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Aside for A LOT of bracing goodies, they also sell a RSB for our cars. There's a catch though, their products are designed for the A33 Cefiro and not Maxima since they're based in Malaysia. I'm very new to the Maxima scene so I'm not sure if parts of these cars are interchangeable.
I wish I found them before I bought my Megan Racing FSTB Their's look substantially stiffer and more robust and I'm really tempted to buy it.
Oh, I didn't realize that hehehe. Like I said I'm new to the Maxima tuning scene so wasn't sure if people knew about them being available.
It's a bit slim pickings as far as performance parts for the A33 but that's to be expected I guess since it's an older platform and isn't exactly sought after unlike Civics, Miatas, Mustangs etc.
My goal right now is to make it into a fun and reliable second car since I'm planning on doing more serious mods to my primary car (Focus ST). Quite honestly, I wasn't really planning on modding my A33 too much but you know how that goes haha.
I've always appreciated the A33 and still remember the TV ads from the early 2000s. To me it's the last Maxima that still deserves the '4DSC' moniker Nissan's marketing department came up with.
My goal right now is to make it into a fun and reliable second car since I'm planning on doing more serious mods to my primary car (Focus ST). Quite honestly, I wasn't really planning on modding my A33 too much but you know how that goes haha.
I've always appreciated the A33 and still remember the TV ads from the early 2000s. To me it's the last Maxima that still deserves the '4DSC' moniker Nissan's marketing department came up with.
But CVTs are so sporty and good
Trying to force people to buy Z/Gs didn't work out. Dumb asses should have just continued making manuals.
I admire Honda for offering a manual option in the Accord even after every one else have abandoned the notion of having three pedals. The current crop of autos and DCT may be faster but they can't beat the pure connection between driver and car a manual offers.
i didn't know you did the weird bar above the rear solid axle (see pic below) , is that the one you did? any impressions? how do you like it
Yep that's the one. Although that doesnt look like my car, not nearly enough rust.
Hard to say what affect it's having as I did an entire suspension upgrade all at once. I put on all of the UR bars too along w the suspension. Well not the side ones like you did, cause I found a set of those blemcho bars that go on the sides.
Every UR part I've purchased has fit perfectly, they are nice in that respect.
Old thread I know but I finally decided to pull the trigger on some UR bars:
Originally Posted by TSelanne
I love your guys' enthusiasm. Seriously. I've had trouble getting my project done, taking a long time....you guys are re-invigorating. I can't provide any feedback on performance yet, only on the installation.
(edit: this turned out really long, sorry)
I didn't really understand how and where it connected when I bought it..... even after I got it actually lol. At first I thought it connected to the rear beam somehow. It was pretty obvious once I got the car up on stands tho.
It bolts to the sub-frame between the gas tank and the spare tire compartment. It's under the rear suspension frame not above it, so no problem with anything exhaust related.
The install was actually pretty complicated. For me. But I am a self-admitted newb, so....... I've never done anything like this before. I must have sat there laying under my car for a good hour just staring. I had to think through it a while, and slowly. For others it might go pretty quick.
The bar fit perfect. All bolt holes lined up without issue. I was able to get all 4 bolts threaded in by hand without problem, then tightened down one by one. Only one socket got a little stuck but no big deal, I just loosened em all up again and did that one first and the others tightened down easy peasy.
Installed pics first:
That bolt and the one next to it are sub-frame bolts, torqued at 80-85 ft/lbs IIRC.
This bolt holds one of the two straps that holds the gas tank. I made the mistake of not checking the FSM at first while tightening......got to probably 50-60 ft/lbs before it felt like it was too much. Checked FSM and it's only like 30-35. Whoops. Had to re-do that one. I was so nervous that the gas tank was going to fall on me lol.
Those first 3 bolts were easy. This was the complicated part. Where the 4th bolt goes, there's a mess of vacuum hoses and a couple of wires & connectors bolted to a metal plate, right here:
And you can't set up the bar in it's location until all that stuff is moved / adjusted. After staring at it for a while, I ended up just unplugging everything and removing the metal plate all together. I didn't see any way of keeping it. I re-connected all the hoses and wire connections after the bar was bolted on loosely.
The kit comes with 2 more threaded bolts welded to a small piece of metal. Sorry didn't get any pics of it. It is meant to go into these two holes in the sub-frame:
However I had no idea how to get the thing inside the frame. More staring. Contemplating. Was a bit tough to figure out where the holes were from the bottom vs inside the trunk. Ended up chiseling away the black rubber matting under the trunk carpet, and cutting a hole through the trunk frame. Made it as small as possible. Just large enough to get the piece in there.
No way I could get even my fingers in there, and I was really worried I'd drop it and then have no way of getting it out......so I took a 3" deck screw and super-glued it to the middle of the piece. That allowed me to lower it into place from above. I realize that might not make any sense, but you'll see what I mean when you get there.
Of course, once I got it in there and broke off the screw holding the piece, I looked from underneath and the two threaded portions were just a hair too narrow for the two holes. Not quite centered. Which meant the metal piece wasn't being pulled all the way down towards the ground. Which meant those two nuts and washers wouldn't bolt on properly. So......... I had to re-superglue another 3" screw to the metal piece, and fish it back out from the hole. Then I took an angle grinder and opened the holes up in the frame just a little bit bigger (made the 2 holes slightly closer together).
