Drive a STOCK 3rd Gen vs Stock 4th gen or 5th gen over a bumpy highway with a slight highspeed turn. You will notice LOTS of axle hop in the rear, at the same time car is VERY unstable. When I drive mine like that it feels like the back of the car is connected to the chassis with rubber bands. Beam suspension sucks, it was put on our cars for cost cutting reasons.

 

ahh, another SFC thread. Lets see how far this one goes.

 

Going lower, eh?

 

Progress -> H-Techs = 1" higher in the back

 

I'd agree that our beam suspension sucks, but I wouldn't say all beam suspensions suck. I've driven some that handled really well and were comfy. The VW Golf/Jetta, Mitsu Galant, and Infiniti G20 come to mind right away. I'm sure there are plenty of others. Heck, didn't Porsche have beam axles at one point? But for a number of reasons, including our weak chassis and suspension tuning/geometry, the end result sucks. The biggest insult is that (from what I read here <--good article) our rear suspension is exactly the same as in the G20, which handles like a dream compared to what we got. So I wouldn't put all the blame on just our beam suspensions, but ultimately I'd prefer a fully independent setup as well.

 

Does anyone know for sure that the last-gen G20 with beam suspension is significantly different from ours? I kind of doubt it is. (EDIT: just read your post more carefully bigEL, yeah I've seen that article and it really seems the G20 has the same beam.) But yeah, the 4th gen/5th gen suspension does suck for whatever reason, and I'm kind of curious why even if you change the struts and springs it sucks. I guess that's the inherent geometry of the chassis and how it connects to the chassis? Or maybe it's all because of the flexy-@$$ chassis and SFCs are the key.

 

Mike that's really not "ride quality", that's "handling" you're talking about. I agree entirely that the handling of the rear of a 4th/5th gen sucks on a bumpy turn. That ain't "ride" properly speaking.

 

hey...the infamous AE86 corolla's are solid rear axles....and those kick *** to this day with the best of them at the track

and no it wasn't done just for cost cutting...it was done to maintain camber on both sides in turns, save space to make the trunk and backseat bigger, and to shed weight...so there are numerous reasons nissan did it...

yes a fully independent setup would be nice, but if you can't get it done at the track/autoX with the rear beam and keep up with everything else in your class, than you are either setup way wrong or are seriously lacking in the driver skill department....plus most of us haven't fixed the weakest link of the maxima in the handling department--the weak frame/chassis...which is why the SFC's are said to be the biggest improvement among all the mods by any maxima guy whom has put them on...in addition, none of us have had our beam bent to zero the factory toe in to zero to effectively gain zero toe in the rear which is what the old sentra se-r guys do whom also have solid rear axles but to this day have their own spec racing series and tear it up next to all the other fully independent "sports cars" of today at the track in their same classes and then some!!!

plain and simple here's the deal with our beam suspension:
fix the weakest link, the weak chassis/frame...
zero the toe
get a good tuned suspension setup and get cornerweighted with an aggressive alignment in the front
learn how to drive
and you will be keeping up with the best of them on the track (believe me, I know, I do

the solid beam does horribly on the bumpy streets and can't hope to compete against IRS cars, but get on a smooth track and you will love nissan for designing in a suspension which maintains perfect camber on each side, with no "jacking-under" that plagued the stock 3rd gen's at the limit with there IRS...


of course the G20 will inherently have a much stiffer chassis, use a pencil as an anology...a longer pencil is easier to bend and ultimately break...a shorter one will take a lot more force...look how much smaller/shorter the body/chassis of the G20 is compared to the maxima...it's no wonder why the maxima from the factory has always had a weak chassis...it's huge size and length...as far as I know, the solid beam on the G20 is not much different...

 

Good stuff, Michael, thanks.

Yeah, the beam rocks on smooth pavement.

 

Hmm now makes me rethink whether I should get SFCs that are just like WarpSpeeds or instead run a bead all the way along the subframe for much greater rigidity. Anyone have any pictures of the Stage3 that Warpspeed was making for a while. I dont see why I wouldent get this done too

 

Dumb question: what exactly is the subframe on a Maxima?

 

well, I mean it doesn't rock persay (it's good enough for me to keep up with everything at the track and autoX)...but I totally understand why nissan did it...and it wasn't JUST for cost savings...there are other advantages...but only on smooth pavement such as where it counts (ie. on road coarses/tracks)

 

I stand corrected that BEAM sucks regadless. ONLY way to achive good handling on our BEAM is to jack up the rear spring rates higher than the fronts. Look at the Spec V- which is probably the best handling beam equipped car out there.... it has softer front spring rates than the rears. I have zeroed my beam out already, didn't really help much. Our chassis is very flimsy, and needs lots of attention everywhere. If SFCs don't help me, I will import the rear subframe cradle from a 04 TL along with everything else to convert from beam to IRS. It will require some welding here n there, but its doable. Right now I am highly disappointed with the stock suspension that I am stuck on through the winter... that I am considering selling the car n getting a 03 M45 to acompanny my Q45. My 4100lbs Q45 handles light years ahead of the Maxima... and its very dissapointing to know that after spending over 2K on JIC FLTA2s, sway bars, STBs, bushings, etc.

 

Convert from beam to IRS... hmm now that seems expensive and out of reach for me. Jeesh you can forget reselling the car to anyone but a maxima nut.

How much will this cost? labor included?

 

Finally, a coherent statement. I couldn't have said it better myself. Personally, I've found little to complain about the rear suspension on the track.

 

You're talking about the front or the rear?

 

It won't cost all that much for an Acura technician with access to all the tools and a big parts discount. For the rest of us it would be ridiculous.

 

don't be so sure....there are plenty of big-time gearheads on here that haven't done it....it's not as easy as just ordering some parts...there is custom fabrication, alteration of the subframe, etc involved. It's not just unbolting the beam and bolting up an IRS. Discount or no discount, it will cost much more than it's worth, IMO.

It would probably be cheaper to drop the VQ30 into the TL

 

Well I know about the center beam piece under the engine that is called a subframe although it isn't really a subframe, so I guess I'm talking about the rear.

Here's a pic of SFCs on a 4th gen (Tony Chang's), stage 1 and 2. I think the red bar at the back is a RSB, not part of the SFCs.

 

yes, that is a RSB.

 

Just a quick bump here. Mike, did you ever talk to this shop about whether they'd do (custom) SFCs on a Maxima? Still interested.

-Tom

 

I havent talked to them about it as the price they quoted me for my Q exhaust was astronomical. I doubt they will see much buisness from me from now on... their qoute made me kinda mad.

I haven't been driving the Max much lately, and it got broken into this weekend... I am thinking if I even wanna keep it as a daily driver anymore, thinking of maybe gutting it all out and going full blown race car to have some fun.

 

That blows, sorry to hear it. Nothing wrong with a full race Max, at least it would be unique.

Guess I'll have to start looking for another shop.