the email states this...

Marco,

My name is xxxx............I work in R&D here at Energy and have just
received to go ahead to do an entire maxima......sway bars, control arms,
motor mounts, shifter bushings.....everything.

We are going to need someone local so we can R&D a car............do you
know of anyone in your club who is in SoCal (San Clemente)?

Let me know.

Thanks.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Research & Development

so there you go...they're doing a full kit for the maxima....what i need is anyone who is willing to be the test monkey. i have already asked for a process schedule, downtime needed with the car (hours, days, etc...) but if anyone is interested, post and when i get more information, i'll PM or email you guys personally.

 

Awesome! Just make sure the donor is a 2002-2003

 

i have a 2k1. I'd be interested depending how details of the schedule and downtime. please PM me

 

he replied, and i replied back, going into more details about the differences between 5 and 5.5 gens. so far, we've got different diameters of the sway bars between the SE's and the other models and then we have the 5 and 6spd shifter bushings being different. it would probably be beneficial to have both a 5 and a 6speeder going in. for the downtime, refer to his response below:


Marco,

Appreciate the confidentiality.

Our test monkey would need to drop the car off for a week.

We use the car for R&D, he gets FREE custom bushings installed.

We tear apart the car in one day. Design bushings one day. Make molds one
day. Pour parts one day. Install parts one day. So it takes about a week.
That is the process.


he is supposed to call me back fairly soon, so we can discuss more. i also have daveb collecting information so that they know the variations in the 5th gen, 5.5 gen, and then between models.

any 6spd volunteers. come on people.

 

Are there any active 6sp's in SoCal? I don't remember any...

 

SWEEEEET~!

Just make sure it's not TSs week.

 

Lucky SoCal people............

 

depending on downtime, dates and time, I would be interested. hit me up.

 

No love for us 4th gens. Our bushings are way softer and older

 

hit me up. I can donate my ride for a while!!!!!

 

this is just too funny. he calls me up while i'm at a bar, already about halfway drunk off my a$$, so i'm like hey xxxx, what's up you silly *****!. he's like uh, marco?

woulda been funnier if you actually heard me.

well, we did somehow have a conversation. he's in contact with daveb to look up more information. there are 2 MAIN sets he's making, 5 and 5.5 gen. but each of those will also have 2 different versions, an SE (thicker sway bar) version and then "others". seems to be a total of 4 applications for the 5th gens.

now, larrio and 5 spd, both of you seem to be willing to help out. are any of willing to give up the car for a week. in exchange, you will get a FULL bushing kit for free. that includes everything they can possibly think of that needs to be upgraded. only because larrio responded first, he gets to defend himself. but 5spd, you are 2nd. larrio, please let us know if you are willing.

oh yeah, we still need a GOD DAMN ****ING SIX SPEEDER TO DO THIS!!!!

as you can see, i'm still a little tipsy, and i'm going right back out, so i'll respond tomorow.

 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo. this calls for a drink, which is what i plan to do in about 10 minutes. dave, i'll hit you up sometime tomorow with energy's info.

everyone, understand that this is beyond "gaining interest". enough interest was made (i never gave up) and as he said, he's been given the go. once he gets the specs on how many applications he needs, he will take the donor car. dave and larrio or 5spd, i will email you this weekend with energy's contact information.

note: the reason i refer to him or xxxx or energy suspension. do you really think they want to hear from all of us with "i wanna be a test monkey"....that's rather annoying. i'm organizing the monkey, then sending you the info. peace.

 

Wow this is great news. Im on spring break in 3 weeks and i could do it then if larrio and 5spd dont do it. About how much will the whole set cost when they make it???

 

for a free bushing kit? a week? lemme think about that.










sure. I need to know when though

 

ok, i'll do it. I can go without my car for a week. Besides, i'm getting some clunking/weird suspension noise right now so maybe this will help me out.

please email me at mrmoogieman@hotmail.com

thanks. btw, how is energy suspension's reputation? I've never heard of this company, any drawbacks to all these modifications?

btw ice, don't worry ... there will always be room for TS

 

PoLo...

haven't heard from you yet.

 

yeah...i haven't sent anyone contact info yet...i'm going to wait until energy gets back to me. monday they should be talking to daveb. from there, once they have all the info, then when he gives me the go ahead, i'll send you his info. don't worry, i have not forgotten.

