ES doesn't make side mounts. They're not really necessary for "performance" purposes, as I understand. The front and rears are important because they need to take the brunt of the engine twisting back and forth as it applies torque. The side mounts are just there for support.

Replacing all is ideal. I had all the ES replacements for my old SE-R and it made a nice difference. I bet they will make all them eventually.....

Eric, looking at your pics, they don't have the passenger side and driver side mounts yet? Those are the ones that made a difference on my old car

You could probably just fill the side ones with poly urethane. They may or may not be needed for performance but I will most likely do them. I like to complete the box so to speak with this kind of stuff. In a maxima you can never have too much traction. I doubt that it would make it shake much more if any at idle than with stock sides.

I don't think mine came with instructions. I am glad I looked more closely at that pic though. I was wondering which direction I needed to install the inserts.

I had the solid racing ones on the SE-R, it was noticeable but not unbareable

Is there any difference between the side mounts and the front and rear mounts? Can i just buy the one for the front and rear and insert it into the side mounts? The rubber on my passenger mount isn't fully in the mount anymore, should i just go with stock ones one on the side and replace the front and rear with ES?

Nice~! I was going to install some over Christmas, but missed out on the opportunity. Oh well...definitely a must do mod.

So, the shifter dancing when you get on/off the throttle is considerably less? How about the vibration through the shifter?

Yes, its more solid. Like driving 45mph in 2nd gear. In quick succession I'd stab and release the throttle to try and get the drivetrain to rock. It doesn't. I can see the tach fluctuate when I let go of the throttle but I dont feel it as much as I should.

Throttle response feels quicker/ better because the motor doesn't rock like when its on stock mounts, and there is an improvent over the PR mounts. Of course my PR mounts were defective so there should be a positive difference. The shifter doesn't vibrate as much but I dont normally rest my hand on the shifter. When idling and gripping the shifter there is a noticeable difference in vibration reduction.

I want to make an addendum to my initial post in this reply. I need to mention that the no wheelhop/ tire spinning ordeal was done on wet asphalt roads because it was raining in Southern California. I've had bad wheel hopping on wet roads before on stock mounts + balding Kumho 711s with good aligment specs (I'm on currently on balding Nitto 555s and bad alignment). Since they play a role in the overall grip of the car I'm going to say take my review with a grain of salt (as you always should on opinion-based info). SO YOUR EXPERIENCE MAY VARY.

Next up: ES LCA bushings, new tires + alignment. My car will be ready for the drag strip and everything else..

Well I'm sold......

I hate when that happens. Wheel=Hop in the Rain = Very Bad
I'm definitely getting these. Any chance on getting them into the Mounts myself? My mechanic already said he doesn't have a press. Are there special shops that may have one or should I just keep calling mechanics?

Wheel hop in any condition sucks.

Most general service repair shops should have a hydraulic press because suspension balljoints, wheel bearings and such need to be replaced on cars. I'd continue to call around.

so the only way to get the stock rubber out is to cut them out?

Thats an alternative. Ideally you want them to be pressed out. If you can find a rigid pipe stock that has an OD as big as the ID of the stock mount bracket you can have the garage press out the rubber bushing/metal sleeve as a unit. If not then torch the bushing and hack the **** out of the metal sleeve like the mechanic that did my mounts.

I was gonna have mine done tonight but found out the press we were gonna use is inadequate for the mount. Being a sunday no one is open so well I had to put it all back together. Ah well maybe another day.

they're not going to be making side mounts at any point in the near future. i've been in discussions with nate, one of the R&D reps at ES for the past year as we (him, me, and danny) put this project together. i've had the motor mounts for well over 6 months now and have loved them from day one, along with the shifter bushings and c-brace bushings. the rest of the ES kit should be arriving soon.

one other member, chinkzilla (danny), was chosen as the test monkey for this work and he had all the ES bushings replaced before the summer of 2004. as far as he's concerned, everything has lasted since and he's loved the car ever since it's "transformation". corners better, handles better, everything.

back to discussion, when i was talking to nate about how we were going to be producing these, all 4 motor mounts were discussed, but only the front/rear were decided. as far as ES is concerned, like has been mentioned, the sides do so little improvement, if any, that it would be almost a waste to produce these.

as far as pictures. i've been collecting pictures ever since we started the project. i never knew, but most of my pictures were used in the install instructions.

anyway, pictures are on my website, so feel free to look around, as they are lots of pictures at various angles so you can understand the installation process.

http://polo.lxanyc.com/2002MaximaSE/EnergySuspension/

Enjoy.

Anybody driving an auto have these, and preferably have them installed. Cattman said something in the gd thread about rumors of them not fitting on an auto car. So if anybody has any thoughts / experiences, that would be a plus.

And a second question... which will probably sound dumb, but oh well. These would benefit an automatic transmission car just as much as a manual?.. or no? My curent mounts are completely shot, so I need new ones. If these are a good upgrade I'll go for it. If it's more a help for 5-spds.. screw it i'll go with stockers again.

