ive been doing some research and notice the max when paired with lowering springs has been known to blow rear shocks. is it a travel problem or just common to the max even in stock form. i just picked up tokoco blues and am ready to buy either progress springs or maxspeeds and dont know with which one to go with. maxspeed being the higher one progress being slightly lower in drop. ive been around imports for at least 15yrs and have done many suspension in my buddy old speedshop and this sounds like the vw rear suspension problem. you couldnt drop a jetta more then an inch with out tearing up rears fast. anyhow ive done springs on max's before but never my own and know its time. if anybody could shed some light that would be great. also i hear everyone talk about kyb gr-2 and tokico blue's as an oem replacment. while that is true they are vavled at 10% stiffer then oem and are still considered an upgraded strut. the bues are rated at the illuminas positon of 2 and gr-2's are rated at 2 also unless you have the eight way rear adjustable then it a 4. my buddy had them as accounts and still does till this day with them. thats were i got mine from. the same matrials are used in both also. the difference is merely the adjustability of the strut. well before i get bashed for the info and the long post thanks ahead for some advice on the spring choice.

 

Yes Maximas do not have much suspension travel in the rear, this is why shocks do not last that long with aftermarket springs. B14 Sentras are the same way, POS beam rear suspension has very limited travel. Go with H&Rs for a nice sporty ride and decent drop, H-tech ride almost like SE suspension and barely noticable on the car even looks wise, Maxspeeds lower the car more than H&Rs and Tein H-Tech, and they are little bit stiffer than H-techs. Tein S-Techs will blow your struts out in a short period of time. It don't matter if you have OEM or aftermarket struts, they will still blow out due to limited suspension travel. Only way to go is JIC, or D2 coilovers.

 

My personal theory is that it has to do with the angle of the shock and the way the beam moves.

It seems like the suspension geometry put a lot of side loads on the shock. This, coupled with the small diameter of the shock body and especially the piston, wears out the internal seals and load bearing surfaces.

The reason the front springs mount at an angle over the damper is to cancel out the side loads inherent in a Mac strut system. The rear springs are mounted straight, so they do nothing to counter any side loads.

But all of that is just a WAG from me...

 

so you feel this is all do to the angle of the struts? it may be. my old subaru rs had similiar issues with side load also but the sti struts had a piston like a babys wrist. also i thought the maxspeeds were a mild drop? so how low do you think the max can handle in the rear? i guess ill wait to gather more info on this before i just buy the springs. this sucks!! i never ran into this problem before, tanks again

 

How many people have ya seen blow their rear shocks with lowering springs? I only seem to remember Housecor blowing an Illumina.... just curious to see what the numbers are... and also if you could lemme know how they blew em, that would be good too... ie. if they hit a pothole, normal wear and tear, etc... thanks...

 

well i just know from doing a little research that there have been some members that have blew a rear strut do to limited travel. i didnt think it was a problem and i emailed brian catt from cattman. he said there shopuld be no problem w/progress springs as long as the bumpstops are installed. this is true. i wonder if the people that had these problems cut or removed the bumpstops? if the spring manufacture doesnt say to do so then it shouldnt be done. some spring manufacture's use the bumpstop as a secondary spring believe it or not. i know that honda uses there bumpstops as that. that is why there are different steps in the stop. they provide differnt levels of the compound like a spring. well i guess ill be ordering my springs today. thanks all.

 

I left my bumpstops in and uncut... so far so good...

Btw, I sent you a PM with the measurements I took... lemme know if that's what ya wanted...

 

hey puppetmaster that was great i goning to pick those up. thanks again

 

You're welcome... let us know how it all works out and most importantly, post some pics when its all done...

 

has anyone with S tech and Illumina blown the rear struts? are the Illumina warranty ? I want to go with this setup cause I just recently brought 19s falkens. I want to fill in the wheel gap. I was leaning towards the D2s but at this point of my life . I rather go with something simple and less maintance.. I had enough problems modding my last car and spent more than 20gs into a U13 alty. I want to keep my Max simple and clean.

