Well... One day later and this lil gem makes a significant difference in the way the front end feels and performs. Tighter, stiffer , quicker steering response. All positive.

Matt did the install Friday afternoon. The bar fit just the way it should. The job took about 40 minutes with pauses for pictures.
The left control arm had to come off because of the Auto transmission, but I had figured that would be the case before the install. There is just no way to get a socket and torque wrench/breaker bar/ratchet on that one bolt without dropping the arm. I knew this having done the Energy bushings a couple of weeks ago. No surprises there.

Thanks again Matt... Great work!

Cheers!

 

HNDA ETR, I'm not sure on the cattman headers on the 5 gen. I sent a 4th gen bar to a guy and it was close but didn't fit. the 5th gens have the cat under the engine right where the bar goes, so there's tons of room down there, but I can't make any promises on fittment. If you'd like to try one out, I can send it to you and give you a full refund minus shipping if it doens't fit..

David, were the instructions I sent you sufficient? Let me know and I'll post them here.

 

Matt...

Check your email!

And the short answer is Yes.

 

Okay.. well here's the install instructions, with pics..

It's really not difficult at all- just a pain if you've got an auto. but once you have it on, you'll be glad you did.
http://www.mattblehm.com/ltb_install.html

 

MAN look at that underbody in those pictures—NO RUST. I envy you Texas guys and your immaculate underbodies. Then again, my VQ and I breathe air much cleaner than Houston's smog so I guess I can't complain.

Matt, the write-up looks good. Cool cool.

PS, what's the deal with the bracket/cupped washers? Is it really completely unnecessary, or does the LTB render it unnecessary? Why did Nissan put it there?

 

The only thing that I can tell of that washer is that it's used more for "containment" than as a regular washer.

There's a rubber bushing behind there that bolts the front subframe to the rest of the car's unibody. In the case that bushing fails, that cupped washer will make sure the subframe doesn't fall off and go skidding down the street when you hit a major bump. my Lower tie bar will also do the same thing, as there are two bars welded off that corner- so if the subframe bushings fail, it will be held onto the car by the tie bar itself.

 

Matt,

So is there a lower control arm bushing for the 2002 max manufactured by energy suspension, or is it the same as the 4th gen?

Thanks

 

I'm guessing the front bushing is the same on the 5th as it is on the 4th... they also use that bushing on the Altima, 2nd Gen Max, 3rd gen Max, and Stanza.

 

So this mod will not work with Cattman Headers for a 4 gen maxima

 

Got mine today. I have yet to put it on, but it looks great! Thanks Matt!

 

Not in current form. I'm working with a guy to help me modify the design so that it will fit.

 

Got my SS Lower Tie Bar this morning, as usual I cant wait to install so it will go in first thing in the morning.

Thanks Matt

AA

 

Hey Matt thanks for the bar... I just got mine this morning & can't wait to bolt it up!!! so what's the deal w/ the bushings... which ones exactly do i need?? i saw www.courtesyparts.com selling the energy bushings, but they're for 4th gens. can somebody confirm if the 4th gen & 5th gen bushings are the same?

 

Hey Matt, you suggest that the autotragic owner should upgrade the bushing, where can we get those bushing, I'll be waiting for the install until I have the bushing.

Thanks for helping.

Cheers

 

It *should* be the 4th gen control arm bushing set. As I said, I'm pretty sure they're the same bushing up front, but I haven't done an install on them yet to confirm that. I'll need to pull a control arm off a 5th gen and do the swap myself before I can say that for 100% fact.

 

Hey Matt, I just order a 4th gen control arm bushing set from Courtesy we will know soon enough if they fit the 5th gen, I should get the bushing in a week or so.

Thanks for the infos

AA

 

but we are ok with OEM bushings, for those of us with 5-speeds? I want to put the bar on Saturday, but only if it's ok to use the current bushings

 

Sure, you'll be fine with the OE bushings on there.
Just be sure to have the car resting on the ground before you torque the front nuts down, as otherwise you'll preload the rubber bushings and when you drop the car, you'll end up tearing them in short time...
so just be sure to leave them loose until you drop the car to the ground.

(and yes, this is mentioned in the service manual, only in fewer words.)

 

Matt, sent payment.

 

Matt,

I really screwed up on the LTB install for the 5th generation max on my friends car. He said he was going to sue me if I didn't fix it. Well, j/k he didn't say that but I'm sure it he's going to chew my head off. He's a set of problems I ran into.

1) First of all I messed up the threading for one of the rear bolts for the control arm. This bolt is one of two that holds the rear part of the control arm for the 5th gen. The thread is so ****ED up that bolt doesn't completely go in. There's about .75 inches of the bolt still sticking out. How can I repair it? Can I use a dremel to clear out the thread and then use a thread repair kit? There's a picture below.


2) The bar touches the heat shield of the y-pipe. Can I safely bend the heat shield?

3) Also, I noticed that the car vibrates when I come to a complete stop. Is this due to the fact that the bar touches the y-pipe?

