any words of advice on something that might help, I'll be doing it for the first time and my brother is going to assist me. I have read the how to's and Housecor's instructions, just thought someone might want to add something.

Anyone who would like to come and help is MORE than welcome to!!!! lol

any words of advice would be great appreciated.

One question is the brake hoses, I thought I read where the Illuminas don't have a place for them, how do you attach them?

oh, I'm installing H-techs on Tokico Illuminas.... as stated below, lol.

 

I soked all my bolts w/ PB Blaster before I started. I used impact wrench to save some time. Be careful when you compress the springs. Take your time and have fun.

 

Yup...careful when you compress the springs. I heard its quite dangerous if you do it the wrong way. I'm getting mine done in a month or two. I heard the rears are a bish to do. Do you really have to take the whole backseat out? I don't even think I could fold my backseat down because of my amp that I have attached to the back and the wires. Couldn't you just craw into the trunk and remove all the plastic surrounding and uncover the bolts for the rears?

 

Make you sure you jack both sides of the car otherwise the shocks/struts won't come out.

Also with the rear shocks, after you install the spring onto shocks, when you tighten the top hat nut, u can use a small (either 7mm or 8mm wrench dont remember) to hold the shaft (theres a groove for this) while tightening the top hat nut.

 

No, you just need crawl into the trunk with a 12" socket extension or anything that will let you get access to the nut from the top of the black metal shield.



Picture taken from:http://www.innerbean.com/housecor/strut_install.html

 

Also,
With the rears there is a fast way to get them out and a slow way. You'll find out when you get to the rears that they are incased in metal (well sort of). The metal plate that incases the rear struts can be by-passed through a couple of holes (this is the fast way) but u will need a couple of swinglly (not exactly sure what they are called) head sockets. It is a PITA!!!!! The slow way includes taking out the metal plate which in reality is pretty big (one piece if I recall correctly) and involves taking out the rear seat and about 14-16 bolts. But once u do this, the rear suspension is cake. I did it the slow way because I didn't have the right tools to get to the strut bolts with the metal plate on.

P.s. If u decide to do it the slow way, take out the plate with the car still on the ground. That way u can climb into the car and not risk anything BUT do not loosen the bolts on the struts until the car is in the air.

 

ok..so from the pic it seems as if I still have to at least fold the rear seats down...am I right? The thing is..I don't think I could fold my seats down due to the Amp being attached to the back of the seat.

 

You don't have to fold your seats down. The view in that pic is the view from the trunk opening. You can get to it easily once you remove all the trunk liner surrounding the metal shield. Like I said, if you have a socket extension to reach down to the bolt through the top opening, its cake.

 

Awesome..thanks...thats all I needed to hear.

 

so the brakes lines aren't an issue? there is a place to attach them to?

 

They aren't an issue, but if I recall correctly, there is definitely one less bracket to attach them on the Illuminas and Blues than on the stock struts. I don't remember doing anything with mine (ie. they are just dangling there, safely, of course), but you could always just zip tie em someplace to be extra safe.

 

Didnt have an issue with my lines, they clip into the illuminas nicely

 

My HP's have a brake cable bracket.

The main thing is, take your time. Do the work safely, and not rush. Air tools are a big help also. I did mine twice without, and it's so much simpler with proper tools.

Also, you must....repeat, must take pictures. It's a rule.

 

Both front and rear? I seem to recall one of the struts missing a bracket... same for the Illuminas...

Btw, its "brake", Tim.

 

Can't remember about the rears, and I also cannot view any pics from Photobucket, so I can't check my pics to verify.

Give me a brake Joel, it's my Friday.

 

LOL, you guys are too much...lol and sigh.......I'll try to take pics, but might forget in all the excitement.....lol And I'll be doing this at a machine shop my brother works and they have air tools there, woohoo.

one more question.... then I'll be ready to attack this thing.

1. Since th rears are such a pain because one of the bolts is hidden behind a metal plate, couldn't you just drill a big enough hole to get the socket extension through to the socket to remove the nut? I'm thinking someone surely has thought of this, I'm just curious why you couldn't do it....

 

Hey Brinkley,

ARe you going to cut your bumpstops like what the instruction says to do? I received my H-techs already and I read the instructions and it explains what to cut. I'm thinking about skipping that part all together. WHen I get mine done, I'll just remove the OEM springs and struts and replace it with the H-tech and illuminas.

Who has the H-tech and illuminas set-up with the oem bumpstops un-cut with no problems...please chime in!!

 

Because it is not a pain and there is no need to. Just get a socket extension and you're all set.

