Bought my 96 GLE with fabric A pillars and leather with 158k miles off the original owner when he decided he didn't want to fix the timing cover leaks and misfire from broken injector wire harness. Bought it for 250 bucks, fixed it myself (im a nissan tech), wife sold her Spec V due to being pregnant and needing a bigger car and now its her DD gettin 31mpg from the bay to LA.

Just put on these 06 Maxima 18s on 235/40R18 rubber and lowered it on the cheap with ebay's Zenn springs. I think it looks pretty decent, the ride is good altough i will be removing the bump stops from the struts to gain a little more travel.

So far mods have been simple and basic, 20% tints in back, 35% fronts, K&N drop in filter, 07 Altima exhaust tip, debadged, clear corners, SE white face gauges, fixed the factory BOSE radio display and had my boy who does interior repair dye all my seats black like new.

Let me know what you guys think?

 

Here's the Zenn springs comparo




Here's without the drop

 

much better.

 

MUCH better

nice ride nice and clean. keep it that way. whats your next mod? plans for the car?

 

co-sign

 

co-sign?

 

looks good. . . wow only $250.. that's a steal..

 

I wanna get the same springs. Nice and clean cut.

 

Hey wow thanks for the props guys, for some reason i didn't get any email notifs. Yeah like i said I got the car for a real steal when the guy didn't wanna fix it since we quoted him like over $1,000 to fix the leaks and misfire. The interior was decent with no rips or tears but he smoked and ate in it so i yanked all the seats and console and shampoo'd the carpets and redyed the seats.

I don't really have a whole lot more planned for it since i still wanna be able to drive it places and not worry about it getting broken into/stolen/messed with but my town is pretty safe. I have other project cars so those i hate leaving parked at shopping malls etc so i take the Maxima.

Next mods? Umm not sure really, the wife wants the factory wing but i honestly like the look without it, doesn't seem to match the car IMO. Looks sleeker without it. Prob just smoke the tails using NiteShades until i buy those red/clear tails and maybe a cold air intake. Which cheap cold air intake do you guys recommend off ebay, im not trying to spend alot i just figure something better than stock? Oh and i really want to put on an Airaide Throttle Body Spacer simply for sounds, i've heard you can use one from a late model VG Frontier/Xterra/Pathfinder right? I have one on my Colorado and my wife and i love the sound it makes, i know it doesn't do crap lol.

 

Lookin really clean man...

 

looks really good. im thinking of getting the same springs myself.

 

this is wat i am going to do

 

Very nice car, but not feeling those chrome wheels.
Besides that nice stance.

 

How do those ZENN springs ride?

 

nice

 

Yeah its understandable that not everyones gonna like chrome. I was actually looking for 17 inch silver Altima 3.5SE 5 spokes but came across these and dug em. I don't like donk lookin chrome wheels but i think these fit the car nicely, i get nothing but thumbs up when i drive it.

Well first off the front end sits lower especially when the fuel tank is near empty. When i swapped the rear springs i left the rear strut boots/bumpstops off for an extra 2 inches of suspension travel but i didn't do the fronts and i wish i did. Im gonna remove the front bump stops here soon because it feels like im basically bottoming out in front with zero suspension travel. Overall they ride nice though. I still need pack it full of passengers to see how well they ride. Ill keep you guys posted.

 

nice, car looks good.

man all these nissan wheels on all these maxi's, its hard to choose which to get for my maxima...

 

That IS a good drop!

 

31 mpg from the sentra or the max....?

 

Lets see the seats

 

You took out your bump stops!!!??? Dumb move.

 

It doesn't seem like a dumb move to me. Explain.

 

looks alot better....good job on debadging it

 

From the Max. I filled it up with 91 an drove to Los Angeles from the SF Bay Area where i live, and added up my mileage and got 31mpgs! I swear, i was soo freakin amazed. I just set the cruise control dead on at 75mph, put the a/c on the whole way and just drove real easy. Never stopped to get gas or anything.

My seats? They're just black... pleather. Ill take some pics if you really wanna see em.

Yeah i don't get it. Dumb move? I don't see how. Removing the rear bump stops gave me like another 2 inches of travel. I also just removed the front bump stops and it rode really nicely for being lowered. It did hit kinda hard on bumps so i went ahead and just trimmed the front stops to about 1 inch thick and slid them back into the upper strut mount just to keep the jarring metal to metal contact to a minimum. Im about to have my car packed tomorrow, ill let you guys know how it goes. I also rolled the rear fender lips for more clearance since at times i thought i heard some rubbage.

Thanks! I too think it looks really good debadged. Only think that kinda looks outta place to me is the funky big *** auto antenna. Sometimes i just rather turn the radio off just to keep the antenna in the down position.

While i've got everyone's attention, im gonna do a search here but just wanted to ask... I replaced a passenger side muffler off an Altima SER last week and was wondering if there's be any gain in performance or sound from replacing my stocker with it? The tip is really nice, large and round. The muffler itself is a Calsonic but im not sure if theres any gain from it. I'd really just like the sound if it kinda would make it sound like an SER. Wishful thinking but for free... can't beat that. Not sure if the piping is the same size, ill have to check.

 

Well done...lokking classy now.

 

Removing the bump stops does a few things.

1) The piston can bottom out inside the strut. This ruins the strut in no time.
2) The body of the strut can hit the upper mount. Metal on metal = horrible ride. You can also bend or break parts on big bumps.
3) Too much wheel travel can put the tire in the fender. Cut side walls = new tires.

Trim them all you want but at least have something there.

 

All good points. And yeah the ride was a bit tough cuz it was metal to metal contact so like i said i reinstalled the front bump stops but i trimmed them down to about 1 inch thick and now the front rides great. I left the rear bump stops out and today i rode with 3 passengers in back and bottomed out i think once in the san francisco rough streets. The rear coil springs actually compress and now since theres more coils, don't allow the strut to fully bottom out since the extra coils take up more room.

As far as tire contact, i rolled the rear fender lips in all the way and managed to crack the paint some but oh well. But now i have zero tire contact with the fender lips. However on really hard dips i do have minimal contact with the rear inner fender wells but very minimal.

For now its ok but i think im gonna look for some better springs like some Tokicos and hope for a slight higher lift.

 

Well guys, after riding around today with my wife and some passengers we came to the conclusion the ride is just too rough, mainly in front. The front is just too low with these Zenn springs, there is almost no suspension travel on stock struts. I know coil overs are the better way to go but for as strapped for cash as i am i think im looking into higher springs.

I've been searching around and found MaxSpeed springs seem to be cheap and comparable to the H&Rs. The drop, from what i've read, is about 1.5/1.3 sound about right? These Zenns i have state to be 2.0/2.0 but with an empty tank the rear sits kinda high. Soon as the tank is full it sits more level but the front still seems a bit lower.

Anyway i went ahead and purchased these MaxSpeeds. I hope to have them installed as soon as they arrive. Hope this works for me. Ill let you guys know how it goes.

 

Took some more pics with the Zenn Springs as you guys have been PMing me about, before i swap out for Maxspeeds.

 

Here's the rear with nothing in the trunk and fuel tank empty, rear end sits higher exactly 0.5". When tank is full, rear levels out with front perfectly.

 

I have a feeling the Zenn springs are the counterfeit Stechs rebadged. With my shortened Konis, trimmed bumps, and real Stechs there was still sufficient travel to stay off the bumps. With out CSK and trimmed bump stops there is 0 travel up front. The rear, however, bottomed out all the time.
This is how my car sat with Stechs:


Maxspeeds have been reviewed as harsh and soft. At least they have a mild drop with some travel. You may be better off with Tokico springs.