From there I repeated the process, and was able to get the 1st set of washers and nut on. It was a bit tricky trying to get a couple washers plus a nut up onto the threaded bolt.....must have dropped them on my face at least 3 times. Then I re-did both nuts/washers a 2nd time as I forgot anti-seize the first time lol. Always goes faster the 2nd time around.
I thought I was done there, but nope. The bar was hitting the black metal tube that connects vacuum tubes to the gas tank. There are 2 tubes, and they are connected/joined by a 3"-4" piece of metal. So I took and angle grinder with a cutting wheel, and sliced them apart. From there, I just bent the tube out of the way by hand.
That was really the last piece of the puzzle. After that, the bar bolted right up.
You can see how close that black metal tube is to the bar. And also that it's bent slightly under the other black metal tube. You can also see all the vacuum tubes and connections above the bar. I shoved as much of that stuff above it as I could. Figured better above than below. I'm not worried about the metal plate being gone, I don't think that stuff is going anywhere.
I probably should bend that metal tube a little farther away from the bar though......
So, yeah. That's it.
Car is still on stands and will be for a while yet, so no performance review for a while. It was fun putting it on though. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
I'm halfway done with the 4-pt trunk bar, will post pics of that next if anyone wants to see em.
So does all that fancy stuff work or not? I read the subframe connector and chassis super duper rigidity improvement threads and I'm not sure I like this stuff for a commuter car. Getting into race car territory. A car (sedan) chassis is designed to flex. Things that bend are actually a good thing. I can appreciate the excitement the kids that went all out on this stuff had initially but is it really an improvement in a practical sense? Are you taking corners at highway speeds on city streets? A Lambo is cool, but you don't want to be driving it to work every day, the ride sucks.
So does all that fancy stuff work or not? I read the subframe connector and chassis super duper rigidity improvement threads and I'm not sure I like this stuff for a commuter car. Getting into race car territory. A car (sedan) chassis is designed to flex. Things that bend are actually a good thing. I can appreciate the excitement the kids that went all out on this stuff had initially but is it really an improvement in a practical sense? Are you taking corners at highway speeds on city streets? A Lambo is cool, but you don't want to be driving it to work every day, the ride sucks.
A production vehicle chassis will flex because of cost and comfort. The stiffer you make the chassis, the more you are making your suspension do its job.
Taking city corners at highway speeds? No, but maybe you can take that sweeping turn on your commute at 25mph instead of 20mph.
Its all about what you want from the car. After all, you are the one driving it.
Last edited by schmellyfart; 10-12-2019 at 05:53 AM.
"Work" is somewhat subjective. I mean I have another max that's mostly stock suspension with no UR bars and you can definitely tell the difference between the two. So yeah the upgrades work.... but the amount they work is subjective- if that makes sense.
As he mentioned above, I wanted to stiffen things up because the max really rolls when turning - put the responsibility on the upgraded suspension parts.
So is it worth it? Really up to the individual. Personally I like the difference
I painted the in-cabin bar but need to get that one installed next. I guess I didn't take a finished-painted pic, just a primed pic. I went gloss black w the finish.
Anyone got $950 I can have? I just put the parts I could use in my cart and that's what it came to. I Don't need a fstb or a rear sway bar. It doesn't seem like a lot per part but they add up!
Last edited by Theslaking; 10-15-2019 at 07:59 AM.
Yep that's the one. Although that doesnt look like my car, not nearly enough rust.
Hard to say what affect it's having as I did an entire suspension upgrade all at once. I put on all of the UR bars too along w the suspension. Well not the side ones like you did, cause I found a set of those blemcho bars that go on the sides.
Every UR part I've purchased has fit perfectly, they are nice in that respect.
all great to know ! thank you. and i feel ya, sometimes the labor of things it only makes sense to do multiple things at once instead of A B A testing kind of progression to understand what the individual pieces do/ effect.
Thanks for sharing that ! i forgot about that thread
Originally Posted by schmellyfart
A production vehicle chassis will flex because of cost and comfort. The stiffer you make the chassis, the more you are making your suspension do its job.
Taking city corners at highway speeds? No, but maybe you can take that sweeping turn on your commute at 25mph instead of 20mph.
Its all about what you want from the car. After all, you are the one driving it.
yea ! 100% stiffer chassis is the way to go. its also safer in collisions (at least according to UR)
but really probably my fave two mods on the maxima are the LTB Stage II and the Ultra Racing Side lower Bars (sub frame connectors but bolt on) i would have got the sub frame connectors if they weren't welded on.
the side lower bars really connected the entire car together well, turning lanes the rear end follows the front very closely (feels connected, not seperated or laggy response), the whole car also feels solid in a great way, driving in PA the roads are some of the worst in the nation, all those ruts pot holes and imperfections are less noticed over all, yea you feel them but it's better contained or insulated or directed to the suspension.
09-20-2019, 01:26 AM
Their's look substantially stiffer and more robust and I'm really tempted to buy it.
