thecritik

iTrader: (2)

Ok .. after exhausting myself on the phone with corporate, various dealerships and my wife, i'm going to do something really interesting here.

I'm going to pay for the repairs my car needs on my own.

I need some advice but here's my plan pretty much.

I'm going to replace :

Wheels & Tires
Brakes & Rotors all around (brake lines possibly as well)
Shocks & Struts as well as mounts.

My whole idea here is to use aftermarket parts to fix some of the problems that the idiots at the service stealership don't want to address.

I know there are those that will say, warranty but i just don't have the time nor the patience right now.

So my question to all of you is this, it's either the wheels and tires first or everything else? I'm sitting on about 1,200 in cash and i've priced out the brakes, rotors, suspension and other things and I think i can pull it off going with decent enough parts.

Also, what brands do you recommend for these upgrades. I want to retain the stock springs for now so I'm not dealing with a drop, but will possibly after replacing the wheels and tires on the next go round.

Thanks for your input ... And anyone with Enkei rims that could post some pics, it would be appreciated.

!PrjctMax!

iTrader: (38)

A good package of wheels/tires would run you around $1,500 + so you may as well just do the other stuff first.

Shocks/struts=KYB-about a 25% firmer ride than stock, so it's a "performance" mod

Rotors=either Brembo blanks or RTP zinc plated blanks; both can be found in the group deal section

Brake pads=Hawk HPS pads all the way!

SS brake lines=techna-fit or anything else that is made specifically for the 6th gen maxima

hope this helps
dan

bwinter7

Then again, your tires are the only contact between your beautiful car and the road (hopefully), it depends how bad they are, but I would do that first; Unless the brakes are really, really bad, then the brakes should be first.

thecritik

iTrader: (2)

This definitely helps. I was thinking along the lines of the hardware you mentioned. The problems I'm having are all suspension and alignment related. Car is riding like crap after 3 sets of front struts and a pair of front springs and after an "in warranty" brake replacement, my rotors are now scored. GRRRRRR ....

!PrjctMax!

iTrader: (38)

**** nissan and their bull**** parts! Get some real parts d00d!

Tire wise...I would say Falken or Toyo

thecritik

iTrader: (2)

I was told 'off the record' by a Nissan representative to buy the softest tire I could find because the suspension on the 2004 was a mistake and the only way to alleviate the harshness was to pacify it with a soft tire. Either way, after the brakes and suspension, i'm either looking at going to a 17 inch wheel or getting some decent tires. These things cost a fortune though @ 245x45x18.

!PrjctMax!

iTrader: (38)

Ya, if you want luxury, then you may as well just et the 17's off the SL maxima and get some thick tires to make them absorb the bumps much better

You should also consider a front strut bar to "reinforce" the strut towers; it seems to me that I just "feel" them flexing way to much when going over bumps, and the strut bar would connect both of them and make it a stiffer, yet better sounding and performing combination

kamski

iTrader: (9)

I have some 17SL rims and they are great for winter driving, very soft with the continental tire on there.
Kamski

thecritik

iTrader: (2)

Yes luxury is important but at the same time, I want to make sure the car still performs well. I don't think my performance will suffer much going to a 17 inch wheel with a 225x55x17 size.

Besides these 18 inch tires are a bbeeeeatch to have to pay for when it's replacement time. A decent tire is costing me over $1000 bux while 17's cost almost 1/2 that.

I will look into that strut bar as well when replacing the suspension.

4MySwee

iTrader: (2)

This has got to be a first. I don't think I've heard anyone choosing a smaller tire size for the SE.

But it sounds like you're on a mission.

Let us know how this ends.

Apollos2

iTrader: (16)

A mistake? I'm curious what part of it was a mistake and what did they do to fix it for 05/06 SE? I don't know that I buy that line.

I use 17" wheels in the winter.





Critik - sounds like you are having a lot of suspension issues for some reason, I would exhaust the warranty before I spent my own money on fixing it. That would leave your money free to go with wheels and tires.

