HotMax03

I have a question for anyone who has put springs on their car. I have heard of issues with negative camber when dropping your car especially lower than an inch. Do we Maxima owners have any issues with this. I would like to get Tien H Techs/Tokico Illuminas but I commute to work 55miles a day and do not want to have any uneven tire wear or excessive tire wear. If you have these issues what can I get to remedy them. I really want to lower my car soon but am afraid I will have negative camber issues and alignment issues. Thanks for everyones help.

BLUEMAX01SE

YOU MAY NEED A WHEEL ALIGNMENT RIGHT AFTER THE INSTALL BUT THAT'S JUST WHAT THEY RECOMMEND! I HAVE THE S.TECH/KYB GR2 COMBO, AND HAVE NOT NOTICED ANY DIFFERENCE IN WHEEL ALIGNMENT CAUSED WHEN I LOWERED THE VEHICLE. IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW YOU DRIVE, JUST STAY AWAY FROM THE BUMPY ROADS THAT IS MORE LIKELY TO THROW YOUR ALIGMENT OFF THAN ANYTHING! LOWERED SINCE 3/05 AND STEERS STRAIGHT EVER SINCE! I THOUGHT I MAY NEED A CAMBER KIT TOO BEFORE I LOWERED IT, BUT TURNS OUT I REALLY DIDN'T NEED IT BECAUSE THE CAR WAS FINE AFTER IT WAS LOWERED! PLEASE NOTE I ONLY DRIVE ABOUT 8 MILES BACK/FORTH TO WORK EVERYDAY, SO IT MAY BE DIFFERENT IN YOUR SCENARIO! GOOD LUCK THOUGH!

HotMax03

Thanks I appreciate your info. With as bad as my luck is (see the Help I bent my rim thread) I will be putting money in for alignments, tires, camber kits, etc. If I have to go through all that I will keep my ugly wheel gap. Any commuters out there lowered?

Galo

U do need an alignment to re-set toe-in which is the only possible adjustment on our Maxes. Given that its only toe-in, u might be able to negotiate down a bit.

FYI, my Max was positive camber stock & went a few fractions of a degree negative after the H&Rs -which is where it needs to be for good handling

HotMax03

So have you experienced any issues with abnormal tire wear? Also how many miles has it been that you have driven your car with it lowered?

Aleks

I've had a lowered Nissan Altima and now i drive a lowered Acura Integra. My teg has -2.5 deg of camber up front and i have no uneven tire wear. The secret...perfect toe in. If you can get that to almost 0, and rotate your tires regurarly you'll be fine! My altima was lowered 2.5" for 2 years and I never had problems with uneven tire wear. Once again 0 toe in. Make sure you get your aligment done and ask them to set your toe back to spec and you should be fine.

HotMax03

So what is Toe in? I plan on doing a moderate drop, I think the Tien H-Techs are 1.5 up front 1.7 rear or maybe its vice versa. I wonder how much negative camber I will have. Any H-Tech guys out there that can shed some light on this. I am surprised I dont see this topic come up much.

Galo

Toe-in is where the front of the wheels are pointed in towards the centerline of the car versus the rear of the wheels, sort of like this / \ with the narrower dimension towards the front of the car. Toe-in is adjusted thru the steering arms that project out from the steering rack.

And with my .5 or so degrees negative camber my tires are wearing perfectly even and I also noticed reduced torque steer after my drop....

NisMo-Max

iTrader: (40)

YOu shouldnt have a Problem with lowering your car, depending on the drop, it will only be a differnce of 1-2 degreess off, You wont be able to tell a difference but you should get an alignment 1-2 days after you drop the car that way it will re adjust the toe. I have the tein S techs that ctually give a lower drop thenthe H techs and i dont have a problem and i drive 30 miles to work!!!

Aleks

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html
Quick diagrams explaining the three

HotMax03

Thanks for the diagrams. I really want some more imput from people who have had them on for awhile to be sure that If I get these it will be ok for the long haul.

Ammi

iTrader: (26)

I waited a week to get an alignment. You want your springs to settle first.

HotMax03

How long have you had your on? Do you have any negative camber issues? Any abnormal tire wear?

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

100K miles on my car, and I did aligment on it ONCE, right after I slammed it 3.5" in the front and 2" in the rear, my camber was +.025 deg on both sides, after lowering the car this much it went down to -1.0 deg. Which is good for handling and does not have adverse problems with tire wear. I do my own aligments at work on a Hunter aligment machine. When and IF I get my JIC Magics ( thread bout it somewhere on the .org) I will be doing a performance aligment with corner weighing and -1.25 deg of camber with -.15 of toe for good turn in response. When you do an aligment you want a little bit of negative toe because when you start to accelerate the wheels will move out from / \ to | |, now this is a little overkill with the funky drawing I put here, but wheels tend to straighten out bout .10 on average, with the extra .05 of toe in the car exhibits better turn in response durring aggressive maneouvers. I do road racing and autoX, and even after 90K miles on the same aligment settings I have done 3 years ago, nothing has changed. I've had the same setup on the car for 90K miles. With lowering springs like Eibach Prokit, H&R, Tein H-tech the aligment - especially camber, will not change much and will STILL be within the green of the specifications. Only when something is bent there will be problems.

HotMax03

Thanks alot for replying to me pm. Hey check your thread in the Buyer Seller Feedback that I replied to earlier today regarding paypal info. So heres the deal. I am willing to spend about 600 on a spring/shock setup. I want a good low drop that looks nice and even, doesnt ride too harsh although If good enough on performance I will sacrafice a little ride quality. Any suggestions? I was thinking of Tieh H Techs with Tokico Illuminas.

