But he's gonna be on coils not strut/springs....

I'm with D.Stillwell until yoda says otherwise

 

^^

Thrust angle alignment?

^^ doesn't matter if it's a coilover setup or strut/spring, it still does the same thing to the car only difference is 1 piece part vs 2 piece.

And no I wasnt saying the rear is neccesarry, just that its "possible". And to clear things up, no the rear is not adjustable at all.

 

Does the rear coils allow for camber adjustment? Therefore it might be just a tad off an need to be aligned?

 

I dont think you understand how this works exactly. Coilovers or springs/struts have nothing to do with alignment really, they will only affect caster due to ride height.

Cars with 4wheel independent suspension can be aligned front and rear. Some cars with solid rear beam can be as well, but not ones like the maxima where the wheel hubs are one piece with the beam.

Only way to adjust camber on a 4th/5th gen maxima rear end is to bend the solid beam. Since adjusting camber means changing the angle of the wheels, no can do on solid beam with hubs all in one piece.

 

:surpri:

 

Yeah you can bash it with a hammer and bend it

Wheel spacer kit helps the rear wheels look less tilted as well

 

(Referencing 4th/5th gens)

The only alignment you can do on the rear beam is ensuring it's centered. Because of the way the rear beam is built, it is centered between the wheel wheels at stock ride height. Once the car is lowered, the rear beam gets off center about 1/2".

An off-centered rear beam doesn't really impact anything unless you're running aggressively wide wheels/tires, or are extremely lowered. Tire alignment, camber, caster etc all remain fine in the rear. These things are not adjustable in the rear, but the centering is (even though it's rarely done).

This is why some people say its possible to align the rear, and other's say its not. Technically, both parties are correct to various degrees.

Plenty of threads about rear beam centering once lowered - search around.

 

^^ The man has spoken

That should clear it all up pretty good.

BTW, george ^^ there is no way spacers will help tilting (camber)...they only move the wheel outward toward the fenders and allow for even less suspension travel. They do help the rear wheels look more uniform with the front and a much more flush look that way since the stock rears are tucked in to allow for guess what? More travel when the beam has to move upward into the wheel well from side to side.

What you refer to as "tilting" in the rear of the Maxima is actually due to what Dj said, uncentered beam after lowering. The only way a 4th/5th gen maxima rear end can have wheel tilting in (negative camber) is when one side of the beam is higher, it's only true on uneven roads or when the beam is off center. Otherwise, it's impossible. This effect becomes amplified the lower your suspension setup is.

What happens is that a wheel spacer kit can make you THINK that it's reducing that wheel tilt, but really it's just an illusion because the wheels are farther out and they have much less room to move upward.

 

Okay, so I finally got everything in. Here's some pictures, and if someone could tell me whether or not they look right that would be great. The main thing I'm wondering is that the diagram in the coilover instructions showed nothing about rear spring seats, so I'm wondering, are there / do I need rear spring seats. And, the rear spring doesn't align straight at all with the rear strut. Is that because they sit at an angle?

 

Looks good! Rear spring seat is integrated into the rear strut mount. The large rubber piece.

 

Hey, thanks man. What about the strut and spring not aligning straight with each other? Is that because it sits at an angle?

 

They should. Can you show a pic of where/how they aren't?

 

See how the strut doesn't go straight up the middle of the spring.

 

As long as it's perched properly on the bottom, the strut mount will center the piston once it's all assembled.

 

So, basically, as long as it sits flat on the bottom it will fit? And I won't have to worry about the strut insert bending at all?

 

Hey, djfrestyl, one last question. On my rear strut mounts there is a half inch or so space between the spring and the strut mount. Do I need to cut the rubber bushing from the mount in half, or will that space go away when the spring is compressed? I'll post a picture below. There's also about a 1/4 inch or so space between the front strut mount plate and strut mount, will that also go away when the spring gets compressed? Sorry for all the questions. Thank you.

 

That doesn't look right. Should be little to no gap.

