Rear Strut Tower Bar:

So my final Maxi mod made its way into my trunk and on top of rear struts. I felt immediate improvement in cornering, especially on turns where road is flat or with strong crown. There is a wide left and flat hwy on-ramp that I take daily that rear end would slide in (oversteeer) when accelerating on and now it stays tight on it, no oversteer. Another sharp road turn I also take daily is a left 90 deg uphill turn with so slight road crown and I used to also feel rear end slide on if I took it faster. Now I feel that I can take on corners much faster and handling is better, almost got a feel of understeer and oversteer is now gone!

My car has following: stock SE suspension, Volks rims front are 18x8 with 235/45R18, rears are 18x8.5 with 255/40R18, FSTB, poly sway bar bushings, RSB, lighter rear beam, and now RSTB...

Installation difficulty I'd rank as easy, was actually fun laying in trunk and working it Instructions came with the parts. I got the bar during Stillen's web sale a few weeks ago so a great price. Would recommend it as an upgrade...

 

99% of suspension gurus will say that it does nothing....

you need to upgrade your springs and struts

 

it does something, just not much. Stillen RSTB was the final suspension/chassis part I installed once I had everything else possible.

 

my point was that he has stock springs and struts...he should do the stuff that really helps first

 

I do have to wonder why you haven't switched to at least a mild drop (eibachs, perhaps), which will CONSIDERABLY improve your handling...more than anything else.

H&R or Eibachs aren't very low and have good (near SE stock) ride quality. H&R might actually be a better ride than stock!

 

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Agreed H&R is great on our cars.

Not meaning to plugg or anything, but I'll be selling my H&R springs soon. Just letting you know in case you do want to go with better suspension.

 

FTW

 

^

Yay!

A H&R picture thread lol we're still OT!

BTW a Stillen FSTB is great along with a Progress RSB If you want the riding on rails feeling coilovers give you lots of control.

I love the color of the H&R more than any other spring setup for the 5th gen lol yea must be the girly side of me or that it's actually my favorite color.

 

for best handling

springs (which kind is up for debate)...illuminas....RSB...FSTB...LTB

 

jess, i'm definitely interested if the OP isnt.. when are you planning to sell?

 

Thanks for the feedback Perhaps on a dropped ride it does not help as much or with other susp upgrades but on mine I felt the improvement right away. Any of susp gurus are welcome to test drive it too (I could disconnect it and then connect it to demonstrate the improvement )

This is one of the reasons I did not drop it yet (as improvement would be only marginal). The others are: my stock set up is still stiff, I heard complaints from many that their dropped shocks start leaking after a short while (even after markets), police in ON after passing of the street racing law are more inclined to pull over a dropped car rather than a stock-looking one, this is my daily work commuter so don't quite need better suspension. Finally, I decided that when my stock suspension goes that then I will drop it and do the whole shabang

 

with H&R springs the front is way higher than the back

 

true...but he could always just use the front H&Rs and leave the stockies in the rear. Very even stance I would suggest illuminas in the rear even with stock springs though

 

the front is supposed to be higher than the back. The front wheel well is bigger

 

Anybody else notice something fundamentally wrong with this? Aside from the fact that a maxima on stock suspension has severe understeer (not oversteer), a RSTB should increase oversteer. Maybe the "sliding" you were noticing was really your front wheels.


Any don't listen to anyone who says something "doesn't do anything." If you're on stock suspension it's a lot easier to notice small changes like that.

 

to the OP: heres my story..had a 00 max on vogtland.. like 1.8 drop cosmo fstb and RSB... rode like a dream.. never thought RSTB did anything from all the BS talk on here... well.. i bought one for the hell of it for my car.. and i totaled my 00 max.. so a week later i bought a 02 6mt SE.. for suspension mods all i have is.. FSTB and RSTB.. i dont care what anyone says it so night and day difference as of how the car rides.. its still not as good/noticable as the springs vs stock.. but i would bet the title of my car that u can feel the difference lol..... end of rant..

 

I'm not sure where you heard this, but this is rare. It can happen if you re-use the original stock struts/shocks on aftermarket springs, but it is not likely with aftermarket struts/shocks as those are made for aftermarket spring setups. I've never had a problem with that and I've been dropped on Eibach springs for about 7 years. Proper installation is key to this...the last shop that replaced my struts/shocks put the struts on the wrong sides. They were blown within 6 months. Needless to say I'm never going to that shop again...