Thanks

Polo, Where did you go to get these mounts pressed in?

well because i had already taken them off, i was a bit impatient. it was about 5:30 and i went to a shop around the neighborhood. he was just out the door and i asked him to do it. i'm going to assume only because he was out the door and decided to stay that he charged me $80 but the process itself is rather simple. he called me half hour later to pick them up. i see you're from LI. i wouldn't be surprised if you'd get charged $40-$50 and i think THAT price is fair. in fact, if you're seriously interested, i can go to my bodyshop and talk to him and see what he can do for pressing these in, since i'm sure he has the tools to do it. also, i dont' see how hard it would be to walk around those flushing junkyards till you find someone and just say $20 per press and you can be done in 15-20 minutes.

I'll let you know when I order them. That's true about going to Corona and just inquiring about prices from all the different places. I have to go there anyway to get my new muffler & cat put on.

I order my motor mounts, but i have an auto. Will it fit? But when i order the mounts from cattman, they didn't ask me if it's for auto or manual. So i assumed that it fits both.

Haven't seen a definite answer to that yet... go out and try and get them fitted and let us know

Only the trans mount is different for autos. The front and rear mounts are the same.

Not true. 4th-gen SE and GLE (don't think GXE) autotragic mounts are electronically controlled, while all 4th-gen manual mounts are regular mounts. However, Ben's probably right that they are otherwise identical (same size etc.), so ES motor mount inserts ought to fit autos fine.

Should fit right in, but in the gd thread, cattman mentioned customer feedback saying they didn't fit in an auto right. However, he hasn't been able to confirm this or not.

You can pull the actuator out of the electronic mounts. This will allow the center to be pressed out normally.

will this cause any cel code or any other nonsense?

2nd try... I actually took them to a shop this time but they didnt have a big enough peice to push the original mount out. We tried some other things but jsut ended up denting the metal and sending a small block of steel into a wall. On the up side... I am getting really quick with installing/uninstalling the motor mounts. I am gonna check out a real machine shop tomorrow and get it done finally. They will be cut out or pressed out... I dont care.

So, what machine does the shop need to do this, so I don't sound dumb calling around?

never mind i jsut poly filled em today

I found out otherwise the hard way - the front moter mount on the crossmember is different for the auto/ 5spd. This has to do with the actual bracket that goes around this mount being shifted over towards the drivers side of the car on the auto.

The machine needed is called a hydraulic press. I have found a lot of places that have these presses, but didnt have the necessary peices to press out the mount. The size of the bushing that needs pressed out is 9cm dia. and most places only have a bearing press kit which doesnt have a peice big enough. Make sure they have the peice necessary to push it out before you begin uninstalling the mounts. 9cm peice would be on the top pressing the bushing out and a peice with a 91 or 92mm opening to hold the mount structure.

ok, well the place that did mine last year did it this way
they heated up the OEM bushing and melted it out. after that, they just pushed the new one in with the press. the "piece" they need is to take the old one out but again, if you melt it away, then that pretty much solves it....just something to consider

I have noticed two metal rings on the outside of the mount. I thought that inner metal ring needed pushed out. Are you telling me that only the rubber and not the second inner metal ring needs pushed out?

EDIT: I just looked at the pics of the gutted mount on your site and there is no inner metal ring that was outside of the rubber mount so that must have been removed sometime.

1) that picture was donated to me from someone who had previously gutted his motor mount out so that is NOT my picture.

2) yes, you are right, there is a metal ring. during the "melting" process this second ring was most likely peeled out because when i had them in my hands, i did not see anything. but then you ask "how can you tell if the ring was taken out"....well if you look at the mount again, there is a hole in the middle on one of the side (1/4" diameter" and if the ring was still there, i would see black. well i see red, which is the color of my motor mount.

Ah good thanks for clearing that up for me. I was gonna be pissed if I didnt need to push out that inner metal ring. I would have had it done the first time had that been the case and I had known.

Dont mean to be picky but I didnt ask "how can you tell if the ring was taken out?"

you're worse than a girl....

Woah... dont be so sexist otherwise the feminazis will come for us all!1!1!! OMGWTFBBQ

It bothers when people misread/misunderstand what I say... yeah I am **** what can I say?

i didn't misunderstand you. i assumed you'd ask "how are you sure they removed the ring" so i was forward-covering my ****.

Ah! Well then it is I who misunderstood you. I now see what you meant. You inferred that that is the question I would ask next. Dont mind me.

You wouldnt happen to know the amount of pressure required to push the inner ring out would you? I had thought they would come out somewhat easily with the press but using the jury rigged setup on the second try the guy was really cranking on it and it was not budging.

no clue, but i can imagine if you heat that sucker up real good, that will get VERY soft, which then makes it easier to rip out. also, if you think about it, once you start taking it apart, most of the pressure isn't there anymore so you can pretty much scrape the rest off.

So the idea that there is just something you can take off the motor mount and then they will be the same as 5-spd mounts is incorrect?

And did you end up being able to get the mounts installed, or not?

And a third question... if I can get a set of the bracket the motor mounts are pushed into from a 5-spd, will that line up with my auto correctly?

thanks