Whats up everybody... I'm getting Gr-2's with my maxspeeds soon and I want to know somethings about bumpstops, strut mounts, and bushings. I've searched on these words and didn't find much besides lots of controversy...

What are our stock bumpstops/dustboots made out of? I want to trim the bumpstop but I'm not sure what tools I'll need and I want to prepare to do it. I'm cheap and will buy the KYB ones only if I need to.

Is there anywhere else that sells the KYB bumpstops/dustboots besides cattman?

Will I/should I need to replace the strut bushings when I install my suspension? I don't want my ride to be ghetto hoopty style. Where would I buy these?

Sorry about all the questions and thanks in advance.

 

bump. Please help....

 

good choice of struts. i have gr-2's with h&r's. I made a mistake and didn't chance strut mount and boots and had to do reinstall again. i had 50k miles and rear boot and strut mount were in really bad shape. I got them from nissan. call Dave B. he'll give you the best price. front mounts have bearings in them and they break. my left one went bad and i would hear grinding noice when taking a hard left turn. i think it wouldbe cheaper and less painfull in long run to change al mounts and boots when you're changing struts/springs.

 

so you got the boot from Dave B... but the integrated stop is still the stock size right? My concern is that I want a shortened stop so that I would have the full range of motion... Did you get some shortened ones for aftermarket drops?

I've only got 20K on my current hardware and I think I can keep my current boot and stops. I'll just chop 'em. If they are rubber I can just use a good serrated knife right? Or is it made of metal? If metal I can use tin snips?
Damn, I'm just concerned about what I should do about these things. More complicated than I thought it would be...

 

ttt. More help please...

 

Looslip I have this exacty setup. I don't remember what the miles on my car were, but I have 37K now and this was a year ago so I would say I had 25K on my car when I switched over. I kept my stock mounts, boots and bumpstops. I didn't trim them and I've never bottomed out. I actually didn't even see the bumpstops when I changed my suspension out myself. If you only have 20K on your max, sounds like you could just switch over with your factory parts and be just fine. Hope this helps.

 

ahhh thanks wildman, that does make me feel better. However, what kind of roads do you go over?
I think I should get some new bushing tho.

 

I done a few installs on 00 and 01 and the SE and GLE trim are different.

I may get this backwards but on the SE the dustboot and bump stop is 2 different parts. One the GLE the bumpstop is attached to the end of the dustboot. I have never cut bumpstops with Maxspeeds springs (even with stock struts). I would leave them unless going with a serious drop like tiens or coilovers.

A few other differences is where the brake line attaches to the strut. A little more difficult on the GLE/GXE. No big deal.

Just make sure you use a spring compressor as you can rent them from an auto parts store or buy a cheap one for about $20.

Pics from the install. http://www.angelfire.com/nj/psychohome/maxspeed.html

I have about 20K on my maxspeeds and stock struts and everything is great!

Let me know if you have questions!

 

You should PM Turbo95max, he'll tell you everything you need to know and he'll probably give you an excellent price on the install too.

 

Cool, thanks for the help guys. I'll PM Turbo95max.
Peace

 

Hey looslip. Would you let me know the out come. I am still deciding on springs and I would like to see how you make out.

thanks

 

no problem.

 

I just did my suspension tein/gr-2. I had to cut the front bumpstops as the car was riding on them all the time, which made the ride very rough.
It is very easy to cut them; you could use a regular knife if you wanted, but a utility knife is probably the best choice.
On SE bumpstops are integrated into dust cover. So if you cut the rear ones they might not cover the very top part of a strut. This is because the top part of a bumpstop is what is hanging it from the strut. The front ones were long enough so that even though I cut'em they covered the entire strut.
As to the KYB dust covers, I've heard that they also lack that top part that suppoused to hang it on the strut, so you will get the same result as with cutting your stock ones.
The stock dust covers are pretty good quality. IMO there is no point in spending $70 on the KYB's.

 

I believe, and IIRC, it's been mutually agreed upon that there is no way you could be "riding" on the stops with the Tein/KYB-GR2 setup...

I didn't cut/reduce mine at all, and the ride is nothing short of excellent (and I dare say, perfect for me). I have the GLE model, which also has the incorporated stops/dust covers...

 

Quicksilver,
That is what I thought at first. But after riding on the original bumpstops for a week, I jacked up one of the front wheels and lowered it slowly looking at the bumpstop. What I saw, was that the bumpstop was squeezed by the weight of my car, so that the spaces that normally are between rubber rings on the bumpstop were nonexistent.
I agree with you that the ride was perfectly ok, but now it feels almost like stock. Before every time I went through small holes the suspension would just translate everything into the cabin. Now you can actually feel the suspension working.
Oh, and when I decided to cut the bumpstops, it was so difficult to take the front bumpstops out. Riding on them for a week pressed them into the metal cup just above them. I had to pull real hard just to get them out of there.

 

I have Tokico struts with Maxspeeds. I am using the stock dustboot and bumpstops. I didn't cut them and I don't bottom out. With my sprints, I bottomed out all the time.

 

I was planning on doing the install with Tein and GR2 combo, but I really wanted to know what the deal was. Do the bumpstops need to be trimmed or what? I don't even know what the bumpstops look like or what they are, but want to know if I should worry about them. Is there anyone with an expertise in suspensions in here who can answer the question with complete certainty?

Also, is there like a good write up to doing this? I've searched and got a couple of stuff from the board, but nothing with pictures. This is going to be the first time I'll be doing this so I was hoping to find something with pics and "tools needed" kind of walk through.

-Antho