due to the bumpstops (you won't), you can go back and cut them when you have a few hours. The front suspension is super easy to disassemble (took me 2 hours total from jacking up the car to lowering it back down) and spring compressors are $11.99 at Harbor Freight.

Bigcat#44

iTrader: (1)

Well crap, I did not see this post and I just installed my Illuminas and S-Techs yesterday. I cut 1" off of the front and rear but cutting the bumpstops was a PITA and the dustboots were already dry rotted so they will need to be replaced here soon. How much are the dustboot and bumpstops to replace? I also wished I had known about Harbor Freight selling spring compressors so cheap, Autozone here charged me 40 bucks to use theirs

VQuick

iTrader: (17)

S-Techs, at least on a 4th gen, are so low that the bottom of the bumpstop is literally resting on the top of the strut body. Meaning you technically have no travel; every time the suspension compresses it's also compressing the bumpstop. So it might not be a bad thing to have cut them, as long as your roads aren't too bad. But S-Techs give a pretty awful ride from what I've heard; there's just not enough travel.

Autozone is supposed to loan tools such as spring compressors for FREE...what's up with your store? Maybe try another parts store next time.

MyownNismo

iTrader: (13)

which one should I trim off the big one or the small one.

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

I usually cut the two smaller parts off and leave the one bigger one.

Trurida18

iTrader: (4)

well wait, i thought the dust boots were the same as the bump stops


the pic above is from www.importrp.com
http://www.importrp.com/product.php?...0&cat=0&page=1

here is the exact link

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

There are two different types of dustboot/bumpstops.

The earlier 5th gen had the type where the bumpstop is that hard foam piece inside the dustboot like in post #73. The later 5th gen had a bumpstop that was part of the structure of the dustboot, similar to the picture you just posted.

Trurida18

iTrader: (4)

hmmm, ok....well i looked at my stock ones and they look similiar to the black ones i posted i BELIEVE

Trurida18

iTrader: (4)

ok so if I purchased those (so called) Tokico bumpstops would they still require trimming

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Hard to tell without comparison to stock dustboot height.

SEmy2K2go

iTrader: (10)

Bumping this thread for some that may find this information helpful.