Hi all,

My question for lowered max's is, has anyone bottomed out their shocks as a result of being lowered? Could that be the reason for a more premature failure of the shocks? I want to lower mine and was considering adding urathane bumpstops, so the frame meets the arm instead of the shock bottoming out. My brother and I did this on his 87 Grand National, to get better traction on launches. Being a rear wheel drive car, as the car launches, the weight shifts back, and the shocks absorb the torque and you loose traction. We added urathane bumpstops so the frame hits the axle first, so you got a harder launch.
I was just wondering if you take 1.5 inces of height away from the struts travel, if you bottom out the actual struts.

Thanks in advance! boing-boing-boing...

 

If you plan on lowering your Maxima with H&R, Eibach springs, it is a good idea to change the struts at the same time. The stock struts are not designed for the stiffer performance springs. With the increased load they will wear out more quickly. When? Anyone's guess.


I hope this helps.

 

It is ALWAYS a good idea to change to a stiffer strut when going with springs to control compression and rebound as well as bottoming. Not to mention stock shocks are TOO soft. Unless I shorten the strut I will always cut the bumpstop in half. You will always know if a car is lowered right by watching it drive down the road........I aways laugh inside at the RICE I see bouncing down the road.

Mark

 

I'd like to understand this better. I understand that shorter springs would prematurely wear out OEM struts but I don't understand why stiffer springs with the same at rest length (or whatever you call it) would wear these out. It seems to me that stiffer springs would take off some of the load on the OEM struts. Or is that you can only get shorter stiffer springs? Thanks.

 

You can get one rate or progressive rate springs, either way there is a point where both springs are stiffer than stock ones. With stiffer springs come a need to control quicker rebound, this could stress the stock struts/shocks (which are poor quality at best).

Most aftermarket springs are shorter to improve ride height and center of gravity.

Mark