4) It is impossible to tighten the 27mm nut on the automatic after lowering the car. I am going to get the poly bushings. But in the mean time, there's a rubbing noise when coming to a stop and accerating. Could this be because I torqued the 27mm nut before lowering the car?

Thanks Matt. This is probably the worst case LTB install ever.

 

Here's the picture:

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/634178

 

the thread is a 14x1.5mm I believe.. Ithose bolts are easy to strip for some reason- I've done about five of them over all of my installs. pull the old bolt out and replace it. then use a tap and cut the threads through the hole again. when you put the new bolt in, but a dab of anti-sieze on it. should get you fixed up.


I'd say 99% of the noises you're having is from the y pipe rubbing the heat shield. when I installed this thing on a 2k1 and a 2k3, there was at least 1/4" of clearance on the heat shield.. I would take a look at your engine mounts and see what condition they're in.

The noises I've heard form the 27mm nuts not being tight are usually creaking noises when you stop and accelerate.

 

Hiya Matt...

Stage II bar is still working like a charm here. Added the Cattman/Progress bar last week. Dang thing is on rails now! Even with the oem struts/springs
Illumina kit arrived. Finally. Will install when I can... next week maybe.
WSP Stage 1 & 2 SFC's next??? Or would you like to hook up and re-invent the wheel? I have a few ideas, even one for a rear tie bar system that just might work....

Know much/tried out the Vogtland springs?

Cheers!

 

Well, I'm kinda under a "non-compete agreement" with warpspeed on the subframes.. Since I helped them prototype their stage I and II subframes on my car, we are under the agreement that I don't try to copy their designs or whatever... We each sell products that are different enough and we can both make a few bucks, so I'm not too interested in trying to compete with them..

As for the other stuff, run the ideas by me via email, or let me know when you can stop by and we'll crawl under the car again and play around.

Vogtland springs? I know knothing. :shrug:

 

OK, today I loosened and re-tightened the rear (control arm, 22mm) bolts. When I finally got the bar on after the fitment issues, I tightened the right side rear bolt all the way with the car jacked up. Matt, you said this would destroy the bushing in no time flat.

So today I loosened that bolt (with the car on the ground) and it didn't seem that tight. I retightened it, about "hand tight" with a 1/2" drive socket (about 10" long). I don't have a 1/2" drive torque wrench, but about how tight should these bolts be? I was surprised when I loosened the right bolt with a breaker bar because it wasn't especially tight. Any guidelines? Thanks.

 

Hey Masaccio!

Dont sweat it on the rear control arm bushing. Its basically a big lump of rubber held in a "pocket" by the triangular plate with the three bolts. The end of the control arm rotates freely in that bushing. You won't hurt that bushing no matter when you tighten it up, so long as you get it properly positioned before tightening. Its pretty hard to screw that one up...

The FRONT on the other hand ...If you are running OEM bushings you need to tighten the front two 27mm bolts with the car on the ground and level. Roll it back and forth a bit to settle it before torquing it down. If you had an auto it would complicate things a bit because of clearance issues... not something you 5sp guys have to deal with. You need to do it this way with an OEM bushing because the nut locks the bushing inner shaft against the "gusset". Once tight it will not freely rotate. If not positioned correctly the bushing will be pre-loaded and tear itself up when the suspension moves.

All the big 22mm and 27mm front bolts are torqued to between approx. 85-105 ftlbs. Think a 1/4 turn tighter than a wheel lug nut. That should get you in the ballpark.

Pm me if you need any help...

Cheers!

 

Doh! I got them confused. Jeez, I'm coming off like a complete doofus on this thread. Today I'll do the same thing for the front bolts. Thanks for the info, volkl.

 

Yeah, what Volkl77 said.

All the torque specs and stuff are listed on the instruction page for the lower tie bar:
http://www.mattblehm.com/ltb_install.html

 

Yeah, what Matt said! Thought you were busy workin Matt.. Figured I take one for you.

Cheers!

 

I'm sure you've seen the weather lately.. I'm welding between downpours..
should be finished with the next batch tomorrow, if I can stay dry for about 6 hours.

 

I did a couple searches, and I couldn't locate a online store that sold the energy suspension bushings for the maxima, if someone could enlighten me.
And I wanted to say that, although I don't have Matt's bar on yet, it looks superb, glad a couple people out there are trying to keep the cool parts for us coming. Still waiting to install the lower bar, and tein basic coil-over, works wearing the **** outta me

 

Go here

www.courtesyparts.com

Click the 95-99 Maxima link on the left. At the top of the page you will see the Energy link.

Cheers!

 

Much oblidged good sir, much oblidged

 

I have two sets in the garage...
Last time I talked to Courtesy, they had about 40 sets in stock.. I'm sure it's quite a bit less than that now, since I've ordered four and I know I've sent at least half a dozen more people to them in the last two weeks...
(maybe I should be on commission at Courtesy? )