Oh what a glorious day it was yesterday! The sun was shining; birds were chirping; and I was making U-turns in my SE all day long without a worry in the world…after removing my steering stops that is. It's a mystery to me why you don't hear about this mod more often. Of the hundreds of sources I encountered about the Max's large turning radius, only a couple mention anything about the steering stops. Most (including every rep. and mechanic I talked to) claimed that replacing the stock 17" wheels with smaller or reduced-offset wheels would tighten the turning radius. Those theories made little sense to me on paper and proved even less true in practice, since the overall radius of the lower profile 225/50R17 tire differed from a 215/55R16 by only 1/4". Nor could wheel/tire combos alone explain why the GXE had 2.9 turns lock-to-lock versus 2.6 for the GLE/SE. Anyway, long story short, after removing my steering stops, I am happy to report that my SE now has the turning prowess of a GXE without any discernable ill effects...yet (knock on wood). Some pics below. Enjoy!


The steering stop is just a bolt (partially unscrewed here) on the hub carrier that strikes a plate (blue arrow) on the lower suspension arm and limits travel.

Some people may be concerned about adverse effects of removing this bolt. After removing the bolts on both sides, I took my Max out along all my usual routes and made several U-turns and full-lock circles. So far, there has been no evidence of interference or damage resulting from the mod. You can see the extreme articulation angle of the CV joint, which some speculate may lead to accelerated wear and long term damage. We'll see if my mechanic discovers anything unusual at my next tune-up. I'll keep you posted. Until then, I will remain vigilant and only turn the wheels fully in brief, low speed maneuvers such as U-turns and parking.




An interesting footnote is that there is some very subtle steering wheel feedback (i.e. increased resistance) when turning past the original full-lock position. I wonder if this is a unique phenomenon or whether all Maxima steering boxes do this but were precluded from doing so earlier by the steering stops. Can any GXE owners verify this? Also, does anyone know if the GXE even has these steering stops?

 

MAN!!! Your suspension really looks rusted or something.

 

Yeah, the gxe has steering stops, do u think we just rub our tires against the inner fenderwell and say 'oh well, we turned too hard?' What stops you from turning your wheels too far now, do you feel the rubbing and say 'too far?'

 

Perhaps replacing the existing bolt with something shorter would be a better solution than complete removal.

 

Someone with true knowledge needs to comment here if this is a smart thing to do. Calling all wise men, please comment!

 

how to break an CV joint??

My friend civic has a very thigh turning radius but the CV joint just scream when he turn real thigh! He has broken two of them(same side) in 3 week because of that, now he need to turn really carefully too not turn completly the wheel on left side!

 

I am no expert on CV joints but I know that there is a maximum angle they can turn before you put it in a bind. That's why you don't put the car into gear with the front wheels off the ground. The likely result will be accerlerated wear from making U-turns and sharp 90ş turns. FWD cars don't share the same steering geometety as RWD cars do. That's why the turning radius is greater for FWD cars. The Nissan design engineers designed the steering system the way they did to prolong the life of the outer CV joints.

 

http://www.autosite.com/garage/subsys/05-18f.asp

 

Put 'em back on. It doesn't take much to smoke a CV joint like this. We're not talking about accelerated wear, you will just explode the thing if the angles get too great. The "added resistance" you are feeling past the orginal stop is the axel digging into the CV joint housing.

Serioulsy, when was the last time I said to myself, "self, I wish I had a tighter turning radius" ?..... never.

 

That could be the CV joints and it could be the rack and pinion gear going beyond the operating limits. At any rate, it should be taken as a warning sign.

 

ALL the time. But after hearing about this in the past, there doesn't seem to be much of a solution.

Here's a thought: instead of removing the bolt, how about replacing it with a slightly shorter one?

 

I thought it also adds to the wear of the power steering pump as well?

 

Thats what i'm saying he should paint that sh*t

 

I seem to recall that someone tested the theory of reducing the turning radius by removing the stop bolts about a year ago. The conclusion was that removing the bolts had virtually zero effect on turning radius . . . If you can search, you should be able to find the old thread on this one.