These are really simplistic questions - before they're even being installed on the car. If you have this much uncertainty with the preliminary stuff, it might be better to get it professionally installed or find a local org member that can help you out.

 

Yeah, I know I ask a lot of questions, but I really just want to get it right. And I don't think that they're are any org members in my area (Spokane, Washington). Plus getting it professionally installed would probably cost at least $200. I'm not worried about the actual install itself. It's just stuff like these gaps that are freaking me out. There was a tutorial on installing coilovers on the rear of a 5.5 gen maxima, and the guy said he had to cut the rubber bushing in half. So maybe that's my issue. His coilovers weren't Teins though.

 

Anything $350 or less for installation is a VERY fair price.

Tein's are a different beast than other coilovers since they use OEM parts. Nothing should be cut with coilovers - any coilovers at all.

If you're confident in the install, put it on the car and see how it goes. But at this point unless I have the components in my hands, I really can't tell what's actually right or wrong regardless of how many pictures. I can only help with what seems right/wrong.

 

Hey djfrestyl, I think I found what was wrong. So because the coilovers come packaged at the highest setting, the piston from the strut is sticking way up. When I lowered the spring about an inch (raising it higher than the rod height), the strut mount then fit perfectly, and it centered the piston. This was all just off the car. So, I think I'll probably just adjust all of the them to that height, so that they all fit perfectly with the strut mounts. Then when they're on the car, I'll lower them even more from there.

 

It's called preload, sir. I had assumed you had already set it, suppose I was incorrect to assume.

Recommend you research how to properly set preload. There's a thread here that explains it. The tensile strength on the spring (when unloaded) should be a very specific setting.

 

Dude, I can't find anything on here or anywhere on Google about preloading Teins. They only have the spring seat and the lock collar. To me, preloading seems to be the same thing as lowering the car. I don't think my Teins can even be preloaded.

 

Brand doesn't matter. Setting preload is setting preload.

First google result (I searched "maxima preload"):

https://maxima.org/forums/advanced-s...er-brands.html

Key point is 5mm of preload on the spring. That's it...

 

Yeah, I'm just saying that with the teins, there isn't a specific ring for preload, and that basically highering the car the 5mm is basically preloading it. At least that's what I'm seeing. I'm going to lower my car 2 1/2 inches in the front. Therefore putting a 25.4 mm or 1 inch preload on the front and then lower it about 2 inches in the back therefore putting a 37.2 mm or 1.5 inch preload on the rear. So the ride height and preload are directly related. Sorry if I'm being annoying. I know how to put stuff together and bolt stuff on, but I'm not quite good all this technical stuff about it. Thank you for helping me through this though. Ha ha.

 

This is probably a noob question but is there a way to tell if my strut mounts and springs are stock or aftermarket by looking at them? They don't seem damaged but the struts were replaced with kyb's by previous owner so I know some work was previously done but the ride height leads me to believe the springs are stock. The dust boots need to be replaced so was thinking of also doing moog strut mounts and hr springs while I was in there unless they'd already been done. Any other suspension related components worth replacing while I'm in there? Already did moog tie rods/endlinks/ball joints/es bushings (sb and lca) and spindles.

I can get pics in a day or two if that would help.

 

The OEM springs have two colour dots to help with orientation i woul think...pointing out...i used them to align the top hat...

 

Ok thanks. Those dots sound familiar I'll double check when I get home. I imagine aftermarket strut mounts would have some sort of brand name somewhere. I haven't seen any markings or labels on them to differentiate what they might be so I would imagine they are stock as well unless anyone can tell me differently.

 

I've read in several places that progress springs were discontinued and only available second hand. I found this site which has them listed for a good price. A couple others were selling them too. Do they look legit?

http://www.grounddynamics.com/product-p/40.1521.htm

I'm on kyb excel g's and currently on stock springs. Was going to do h&r's but I like the extra drop the progress give and a slightly stiffer ride would almost be a plus for me.

