looks good

that rear doesnt look like a stock suspension - what did u have on there before?

 

Amazing shots, Looks sweet, tint, and wheel are clean. Excellent!

 

Thanks for the compliments. I was on eibach/illumina's before the coils.

My thoughts on the coilovers: The install is very straightforward. You just have to unbolt the old setup and put in the coils. I haven't gotten any noise from them when the springs are not preloaded. Handling wise, they are simply amazing. The difference is literally night and day from my previous setup. After riding on them for a week, I can say that the ride quality is a bit worse than illumina/eibach when the illuminas are set to a low setting and much better than my previous-previous setup AGX/B&G springs. The ride is very comparable if you dial up the illuminas. I find that the car settles much quicker over bumps with the coilovers and it does not throw you around over big bumps in the road. For those that are looking to completely slam the car, you can go probably 1-1.5 inches lower in the pics that I posted up front but your control arms would be bent up petty badly. Overall, these coilovers do a very good job at eliminating body roll along with fender gap while providing a tolerable ride.

 

Well I had my car apart for the third time. I had to lower the passenger side a bit to even everything out. Let me tell you if this is new to you, like it is for me, it's all about trial and error. While I had the suspension apart, I took out some pre-load. Let me tell you this has been the most drastic change in terms of ride quality yet. The ride is now much, much smoother. My best advise to those who are starting out new with these, is go ahead and try all different settings and pre-loads. Although it can become a PITA always taking things apart, it will give you the best understanding of what these are all about, and how the suspension reacts to different setups (and by the looks of things, there a million different ways to set these up). I do still get the odd click in reverse though. Not a big deal but I still would love to eliminate this. I'll keep you all posted if I figure it out. Oh BTW the drop is SICK!!!!!

 

I thought I should mention 1 thing- Do not judge your install in the first 1-2 days. The ride height will settle over time. Carful measurements and making sure that you turn the screws (adjusting height) the same for both of the fronts, and both of the backs is a critical first step. (backs both the same, fronts both the same, I went for some "rake")

I was off about 1 inch after a couple times around the block (Hard!) one side vs the other and it all evened out perfectly after 2 days re-measure.

And the drop is sick, yep!!! Whats even sicker is that I have about another inch before my control arms are parallel!! That would be insane!!!

PS Thanks to Regime for all the help with ...well, all of it!

 

Question,

has any one tried to put some type of guard/bushing on the front coilover tophats?? (between the studs on the tophats and the holes in the car, so it's not metal on metal)

 

I finally got my Ksports in today and I pretty much know what every thing is
fo exept 2 little black wrench type thingys that say D2 on it.. Can any one
tell me what these things are and what theyre for? Thanks. Oh and also wanted to know exactly what preloading is and if it can be done by hand?
I just wanna be sure every things done right cause I heard Noise issues are
eliminated if the springs are pre loaded.. Thanks again in advance.

 

CLICKING NOISES

anybody actually do anything about the clicking noises??

i dare ANY of you to go THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS low suckas

 

The wrench things are the holders for your brake lines. Interesting that they say D2 on them....hmmm

Best to have only enough preload to hold the springs into the top mount. Yes it can be done by hand, but make sure you use the collar tools to really tighten them down so they don't come loose.

 

Anybody actually read the thread?

http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...&postcount=138

 

Yo, your car looks good. Seems like the suspension was set up perfectly. But, it isn't really THAT low, it only seems like it due to the stock wheels and tires. If you put some 18's or 19's on there, it will look the same height as most of the maximas here.

 

Bad pic, but I'm that low on my D2's.

 

Is that slammed to its max???

 

Looks to me like.......... ..................I'm lower than you

Ah, it doesn't matter who's lower anyway. I actually raised my car up about .5"-.75". I didn't want to take any chances of leaving pieces of my trans on the freeway after hitting a man hole cover! (True story!)

 

So far, everyone likes there K-Sports? Because im thinking of getting it, Because my back has a 3 finger gap, and i dont want to keep buying sprints/struts to accomodate the look. SO i might as well buy COilovers so I can adjust ot my liking

 

If all you want is height adjustment, you might want to also consider Tein Basics, just cuz they have a longer, more proven track record. Ksports will handle better though, and without much extra ride harshness (if any).

But ya, everyone who has 'em loves 'em. HUGE increase in handling, and very good ride quality. There have also been very, very few complaints about quality (one guy snapped a bolt, and a few of us got clicking that was easily corrected), which is really significant -- almost all coilover systems have some problems when they're first released. The Ksports have been great so far.

Actually we have heard of one person selling his set cuz he found them too harsh. I think he lived in the middle of a big city, though... which is a BAD place to have coilovers anyway.

 

i love my k sports. the ride is awesome. the only thing bothering me is the clicking noises that are gettin more and more noticeable !

 

No Clicking sound. Just a bit stiff.

 

i have noticed that it bounces more when u go at 5-10 mph than when u go 40 mph. are urs the same way??

