04BlackMaxx

I decide to be nice and drive today for an interoffice trip, I had to put 3 adults in the back and one up front. Coming back to the office ramp after the trip out, there are bumps in the ramp to go over. My car made the most horrible scratching/grinding sound when I went over the bumps. They said from the back it sounded as if the noise was coming from under their floorboard.

I had about 500lbs give or take in the back worth of people. It did sound like metal scraping the concrete with great force, however now that Im back Im wondering why the noise did'nt occur when we first left the ramp and everyone initially piled in. Do you think the springs and shocks were not compressed enough during the first minute of driving, then really sagging when I came back from an hour on the road?

I hope nothing was damaged...I would think a full size sedan could take that weight, guess not over bumps.

Glude

iTrader: (5)

I doubt anything was damaged. My car scrapes a lot and its fine, just gotta learn to avoid weird objects and cut the angles on driveways.

04BlackMaxx

Couldnt resist going and checking things so I whipped around the corners of the ramp and went to the top floor making sure to hit those bumps at speed like I usually do, no sounds at all. Nothing visably scraped underneath so I'll just have to be extra careful when there are passengers in back. Makes me think twice about dropping the car after I get my wheels.

Glude

iTrader: (5)

Well the car will be stiffer so it may not actually be as bad, who knows. After lowering with eibachs or progress theres still a good bit of ground clearance though. Now that im on Ksports I think I have about 4 inches of ground clearance..heh.

xorbitman

iTrader: (1)

I would not worry about bottoming out on Eibach lowering springs. If anything they are a lot more stiff. I will probably change my shocks next year to get a smoother ride over the bumps!

!PrjctMax!

iTrader: (38)

What struts/shocks you thinking of doing?

xorbitman

iTrader: (1)

Not sure yet KYB are an option. Any suggestions anyone?

!PrjctMax!

iTrader: (38)

I think KYB is the only strut/shock combo, or you can go with SL suspension for the more comfortable ride that you are looking for. And I know that
K-Sport makes coilovers for the 6th gen, but i've heard quite a few bad thing about them.....fitment wise that is.

rabenoja

iTrader: (2)

Well, I'm lowered so I bottom out alot. There hasn't been any real damage, just some scrapes on the bottom of the car.

One thing I learned is how to cut the angles on sloped driveways.

Glude

iTrader: (5)

There are no more problems with them. Ksport had to manufacture mounts for the rear which should have been done in the first place. Using the stock rear mounts only caused problems because it permitted a LOT of movement, the problems are solved now and they should be including those new parts in their coilover kits.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

yeah, my car bottomed out once with 3 adults in the back. it's not too bad though, just take those ramps, bumps, etc a little slower and you should be fine.

04BlackMaxx

Thankfully it was just from the bump dropping off and the weight, it sounded like the transmission fell on the ground...don't wanna hear that again.

MiamiBlackMax

i have also bottom out w/ ppl in the back. usually going over speed bumps. you can really feel when the springs compress down

madmik

iTrader: (1)

I changed the OEM springs because the rear would bottom out when I had a medium/full load (and the squat look). I now have the Progress springs and the car is almost level with 4 passengers. No bottoming out anymore.

2k4MaximaSE

I've had a nasty bottom out one time. I was leaving this gas station that for some reason was highly elevated in comparison to the street. Anyways, on the way out if since the gas station was so high up the ext/entrance portion of it has like a mini hill. I was there distracted, talking crap with friends in the car not paying attention when all of a sudden the car (nose of the car) belly flopped onto the street. Luckily, nothing bad happened, but I've never had such a bad bottoming out like I did that time.

InfiNissanLover

This was the one thing I hated the most upon seeing the 6th gen Max. That scraping noise that you hear comes from the pipes in the back which connect to the mufflers. Nissan's dual exhaust design for the Maxima was downright awful. Every other car that I have seen with a dual exhaust has a clean design with no hanging pipes around.

Nissan needed to give the 6th gen Max a clean dual exhaust setup like that of the Z, or if compared to another family sedan then to the Hyundai Sonata, which in my opinion has the cleaniest dual exhaust design I have ever seen on a regular passenger vehicle. I have noticed that the '07s are actually a tad bit higher, and their pipes don't hang as low as the ones in the 2004-2006 Maximas.

I hope the 7th gen Max comes out with a clean design from bumper to bumper and roof to undercarriage.

Sarara

Bumps are always painful for cars. A little bump + speed increase 10 times impact on car.

04BlackMaxx

Yeah, but who cares...hyundai sonata?