245/45/18 can be expensive but I have found that the Nexen 3000 is very reasonably priced. I was quoted $682 for four out the door

What kind of wheels are you looking at? You know, I bet there is someone on the org here would be willing to part with some SL 17s or maybe even trade you for your stock 18's. Check the classified section here.

chernmax

iTrader: (15)

For Rotors, I would go with:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1981-...QQcmdZViewItem

For Brake Pads:

http://www.buybrakes.com/ebc/?gclid=...FQgSgQods0SNWQ

For Brake Lines I recommend Mossey Performance (call the number, superior to the SS IMO and fit better)
Mossy Performance high performance brake lines. They consist of a teflon tube wrapped in Kevlar, protective coating, stainless steel and then clear shrink. Each line is pressure tested to 4000 psi. :

http://www.mossyperformance.com/

Shocks/Struts I recommend KYB GR2:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KYB-G...QQcmdZViewItem

SuperMario

Chernmax,

Do you buy your rotors from this eBay vendor?

Those are inexpensive for the set of 4. If you do, I'm buying those...as you can see I trust you man.

chernmax

iTrader: (15)

Yes and so did Deus, the last set I bought like these still look great on my car however I wanted the red painted centers because of my black rims and that's what I have already order, when I install, I will also be slappin on my new set of EBC "red stuff" ceramic brake pads...

thecritik

iTrader: (2)

Enough of a mistake that my struts have been replaced 3 times I suppose. I've exhausted my warranty options as I have ran out of patience with dealerships and corporate. It seems corporate is there to defend dealerships when they clearly aren't doing their job. I've seen the billing that the dealership bills Nissan and you'd think they'd step up and do something about it.

After reading your post I'm actually tempted to call corporate again. Just to be a pain in the butt and screw up this guys day.

Either way, they told me the last time that I "blued" my rotors front and rear. I guess that means I brake too hard so i'm looking for a rotor that can handle my braking.

thecritik

iTrader: (2)

Holy Sugar Honey Iced Tea

I mean really... they say "factory trained technicians" blah blah blah bullshizznit.

For 6 months my car has been hopping all over the road, the "factory trained technicians" have done 4 alignments on my car and could fix a simple toe adjustment issue. HOLY CRAP!

30 minutes and $80 later, car is stable on the road.

I'm placing a call to consumer affairs again to rant.

fredk

Sell the car and move on. Just an opinion...

I received the same bull from ALL dealerships where I live. The comments from service managers ranged from "it's your fault", "this car is 'special' and it does this by design" to "If you're not happy with the car, sell it!". In the end, I took the last advice and sold the car.

thecritik

iTrader: (2)

Now i've seriously thought about selling the car but then they win. I'm going to give corporate one more shot to take care of the suspension issues as I'm not ready to dish out that kind of cash.

And I've read quite a few threads about brakes but can anyone honestly tell me that it's better to have solid rotors instead of drilled. I can't find those damn solid Brembos anywhere but everyone has drilled and slotted ones.

chernmax

iTrader: (15)

Brembo doesn't make solid rotors for our cars and the link I provided in Post#12 are awesome. I've had a set on my car now for over 2 years with zero problems and over 20K miles and I'm ordering a new set because I want the red painted centers. The ones I'm removing still look great and this is a recent picture of them:

thecritik

iTrader: (2)

If i traded my '04 for an '03. I drove one today with 10,000 more miles than my '04 and man it was nice. A little short on the power but smooth as **** and the suspension was niiiiiice, even with 18's on it.

Chernmax : Do you drive like your car looks like it should be driven? If so i'll order the rotors now. Because I drive like your car looks like it should be driven

SuperMario

Chernmax, where did you get those calipers and how much were they?
Really nice, the more I see your car, the more I want to exchange yours with mine...

Kbuitre

Chernmax you are my inspiration...
what you provide on post #12 just makes me realize it will be inexpensive mod my car...

And if you are going to sell those rotors send me a pm with a price once you get your new red ones...

!PrjctMax!

iTrader: (38)

Hey chern...I hope you know that your rotors are backwards...

BadBlackMaxSL

iTrader: (1)

Ummmm.... I'm just gonna duck and cover. I think Chern might have a response to this.

NismoMax80

iTrader: (6)

they look stock painted to me.


um why are the rotors backwards?