Quick question. Has anyone out there been able to drop their 7th gen with Eibachs and then been able to get the car to align all within factory spec without having to buy the extra arms/bolts/ect? For $250 for a set of springs, it seems worth it, but if I 'm going to have to drop another $200 on control arms and special tools to elongate holes and such, I think I'll pass.

Also, I've heard some people say the ride comfort stays unchanged, and others say it gets significantly worse with the drop. I'd love the look/added performance, but I'm not willing to sacrifice too much comfort since I drive this car 45 min each way to work every day.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

Do it. Looks better, handles better, and you do not sacrifice any ride quality, at least not from lowering with just Eibachs. Be sure to use your head and go slow over speed bumps and hit and sharp inclines on an angle, etc. Day one stuff, really.

I have not rubbed, scraped, bottomed out, etc. and it's been about a month now. I can tell you've seen the SPC video on YouTube, and I waited three weeks for the springs to settle before getting an alignment and ended up having to get the rear camber kit and toe bolt in order to come out all green on the alignment sheet.

Totally worth it, no regrets. You'll notice a huge difference in handling along with the overall "tightness feel" of your ride with the Racingline RSB with front and rear end links too. Much better than OEM. Believe it.

Good luck.

 

Also consider where you live. I am down here in middle Georgia, where most folks hunt, and most vehicles are SUVs or Jeeps or crossovers or pickups, and the speed bumps are everywhere, and ridiculously high. My unlowered Max scrapes on almost every one. We cannot even drive into the parking lot at my wife's doctor's office.

Even unlowered, the 7th gen has the least ground clearance (4.5 inches) of any Maxima ever built.

I hate speed bumps. Civilized areas use the third millenium speed TABLES, which slow traffic without scraping the bottom of every normal vehicle.

 

Most alignment issues arise when you drop and install spacers. I've heard a few here on the forum say they don't have alignment issues with just the drop.

 

Spacers cant really change an alignment.
Sure, it changes front to back relation, but camber and toe (what wears tires) are both adjusted and really measured based on angles of the hub/wheel.

I would say the ride is 10-20% stiffer with eibachs. People who say nothing changes are wrong or aren't paying attention.
The biggest increase in handling will be upgrading your rear sway bar.
I actually dislike the way the eibachs handle compared to stock, but when used in combination with the RacingLine rsb, it is vastly improved.

A few people manage to not need anything extra, but I needed the 350z rear camber arms to get in spec.

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, how did you know that the 350z camber arms would do the trick?

 

It is what had been shown to work here on the forums.

 

I agree with (nearly) all of this. All I'd add is that I DID prefer the ride with eibachs, and that "getting fully in spec" with the camber arms might not be 100% necessary. The alignment for my car (with spacers already installed) was *just* out of spec. The guy who did the alignment said its probably not something I need to worry too much about. Around 15-20,000 miles later, my tires are still wearing even.

 

+1

I like the ride quality better as well, and this is my second 7th Generation Maxima; I drove my '09 SV for 2 years and made no modifications to it and have had my current '12 SV for 2 months and this is the first modification I made.

As a matter of fact, I noticed the improved handling and responsiveness on the very first drive after installation, especially on the highway, and the improved, aggressive look is a bonus in and of itself as it takes away all the extra space in the wheel wells.

Hope this helps.

 

By the way, what maximadrvr said about the rear sway bar kinda got passed over. I want to agree completely with that. For handling, the combo of eibachs and the rear sway bar is excellent. Top it off with better tires, and you've got some impressive handling. Definitely definitely definitely, the rear sway bar (stillen or RacingLine--take your pick) really should be at the top of your list for upgrades. Not terribly expensive, easy to install yourself (or if you pay a shop, the charge shouldn't be more than 1/2 hr), and a major improvement for every single person who drives this car. I don't think there are any driving styles that won't be enhanced with the thicker stiffer sway bar.

 

Yep. I've got a stillen sway bar on the way. I'm going to replace it along with replacing/greasing the rear bushings with the new version to get rid of the rattling noise that's apparently pretty common.

I was just trying to decide if I should do the Eibachs too since I'll be putting new wheels/tires on it in march (I put new winter tires on the stock rims last Nov, putting brand new summer ones on in March) and so I'll be getting an alignment anyways.

What's the best way to go about it all? I'm thinking I do the Eibachs, drive it for a week or two (to let it settle), and then put on the SPC rear arms and take it in to get aligned that same day. Is there a better way to go about it? Would I be better off installing all the parts and getting an alignment right away, then getting it realigned after the springs settle?

Thanks for all the guidance.

 

Your plan is fine. The drop shouldn't put you tooo far out of spec. I had -2.4 rear camber when spec is a max of -1.4 IIRC. Noticeable, but won't eat your tires in a week.
You will want to do the alignment and rear arms together, or very close together. You will probably have enough adjust-ability in the arms that you won't need to worry about the new cam bolt and grinding anything.

 

with just springs i was able to get into green no prob. spacers made the rear a little neg camber. coils i def needed the camber arms/bolts for

 

I don't see how spacers can change alignment specs.

 

It changes the computerized alignment readout, not the actual measured values.

The alignment machine uses the relation between the front and rear heads, plus what you manually enter as the steering wheel straight forward.
When you add spacers, the spacial relation between the front and rear wheels has changed, so the alignment readout will change.
The camber and toe of the actual wheel hasn't changed, but the computer says there is a difference.

That is how people say spacers change their alignment.

 

While I understand what you are saying in the real world this is not true. UNLESS you only put let's say 1 spacer on instead of a pair.

 

It is true, you put two spacers on, both rear wheels change relation to the front wheels and to each other.

Spent four years of my life doing this.

 

"Change relation ", that makes sense. But it won't change the camber, caster, or toe.
We can agree to disagree I suppose.

 

I said it won't change camber or toe.
It will change the readout, as that is based on the wheel relations.

We are only agreeing.

 

I would also cut part of the bump stops to help with suspension travel. I did this with my 96 Maxima after the initial drop. Made a difference, so I've done that on my other Maximas as well.

 

I've heard that this isn't recommended with the Eibach drop. Anyone have thoughts one way or the other?

 

I always trim the bump stops

 

So if the actual alignment does not change but the computer "thinks" it has changed, does putting the car back to what the computer "thinks" is spec actually put it out of spec?

I'd think so.

 

It can, but the steps during setup of the alignment usually correct these numbers. That is why the car is rolled forward and backward, to get the wheel relations, and measures the camber and toe.

Caster is a rather useless measure, and most cars don't allow for its adjustment. It really only affects the front.

 

It also wasn't "needed" for my 96 Maxima, but I grew tired of hitting the bumpstops. Once I did this, the ride became a lot better. So ever since then I've done it to my other cars.

 

How do you trim them, and by how much?

 

The Eibach springs specifically say there is no need on our cars. Unless you regularly drive with your car overloaded, you shouldn't worry about it.

 

The H&R springs said the same thing. I didn't do it the first time & then had to redo the install to cut them. It made a positive difference in the ride quality of the car. If you don't want to that's fine, but I've done it on my 4th, 5th, and 7th gen without any issues. Both the other cars went over 200k miles, & most of those miles came after the cars were lowered.

I don't consider having passengers overloading the car. Especially if they are kids.

 

On my other Maximas I cut them less than half....maybe a third (it's been a while). On my current Maxima, the mechanic cut them. I was going to tell him, but he came out to ask me before that.

 

Yep! I also cut them in half.