 

can't wait for this, especially with a groaning noise I get when i turn the wheel all the way to the left. Hopefully it will go away once all this new stuff goes in. Hope to hear from them soon

 

UPDATE

Ok, our representative contacted me....we have the motor mounts in hand and he's having R&D take a stab at them. he says the motor mounts are actually quite "beefy" compared to the honda mounts he's messed with.

in either case, i have 2 requests....he NEEDS a picture of anyone with a "destroyed" motor mount so he can how they turned. this will help determine the flexibility of these new motor mounts. i hope all of you guys read this and can provid me with this picture.

secondly, maximadave, email me.......mgalvis01@hotmail.com, a 6speeder has been requested

 

thanks for doing this Polo! I will be getting a kit when they are completed! I need to motor mounts bad!!!

 

Blast. No love for 4th gens . PoLo can you ask about possible 4th gen kits. I'm sure that there'd be a lot of interest among 4th genners for a full kit as well.

LEMAR

 

mmmmmmm tight bushings

 

I'll do this if dave can't or changes his mind, i just saw this thread.. i'm about 20 minutes from san clemente

 

DAVEB probably has a few dead mounts laying around.

2K2 mounts work in a 2K-2K1 right? I thought Dixit tried that. They are slightly different, but still work.

 

i'm the 2k1 test car, so if this goes through the motor mounts for the vq30de-k should fit fine for the 4th gens

 

4th/5th gen MM are the same.

Only variation is on the electric controlled mount on the 5th gens, but that won't affect anything plus I think it's on autos only?

 

correct, 4/5th gen MM's are the same.
yes, autos are electronically controlled, but for now, we are ONLY concentrating on manual tranny maxima's, which gives us a single application across the board, since they are all the same. this also goes with 5 and 5.5 gen control arm, FSB, etc... bushings. they are also all the same. the difference begins when you go into auto tranny applications, where the FSB is not as thick. again, since we are just FINALLY breaking into the later maxima applications, we need to take it slow. eventually we'll expand to other models.

he emailed me again...he's a little confused. he wants to know, for those that do have damaged mounts, what did you think caused it. reason is, he says these are one of the stiffest mounts he's seen, compared to the honda cars that they generall work with. therefore, he's confused why we "need" these mounts. some input from damaged mount people would be appreciated.

where is maximadave

 

we need mounts to even out wheel hop and the flexing from the torque on the vq. The place racing ones do this, but the engine idles harsh from what i've heard (vibrations)

 

 

as crazy as this sounds, does anyone here think we can handle lowering the motor 5/8". do we have this clearance? i can only think of 1 other advantage....clearance for the strut bar. the real reasoning behind it is to make the moutns in the center rather than offsetted like the stock ones

so....is 5/8" doable w/out hitting something. i know the precats can handle it, that's why we have the flex section. but i need some other "yeah, it's doable" cause i can't be the only one to agree here.

 

Nice...you going to fill those?

 

We definately need someone to take them up on this. I want the Motor Mount inserts. The basically elimnated wheelhop on a Spec-V and the vibration was way less than full Motor mounts. Somebody Please matke this happen.

 

are they still looking for a so-cal participant?

 

no, but i need you guys to answer my damn question!!!

i am reposting:
as crazy as this sounds, does anyone here think we can handle lowering the motor 5/8". do we have this clearance? i can only think of 1 other advantage....clearance for the strut bar. the real reasoning behind it is to make the moutns in the center rather than offsetted like the stock ones

so....is 5/8" doable w/out hitting something. i know the precats can handle it, that's why we have the flex section. but i need some other "yeah, it's doable" cause i can't be the only one to agree here.

 

to hard to say the long term effects of what might happen if u did do that.

 

Did Place Racing?

Looks like they did at least on this mount:
http://www.cattman.com/img/prod/mmounts.jpg

 

Another benefit of lowering the engine would be- lowered center of gravity for better handling. I don't think moving the engine 5/8" lower will have any affect as I have lowered the engine about 1.5-2" at one time with all the hoses and wires attached to it. Only thing I would worry bout is oil pan clearance.

 

Hey, good point.

I wonder how much less understeer we'd have, since the front end wouldn't push so much?

Hmmmnnnnn.

 

the motor mounts arrived and they have been gutted. i've already discussed the place racing issue with them, so they understand the limitation of transferred vibrations, so they have that considered as well. pics of a 3D Model of the prototype will be posted later on tonite (i wanna copyright the pics first). funny thing, maximadave has gone MIA....i need to PM the b@stard.

 

i'm still free if maximadave backs out.