Okay, so....tinkerer that I am by nature & training, a coupla days ago I was brain farting different approaches one could take to lower cars without affecting the ride too much -which means essentially, dropping a car without reducing wheel travel in jounce mode -when the shock absorber is compressing.

All our lowering springs do just that -position the wheel/tire assembly a little higher on the strut thru the use of shorter and slightly stiffer springs: shorter to actually lower the car, stiffer to now prevent the wheel/tire assembly from crashing into the bump stops at every bump, because with the shorter springs you have effectively reduced wheel travel on the compression (jounce) stroke.

I know there are modified struts out there for the rear shocks that allow lowering while maintaining the original wheel travel on the compression stroke but not on the fronts, so......what would happen if someone took a pair or Tokico or GR2s -or any struts, for that matter- and repositioned the lower mounting bracket (the one with the two large bolts that bolts to the spindle assembly) higher up on the strut itself?

You cannot do that more than an inch, otherwise the tire will start rubbing on the spring perch itself -and this could be different depending which tire & wheel combination u are driving. But, if one could reposition
that bracket one inch higher on the strut & combine that with stock SE springs that have been just minimally cut -just enough to drop the car another half an inch- one could have the perfect drop with almost no loss of wheel travel and more important -no real sacrifice in ride qualities.

I have a set of nearly-new GR2s (less than 3k miles) that I would be happy to swap with equivalent condition Tokico Blue struts to test this theory......

 

There's no way to get that welded bracket off without completely distroying the strut.

A custom made strut is the only way your going to lower the car, and it's not going to be much more than an inch. Besides that it wouldn't be cost effective.

Upgrading to a progressive wound spring is what really upgrades the handling. Couple a good sport spring with a quality strut such as the Tokico Illuminas and you get that agressive look with much added stability, yet maintain a compliant ride. You can't get that by just lowering the stock setup a little.

Correctly installing a lowering spring setup up is just as important as well. Things such as trimming OEM bump stops or using a new cover that has a shorter bump stop gives back some suspension travel. If the spring loweres 1.5" and you get back 3/4" of free travel by correctly installing it, you really wount notice that loss of suspension travel under normal conditions. What you gain is the agressive lower stance and a more sports car like feel of the road.

Thats what your usually after when you lower a vehicle.

 

What the maxima lacks is independant rear suspension along with better springs and struts. Independant rear suspension you can't fix. The struts and springs you can. I am just not sold on lowering the car because for every aftermarket part you add it seems like the negative outweighs the positive.

 

I thought about this method myself, actually considered contacting tokico and see if I could get a maxima strut set "made" with the spring seat about 1" lower on the strut....

then, I never did...

 

I'm just waiting for my coilovers......

 

haha..."then i never did." wow if i counted how many times in my life thats ahppened to me...

 

Just what I needed.....someone dropping the gauntlet....

Next weekend I'm going to play with those GR2 struts I have lying around. And FYI, I have no intentions of 'getting that welded bracket off' but rather welding another bracket on top (outboard) of it -one that extends an inch higher than the current bracket....we'll see.

 

Come back to this thread and please tell us how you make out.


And remember...... :