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

H tech don't drop the car low enough, I would suggest Maxspeeds or H&Rs for a nice sporty ride. If you want the car to sit lower than stock and be noticable, Tein H-tech aint it.

spiromax

I know the difference between camber, caster, toe, etc. I just haven't ever dropped a Maxima before. My friend dropped his Civic by only 1.5 inches, and he needed a camber correction kit. I know that a Maxima is not a Civic so things may be very different for us. I was thinking of the H&R springs (1.4" drop front, 1.3" drop rear). Are you guys saying that I should be able to get the car aligned properly without using a camber kit? I'm not dropping it very far, but I want my suspension setup to remain safe.

HotMax03

Again thanks for your help. I was afraid to drop it lower than the H-Techs but since you have gave me good info I will go for it. I love the look of the Maxspeeds but was afraid to drop it that low. The Illuminas are one of the best shocks correct? I guess it will be Maxspeeds/Illuminas.

spiromax

I always though of the Maxspeeds as a rather mild drop compared to other springs like the Progress and Eibachs. Did you handling improve on the Maxspeeds?

SPiG

iTrader: (7)

http://maxmods.dyndns.org/index.php?MaximaSprings

You shouldn't need a camber kit unless you are going well over 2". It is unlikely that any spring will need it. Slammed with coilovers then yeah you probably will need it.

fornimage

I own the H-Tech/Illuminas combo and the ride is great. The drop was low enough for me and is noticable but nothing drastic. I heard the H-Techs are a more performance orientated spring but not sure about the Maxspeeds.

HotMax03

The H & R's seem to look very nice. Maybe I will go with those. Uhh, what a decision. So between the Maxpeeds and H & R's is there any differences I should know about with ride quality? Oh BTW thanks for the link above with the pics for easy reference I appreciate it.

PTNR

iTrader: (2)

if you look at Housecors site, the H-Tech drops the front lower than maxspeeds and H&R by 0.2 and it drops the rear only 0.3 less than the other two springs. if you check out the pictures, i think the final stance looks better with more forward rake with the H-techs. what do you think?

HotMax03

I didnt see the H-Techs on that site. It only showed the S-Techs which I havent really heard great things about.

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Are ya sure its this site? http://www.innerbean.com/housecor/sp..._decision.html

Because I saw H-Techs on there... 1.6" drop in front, 1.0" in rear....

There's even a picture:



Or am I missing something here?

HotMax03

I am sorry, I was referring to the other link above.

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Gotcha... sorry...

HotMax03

Man why do things have to be so hard in life? I am so confused on which springs to get. Someone just sell me on one of these damn things!!!

Kruppa

iTrader: (1)

I took forever to decide on a spring and I chose H&R bc overall they've been found to have the best handling and ride comfort...They are German Engineered (BMW Mercedes etc.) come with a great warrantee (by the way they're guaranteed not to settle...most springs are...it's the struts that settle...and tokico said it may take a few months for that to fully happen) I have them paired with Tokico Illuminas on a 2/2 setting and I love them...many springs with lower drops are not performance oriented...if you get the illuminas or most any other struts the warantee on them is voided if you go below a 1.5" drop, so H&R is pretty much the lowest you can go to do this anyways. I've had them for about a month and the ride/handling is indeed very very nice and I like it a whole lot better...some may say it doesn't drop it enough in the front, and maybe it doesn't but with the warrantee deal with tokico and most other struts along with their good name/engineering I decided to go with them and you will not be disappointed if you do the same. hope this helps. good luck

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

I love my HP/Progress combo.... very happy with the way it looks and the way its improved handling.... got em both used, so I'm not concerned about warranty issues cuz they don't apply to me anyways...

HotMax03

That drop does look really nice. I am definately getting the Illuminas its just the springs I am concerned about. So I guess its between the Progress or H&R's.

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Thanks, just gotta save up for some rims now... btw, if I were you I'd look at H-Techs too.... why have ya ruled those out? Just wondering...

HotMax03

Well, I originally had those in mind. I have read alot of posts from BlackBirdVQ and he recommended the other two earlier in the thread so I figured since he seems very knowledgable I should take his advice since I am so undecided. I havent really ruled them out I guess. Everyone has such different opinions. I guess most of them are pretty balanced. You know, I have the stock rims which someone had chromed and paired with my color car and the titanium package I kinda like them.

ryanmc

iTrader: (3)

i drive lots of miles for work on eibach pro-kit no uneven where at all

crispykid717

iTrader: (7)

Smallwood, NY?? Is that a real town?! Damn that's some funny s*!t!!! But back on topic here, I have Eibach springs and love them. Nice drop and they offer really good handling too. No need for camber plates. Ride is a bit harsh at times but it's tolerable(?).

ryanmc

iTrader: (3)

yo your in stumptown my man dont be snappin on good old smallwood
Im gonna need some struts since many people will hopefully read this whats a good strut for these i dont want them to blowout...

TheBigDu

iTrader: (1)

I have no previous experience with lowering cars, but based on the pictures on housecor's site, I'd say that the best looking are the Progress and the H-Techs. Eibachs are also nice, but if they have such a stiff ride, why not go with one of the other two?

HotMax03

For struts it seems the unanimous choice are the Tokico Illuminas as they are adjustable so you can set them based on how you want it to ride/feel. I have never seen such a wide range of opinions on something before regarding springs.

crispykid717

iTrader: (7)

Stumptown is a nickname for Portland. I'd hate to hear the nickname for Smallwood. j/k

Go for Illuminas. They have gotten many good reviews. I will be getting mine installed on Tuesday.