 

djfrestyl,

are the fronts camber adjustable? a mechanic was trying to convince me that my 03 maxima is was not, says that only toe is adjustable on this car. what?

says that only thing that can change the camber are the struts? again what? really?

you wisdom would be welcome.

 

Issac Fall,

After i installed my vogtland with illuminas, my rears were exactly the same as yours. I've been changing out struts for a little bit, never encounter that 1/4" gap in the rears strut assembly of any other cars i've seen or wrenched.

Tried trolling information from some the gurus, but never was able to get anything real. Anybody have any installation issues for the rears? not a peep, so for what's it worth, i installed mine with the gap/play in the rear assembly and have no problem for at least 40K miles. Haven't jumped into the air, that only time where i could imagine a problem. been through some really rough road in the eastern sierra nevadas, don't ask me how, and never a problem. good luck

 

Camber is sort of adjustable, via the lower strut bolts. The adjustment method is not exactly precise, so most mechanics consider camber adjustment not possible, for simplicity sake.

 

Hard to tell if the site is legit. Could just be caching old inventory. Give them a call and see.

 

Hey djfrestyl,

A little update, I installed my coilovers last weekend, and everything went really well and they're riding great and they look amazing! However, my newest issue is alignment. I went to the Infiniti Dealership this morning and basically my camber is way off. The maximum camber allowed according to the service adviser that I talked to is 1 degree and my camber was 6 degrees on the passenger side and 4 degrees on the drivers side. He told me that if I don't get it fixed, the inside of my tires will go bald in about 5k miles. Anyways, he said that what they can do is grind the bolt holes on the front knuckles to make them bigger and move the bolts over and that will fix it and he said that would make my camber perfect. What I'm wondering is, is this safe to do? Has anybody done this before? I just really don't want to have my coilovers grinded on if possible.

Thank you

 

ur teins dont have the camber adjustment on the strut mount? if not you might have the teins with the stock strut mount. if you do i think theres special bolts to adjust camber, djfrestyl will give you a definite on this, dont do any grinding till you get a solid answer.

 

No, you can't adjust the camber on mine. They utilize the stock strut mounts. The 00-03 maxima/i35 tein street advances don't have the adjustable camber. Anyways, I asked the service adviser about camber bolts, and he said that even if they did that, they would most likely have to open up the holes a little bit for the camber bolts to fit it. Plus, as far as camber bolts go, they wouldn't offer enough adjustment for the amount of negative camber that I have. The most adjust-ability I could find for camber bolts were H&R ones for $60 and they offered 3 degrees plus or minus of adjustment. I have 5-6 degrees of negative camber on the passenger side and 3-4 degrees of negative camber on the drivers side.

 

Something isn't installed correctly. That is a very aggressive camber. Unless you're absolutely slammed to the ground, you should not be seeing this.

Do not grind anything, and do not buy camber bolts. Figure out what the actual problem is, instead of making permanent, non-reversible changes to your car (or coils) just as a band-aid solution.

 

I've got it dropped about 2.5 inches in the front and 2 inches in the rear (wheels are flush with the fender). Everything is definitely 100% installed correctly. I'm wondering if they were exaggerating on the degree of camber. I'll get a second opinion from another shop.

 

Good idea.

Post a pic from the front and rear so I can get a sense of the camber.

A proper alignment won't get it exactly back to spec, but you'll get it fairly close.

 

if you have a 12" sub in the trunk, is 4 notches from bottom for rear and 3 notches from bottom for front enough to look level?

Also if I went counter clockwise all the way until no clicking then started turning clockwise did I properly do it? I went 8 for front clockwise and 10 for rear clockwise

Tein SS

 

12" sub tells me nothing. I've seen low quality 12" subs that weigh 5 lbs. I've seen high quality 12" subs that weigh 75 lbs. This is a poor measure to determine dampening setting. And frankly, dampening setting is a very personal preference.

Are you referring to dampening settings or height settings? Your description references both...and neither of which make sense the way you describe it. What exactly do you mean by 'notches'?