Hey all,
I'm about to replace the factory suspension on my 97 Max (130,000 miles). After reading every thread I could find on this, I've come to the conclusion that I need AGX struts with H&R springs. I want the car lowered a bit but I don't want a drastic change in comfort level (am I right in this combo?).
1. In the other threads I see reference to a bump stop. What is it and do I already have it on my car? Will I need to replace it?
2. The boot (what's left of it) on the factory strut is in shreads. Does the strut I buy come with a new boot or will I need to buy one seperate?
3. When removing the spring compressor from the old spring, how far should I expect it to travel before the tension is gone? How dangerous is this?
4. What other parts are part of the assembly? I know of the strut, spring, bearing, and insulator. Should I bother to replace any of this while I've got it apart?

 

You'll find the ride of the H&R and AGX combo pretty decent, but the AGXs will introduce a good bit of harshness. The problem with the AGXs is that when you adjust them, you adjust both dampening and rebound which really isn't a good thing for a street car. The AGXs on setting #1 (soft) are already pretty well dampened, but the rebound control (bounce) is way too soft. So you end up adjusting the strut to a higher setting and achieve the rebound control you want, but now the dampening is so tight the strut hardly wants to give when it impacts a bump (ie harshness). If you want the best possible ride, then spend the money and time and do the Koni adjustables. The Koni's are only adjustable for rebound unless you crank them to over 90% stiffness. The ride is perfect. Many say the Tokico Illumnias are good too, but I don't have experience with them. Right now I'm running 60% firmness both front and back and the ride is great. Firm, isolated, never harsh, and in the turns it's so controlled. I've had a lot of set ups in the the past and I couldn't be happier now.


A bump stop is a hard piece of foam rubber that keeps a strut from buttoming out over a large bump. Most struts can get destroyed if you run without bumpstops. If you add lowering springs, you'll need to cut the bumpstops 50-60% to get some additional travel. The good thing about Konis is that they won't blow if you don't run bumpstops (I still wouldn't recommend it). They're designed a bit differently than other struts. You can read about this are thier website.

You will have to buy them seperately and they're not cheap at all. Expect to spend over $150 for a full set of boots.

The stock spring will expand quite a bit. My H&Rs are about 3" shorter than the stockers when they're uncompressed. The stock spring is quite long and is under a lot of compression. The only way to tell the tension has been released is when the compressors simply fall off the spring. Compressing springs can be quite dangerous. Make sure you're doing it right and always keep the device pointed in a direction away from you incase something gives. Aftermarket springs will require very little compressing.

If you want to do it right, yes, you'll want to replace these parts because chances are they are worn.

 

Wow Dave, way to help the newbs!

 

Couldn't ask for anything more! Thanks, Dave!

 

yeah but why would you wnat to remove the spring from your old struts if you get new ones? all you have to do is remove the complete assembly. am i right? SO there would be no need to replace anything else cause you are putting new stuff in.

I run H&R right now and i love them but i am on stock shocks. I am looking at getting Illuminas. And dustboots are $150 for a set. Wow. Never knew that they are that expensive.

 

I was just hoping to reuse the old bearing and insulator. In which case I'd have to take apart the assembly. I think bearings are about $40 and insulators are around %50 or %60. So that's like an extra $400 for all corners.

 

Cattman's group buy for suspension parts has the set of 4 KYB boots for $58. Check the group buys forum.

 

In order not neet to remove the spring you would have to be replacing everything...strut mount, bearing, boot, isolators.....everything.

I got the KYB boots from TireRack and I don't remember them being anywhere near $150.

 

o.k here we go ....I repalaced my suspension with progress springs and kyb-gr2 struts my car has 97000 on it the only thing I believe I needed were new front strut bearings.. the rest of the stuff you can use if it is in decent shape I bought kyb dustboots from ange @ redlinemax for 67.00 shipped they seem too be of good quality (though some disagree) and are precut for lowered applications....the install job is pretty hard if your not mechanically inclined. and compressing the struts is dangerous if you dont know how too tell if the spring is propely compressed.....It took me all together by myself with airtools about 6 hrs over a 5 day period because of trial and error and me taking care of my family.... make sure you have a good set of tools and spring compressors and if your going too compress the springs with hand tools be prepared its time consuming and tedious also you have too remember the orientation of the strut hat bolts in relation to the holes in your strut tower and rear mounts I dont know a person that I know has a garage and offered too do it for $200 in retrospect I shoud have taken the offer because of my time limitations ....get a helper if you can

 

you can rent a spring compressor from a local auto parts store. and the price that you guys listed above for dustboots are reasoanoble offer. $150 is just crazy for some piece of rubber. lol

 

This thread was awesome, based on one of my inquiry posts from earlier this month, I took the recommendation of some of the guys out there and just ordered a full set of KYB-GR2's and H&R Springs today.

I was glad to see this post about boots, bump stops, etc. But one thing (OK, I know I might be pushing it) is does anyone have specifically some part #'s for some of this crap or can I just call Courtesy Nissan, etc. and say "I need bump stops for a 97 Maxima SE".

My car has 145K miles on it. I bought it used and it has Eibach/Tokico combo and it rides like crap. It's so harsh, you hit a pothole and the whole car shutters like it's going to snap in half.

So I got the struts and springs ordered. I'd rather spend the extra loot and get the other stuff and be set for a while. Assuming replacing all the stuff that is likely shot at 145K miles, sounds like I need:

Boots - (the KYB's sound reasonably priced, and since I bought their struts I'm thinking these would be best. Check.

Bump stops - Is this a Nissan OEM item? Or should I use another kind/type with the H&R/KYB setup?

If there is anything else I should replace to make sure I'm definitely set, please let me know. I'm taking all this stuff to a mechanic and having them do it-- so I want them to have everything they need.... I don't want second sugeries, want to do it right the 1st time, have it aligned, and BAM-- smooth cruising for a while.

Thanks for the support guys,

-Leo

 

The boots and bump stops are one piece. Don't order OE Nissan replacements because the whole point is to get bust boots that have a shorter bump stomp, which will give you back some of the suspension travel.

You will want to get the dust boots made by KYB, but the thing is that they don't make an actual application for our car. So what you have to do is get the boots for a miata and a mustang that fit our cars just fine.

The part #'s are SB103 for the Mustang and SB108 for the miata.

 

Thanks. So, buy all (4) SB103's or (4) SB108's? Any pref. on which ar best? There must be some difference since the part #'s are diff....

Or, do you buy SB103's for the front, and SB108's for the back or something like that? And to confirm, you said these come with the bump stop, yes?

Anything else that might be needed besides these, the struts, and the springs? (any other commonly worn items I should replace being 140K miles?)

Thanks for the awesome assistance all...

 

two of each...

 

Tokico Illuminas ride better then any other strut out there for our cars.

Dave is correct regarding the Koni's, but they have their downfalls as well. Personally I would not recommend putting them in. They are not a true direct replacement,(front inserts) & the rears cannot be adjusted while there on the car and honestly the ride is a bit on the firm side, better then KYB AGX, but not nearly as smooth at the Tokico Illuminas. I've had the opportunity to install and ride in both combinations and the Illuminas definately ride better. The Illuminas might also be slightly cheaper then Koni's.