 

Something like this, in case anyone needs a picture.



http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

 

I will prolly cut according to what instructions say. I really don't want to have to do this again just to cut the bumpstops....

 

don't worry about that hidden nut, that should be the least of your worries.
As puppetmaster has mentioned, with the extrension socket and also a swivel attachment it should be really easy to remove that nut.

 

uhhhh........what should I be worried about? lol besides the compressing of the springs.

 

Nothing...

 

worry about dropping the nuts when doing the back struts. i would recommend using a telescopic magnetic tool. wrap your cv boots (front) with a towel or a rag, and duct tape the rag on top of that. the bottom of the strut may cut your cv boot otherwise. this was a very costly mistake for me. the rears are easy using a 8" extension. the flexible universal joint is not even nesessary. and you dont' have to jack the car on both sides. i have done this twice without problems, and each time i jacked it up one tire at a time.

 

I bet you guys will be glad when I get this done. lol I have yet Another question. I received my springs today and when I opened them up, the isolaters are already on there, and they have glue or a rubber seal holding them in place. According to Housecor's install, they should be hanging off the end of the spring 1/4 of an inch. Should I leave them alone or pull them off and put them hanging off as Housecor suggest?

and chrOnos, I'm curious how you cut your cv boot. mind explaining?

 

If you have H-techs, just leave the isolators the way they are and that will be fine. Just make sure you position the springs correctly on the strut perch.

 

ok, thats what I assumed, but I've learned in the past not to assume anything. lol Thanks again Puppetmaster and the rest of you guys, its peeps like you that make this forum so great. I wouldn't have dared tackle any of the things I've done to my car without the org.

 

Ijust did mine again and make sure you have a breaker bar. The lower bolt on the rear struts are a pain (at least for me). Good luck.

 

defenatly gonna need a breaker bar, dont worry u can jack up one corner at time if thats all u can do, or the whole side, defebnatly gonna need 2 people, one to pull the wheel down when taking the shok out/back in thats the hardest part. rear is quiker in a away but is a pian to get to that far bolt, but can be done. dont worry its a pain the first time (took me all day), next time ull do it its gonna be a breaze, good luk!

 

i used an old cerrated kitchen knife to cut the top section of the dusboot/bumpstop off. it was kinda labor intensive, but nothing too bad. takes maybe 5-10 mins of "sawing" per boot. dont cut off more than 1-1.5" of the actual bump stop material. i found it easier to rotate the rubber and cut from all sides, and join the slit in the middle.

 

Hey Brinkley,

When your doing the install..could you snap a few extra pics of when you are cutting the bumpstops? I'm still a little nervous about that. Thanks!

 

Take a look here too... http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=291334

 

From reading the thread you posted...it didn't really talk about the H-tech set-up and from what I read Housecor's pictures shows a bumpstop/dust boot from a 2k2 or 2k3. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe someone metioned that the bumpstop/dustboot looks different on a 2k Maxima.

ANyone have pics? or trimmed their bumpstops on a 2k maxima with the H-tech set-up?

 

i thought those bumpstops look just like mine (2k), dont think they are diff.

 

Yeah, but I believe there are opinions in there from 00-01 owners that might help you determine how much to cut. There isn't a fixed amount for a given drop. It depends on your drop and how much additional travel you think you need depending on road conditions, driving style, etc.

For example, I have Progress springs and haven't cut my bumpstops ever.

 

SE and GXE are different but it doesn't matter for the job. One is 2 piece and one is a single piece.

 

Many great tips here guys. I added quite a few of them into the article and added various clarifications. Glad to hear it's been generally helpful.

 

Finally did my drop yesterday, some of it was a PITA I must say, but well worth it!!! love my H-Techs. I cut the front bumps 1 inch, didn't cut the rears. I have them set at 3 on front, 4 on rear. LOVE THE RIDE.... I put a few pics of the bumpstop on my cardomain, and a few pics of my car after the drop.... pics aren't very good though as they was taken inside the garage, and it wasn't lit very well.

Oh, I used a dewalt drill to compress the springs... I was very impressed with it as I wasn't sure it had enough power to do it, but it wasn't a problem at all. I did this install by myself, which was a pain, but it is doable. Anyway, thanks for the help guys.

 

Yeah I did my drop myself as well, only the front though. Took me about 3 hrs but love the new look. Post some pics of your drop when you get time.

 

don't worry, its raining outside right now. Was hoping to give it a good clean up today and take a gazillion pics.....lol GO AWAY RAIN!!!!!!!!