Here's my problem: I'm SICK of the aftermarket suspension ride. I'm sick of feeling EVERY bump in the road. So, I've decided to change things.

Here's what I had: H&R springs, AGX struts and 235/45/17 tires.

I just switched back to the stock wheels with 225/50/16 tires and the ride is already better.

I have stock springs and struts laying around. I love the look with the H&R's, but want a really soft ride. Will replacing the AGX's with the stock struts while keeping the H&R's soften the ride dramatically, or do I have to go back to the stock springs AND struts to get the ride that I want?

 

If you want a soft ride, then yes you have to switch back to stockers. If you keep the H&Rs you should keep the AGXs as well. Even though the H&Rs are a mild drop (at least on the 5th gens) the ride is still a bit rougher than stock. I'm guessing that you have your original struts and seeing that they are from 99 they might be worn out already. You could try the stock springs with your AGXs.

 

or you could go back to stock spring, and keep the AGX's

You handling will be good, but you will have nasty wheel gap

 

I'll take the wheel gap if I have to in order to get a comfortable ride.

 

try progress springs, i have them with agx set to 2f/5r and they feel real close to stock. your ride will feel alittle tight, but not harsh because of less spring travel but its as close as stock you can get with a drop. good luck. any drop will change the feeling of the ride. so if you really miss the stock ride, then you should just go back to stock.

 

I am back to stock ride height for that reason(newborn son) and my wheel gap don't even look that bad, I'm rolling on very smooth and comfy Yokohama V4S which gave me very confortable ride.

I suggest getting Illumina struts and H&R springs ,

KYB AGX are plain horrible

Nick.

 

Get rid of those AGXs! They're designed and valved for handling, not comfort.

The smoothest ride would be stock springs with Illuminas or Konis -- it'd actually be smoother than stock.

If you like the look of the H&Rs, keep them, or replace them with Tein H-Tech. Those are really the two comfiest springs you can get besides stock.

 

If you wanted to spend some money, true coilovers can ride very smooth when set as such.

 

The low profile 234/45/17 tire does impact bumps harder. Going back to the stock wheel and tire does make a nice improvement in ride quality.

The AGX's are causing your ride discomfort. Sell them and get yourself a set of Tokico Illuminas. Set them at 2 all around and I guarantee you'll love your car all over again. The ride is very compliant, almost better then stock with the added handling and look. You can even go softer then stock by setting them on the softest (1) setting, the car rides like a Caddy.

Keep the H&R springs, just tweak the suspension by replacing the extra firm AGX's with a nice riding strut. You can even get Ben's rear long travel shock mounts for even more ride improvement.

I used to swap my H&R springs back to stock every winter after I put the factory 16's back on because the ride on my original H&R/AGX setup sucked. (Hate the wheel gap on summer 17" rims) Once I switched over to the Illuminas 2 years ago, my suspension has never been swapped again.

The ride and handling of the H&R/Illumina setup is by far the best there is for the 4th & 5th gen Maxima.

 

Local guy has Progress/Illumina. The ride was unbelievable comfortable and smooth. The ride height was nice looking too.

I agree with others...the AGX are the main problems. I have H&R-KONI's and with full soft, the setup is quite nice but when you start dialing in stiffness on the KONI's, the ride goes all too hell. You probably didn't want to spring for new struts but if you go H&R/stockers, your struts/shocks will probably not last very long anyways.