 

whos the guy selling it, i'd like to buy

 

Looks sweet with the 19's on man. I also had those clicking noises as well. I checked to make sure that the top nut (top of the strut assy) was torqued at 45lbs. (I think that's what it was, double check with K-sport though! I believe that if you loosen that nut and re-torque it, it needs to be replaced. That's what Ksport told me.) I also made sure that the lower mount (used to raise or lower) was tightened very well. After I checked those things, my clicks went away. Oh yeah, I also put a little bit of bearing grease between the rubber on the upper perch. Good luck!

 

Loosen the collars that hold the lower mount in place. Use a lint-free cloth, preferably soaked in turpentine or something, and clean the surfaces on the collars and the lower mount that make contact with each other.

Then, use a LOT of force to tighten the collars. Ksport told me to put one collar wrench on one collar and the other wrench on the other collar, and tighten them at the same time as far as you can. Then, use a hammer to get it the rest of the way. Obviously you don't want to use all your force. Just bang on it until it won't move any more.

Bye bye clicky.

 

 

I installed the front over the weekend and am beyond satisfied with the results so far. Just one problem I came across that I needed some opinion on is a little click sound I hear when turning the wheel all the way to the left and then all the way to the right. No noise other than that even over the harshest of roads. I have the dampening at about 2 full turns away from the softest setting.

I'm sure its answered, but its 9 pages of reading If someone could help, that would be much appreciated.

 

Noise went away I guess it just needed to set overnight.

 

ticking noises have returned after greasing up. took about a week for them to be back.

also, i have another issue. i notice when i take a hard turn, it feels like the car slips and shifts/slides a little foward while in the turn and then grabs again. it happens turning both ways. could this have anything to do with my tires being worn a little or an alignment issue? or does anyone else have this problem?

joshua

 

i have a lot of clickin noises too. even when im at a stop and dump tranny from R to D, i hear a click or two. i think its mostly my axles being under a lot of stress. i only get clickin when turnin the wheel !

 

the problem i posted 2 posts above, is this the skittishness you were talking about? it happens in mid turn. i have 2k2 wheels with the stock potenzas.

joshua

 

Laly there would be no reason for your car to be skittish unless you are hitting a bump on those turns, check your tires and alignment.

i still get clicky noises but i havnt had a chance to fiddle with the coilovers for a while cuz i lost my wheel lock key haha, hopefully i will get the wheel locks off and go back to fiddleing with the suspension soon.

 

The skittishness I was talking about was over bumps, when the wheels have too much inertia to just move and track the pavement and your car kinda skips off it. If I understand correctly, the skittishness you're getting is just the car pulling in weird directions when you turn. If that's the case, it's almost definitely your alignment.

Also, if I were you, I would definitely think about ditching those stock tires, especially if they're worn. I'd grab a set of Falken Ziex ZE-512, preferably higher than H-rated. They're lightweight, grippy, long-lived, and good in slippery conditions (just remember to run them at 40psi ).

 

To everyone that's complaining about skittishness (4th gens specifically): have you considered getting SFC's? 4th gens probably have the weakest chassis of all the maxima years. I would imagine alot of this skittishness is caused by the shock of the bump being effectively transfered to the body and not isolated to the suspension so it has less of a chance to actually absorb it. This might give it a tendency to skip over bumps more than it should. Correct me if im wrong. It's just a thought to at least try to help the issue.

 

nismology, the SFC's are a good idea, but what i was thinking about was clearance issues, i have my car pretty low, and am already scared but i love how it looks and handles, so i dont want to put more things under my car to destroy haha, ionno what is your input on the clearance problem?

 

Doesn't matter. Raise your car if you have to. nismology is right (thanks for bringing it up)... our cars are among the flexiest things this side of a Geo.

To answer the question, yes, chassis flex is definitely part of the skittishness problem. A flexible chassis is more easily upset by bumps and won't let the suspension do its job properly. If you have heavy wheels and tires, though, you won't get the full benefit because they'll just have too much inertia -- your suspension will still react slowly to imperfections in the road, and your tire won't be in good contact at all times.

You really need both chassis stiffening and low unsprung weight.

 

Are the rear suspension harder or easier to install than the front? The front took about 3 hours to do, 2.5 hrs for the Drivers side done first, and then half an hour for the Passenger Side cuz I knew exact what todo after the first round.

 

Should be easier. You're dealing with fewer bolts (2 top/1 bottom instead of 3 top/2 bottom) and they don't have to have as much torque on them.

If you're working on the car on the ground, supporting the rear beam with jacks can make installation a lot easier.

 

anyone have any pics of the brake line set up on the coilovers. i thought i saw one a while back but i can't find it now.

 

I just zip tied them up, didn't even use the brackets

 

+1, that's what I did for the front

That's great news! So I'm alloting 2 hrs max to put the rear on this weekend

 

I'd give it more than that, just cuz you never know. Those bolts are more prone to breaking than the front ones cuz they're thinner and are positioned at a weird angle. You really don't wanna rush things.

 

You are a wise man doodfood, I'm gona start Saturday at 8am, and hopefully finish by BBQ time in the afternoon No rush, I just hope nothing brakes.