As was stated before, Eibach or HR springs don't give a huge drop that is easily noticed. In fact, I have had many people comment on my Maxima telling me I should drop it with some lowering springs and this is with the Eibach springs installed.

Good point...but it seems you enjoyed the RSTB a lot so it is likely you will enjoy a better spring and strut/shock setup.

Good point here as well. When you come to the time where you need to replace your struts and shocks you might as well go with aftermarket springs and struts/shocks since all that will need to be pulled and installed anyways.

 

igzy, congrats on the rsb. By the time I got mine, my car was already dropped as well (and everything else was done), so I didn't notice much of the difference, but during cornering/highway on ramp, the car stays put very well. As for noticing a dropped ride, most people who don't turn a 2nd eye to a maxima will never be able to tell my car is lowered. Even with the lip kit, several people have told me I should lower the car, but for myself, I won't go lower b/c I drive in the winter. It sounds like an ok idea to wait till your stock suspension craps out, but don't let the idea of cops noticing stray you away..if it was a car that already came reasonably low and it was very noticeable that the car would be dropped, or you were going with the s-techs or something, I'd understand.

 

IMHO, if the OP likes the setup who are we to tell him otherwise? The point is he says the car feels better and that is what counts. If you don't think it works don't do it.

 

I used to preach how the front wheel well was LARGER than the rear and so that simply measuring from the ground to the middle/top of the wheel well was not the best way to measure drop and evenness of wheel gaps (between the F/R of course). I was only met w/ scoffing ignorance. Thanks Knight for posting that pic up. Maybe the douchebags that gave me a hard time about it will remember and STFU.

 

Aren't you supposed to measure wheel gap by the wheel gap?

Meaning...measure from the top of the tire to the bottom lip of the fender? Duh...

 

Right you are...but with anything, people like having their own "method"

 

I Have jic fla2 coilovers and a fsb waited to but the back stb on and there was a difference. not night and day but better under a load. it also looke nice and it was the only part left to but on.

 

you said it sooner FTW!

Im running Illuminas and H&R's..ive got my illuminas set at 5F/5R...

 

My first suspension mod was a Stillen FSTB. I could definitely tell a difference...the front end felt a lot more solid, especially when turning. On Wednesday 5/28 I installed my Illuminas and H&R springs that had been sitting in my garage for a month. Other than the obvious improvement in looks, the car definitely rode much better...not as floaty, turns much better. When researching struts/springs, I saw a lot of people saying nothing is as comfortable as stock suspension. But I have to say, I believe my Illuminas on 2F/3R with the H&Rs are more comfortable that the stock setup. Last night (6/1) I installed my Progress RSB when I got home from work. All I have to say is WOW...I took it for a drive afterwards and ripped around some turns in my neighborhood and it was awesome...like a totally different car. I will definitely be using my brakes a lot less during turns. If I could do everything over again, I would have done the RSB before anything else. I don't plan on buying a RSTB.

 

My Progress Performance Springs set at 26" above the ground at the F/R fenderwells! The ride is smooth , slightly firmer than stock and compliant as hell..... no nose dive nor *** squat. This is an open highway GT cruiser and twisty backroad beast!
Hope I'm this happy with my 3 Gen's Suspension Techniques springs/sway bars and GR2's!!!!

 

i laughed when i read the 1st post!

RSB>>>>>>>>>RSTB

 

u think a rstb was a difference, get ur self some sfcs its blow ur mind

i didnt notice ahuge diff when i put my rstb in but i had jic coilovers and a rsb so perhaps thats why

 

Thanks to all contributors!! I understand that more is needed to make these cars handle better due to limitations of rear beam. However, I like the set up as is now and enjoy it as a daily 60-miles commuter. Next mod to suspension will be either coil-overs or a vehicle with double-wishbone rear suspension

 

Of couse the front is gonna be higher with any type of springs it's FWD!!!

 

I just purchased the stillen RSTB a few weeks ago as well, and while I noticed the positive difference, it was barely noticable. My lowering springs and FSTB made a much bigger difference in handling..If anything more for looks...just my 2 cents