Is there any reviews about blowing out Illumina struts? or anyone with experince..
I was up all night reading the polls about springs and struts.

so Far Illumina and S tech seem to be the way to go. I want a nice ride because this is my daily driver.

 

I've not really seen a whole lot of people complaining about blown struts... so far at least... then again, maybe I haven't been around long enough...

As for the S-Techs being a nice ride... a majority of people won't agree with that... although you might have higher tolerance for harsh, jarring rides, so I can't assume that you won't like it either... I mean, I like my Progress springs, and I've been in a WRX with S-Techs, and to me, they're not all that different. Then again, its the struts that really matter...

 

Progress recommends cutting the bumpstops.
This will provide more travel to the strut and keep the susp. from bottoming too early.
I did not cut mine for 10k miles due to installer error. I recently made them rectify this problem since my car was bottoming horrifically on mid- to large bumps.
Better now - but still pretty rough on anything but smooth roads.
I'm not certain, but i think it may have damaged my front right strut...it makes springy~grinding sounds on and off the throttle that NOBODY seems to be able to diagnose. Can't tell any major diff. in handling characterisitcs however.
i've had it in three shops now....no love.

I'm wishing for H&R's now, and I'm almost irritated enough to change back to stock, but then I'll have to buy new (stock) dustboots/bumpstops to do that.

gr

 

Mine aren't cut... never had a problem with bottoming out... only done it once on a big pothole...

We've had this conversation before haven't we, GR?

 

i want to lower my car

 

Uh, thanks for sharing... ?

 

If you carry people in the back seat of your car and have a system, you WILL bottom out your shocks on the highway. I have repleaced my 300lb springs in the back with 400lb Eibach ERS and lifted it up a little bit and with new AGXs in the rear I have no problems with bottoming out. I would ride around on bump stops all the time with people 4 people in the car and stuff in the trunk on a long distance drive. I'm hopping my JIC FLTA2s I'm installing next week will never have a bottoming out issue. I run Konis on Ground Control coilovers, for the last 90K miles.

 

Yeah, I have neither of those "problems"... ... all the best with the coilovers... I'll be looking forward to see the pics.....

 

You ARE my NEMESIS on this topic, aren't you PM??!!

I'm TOTALLY kidding!

That's what the forum is for -- point and counter point.

I don't know what the hell is wrong with my setup, but I'm just not as happy with it as I'd hoped I would be. I think I've encountered some extraordinary circumstances, and it is highly likely that I've bottomed one too many times and damaged SOMETHING.

Hopefully - i'll get it sorted.

gr

 

Yes I am... and you're never gonna be rid of me....

I'll tell ya what's wrong... your bumpstops were cut...







Just kidding...

All the best... hope ya get it all fixed soon...

 

[QUOTE=Puppetmaster]Yes I am... and you're never gonna be rid of me....

I'll tell ya what's wrong... your bumpstops were cut...

You're a B1TCH!!

gr

 

[QUOTE=ghostrider17]Hey I meant that in the best possible way...

 

I know -- that's my only comeback for getting zinged.

In my defense, however -- the install instructions that come with the springs DO SAY to TRIM the bumpstops!!!!

gr

 

I wish I could still find them, but someone on the org developed some rear shock towers to fix this issue. Basicly this is just a longer rear shock tower to allow for more travel. Most people that have used this, have loved it, smoother ride, no bumps, and less chance of a blown strut. If anyone comes across this thread, share it with the group.

 

Do ya do everything people tell ya to?

I'm just playing... for all I know I'm gonna get burned down the line for not cutting the bump stops, so I'm gonna get off your case now...

Peace...

 

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/574975/11

Just get this

 

Seriously, keep me posted on how it settles-in after 10k.
I promise I won't flame you too bad when it starts making crazy sounds like mine -- and bottoming-out like a m-f!

gr

 

if you cut the bumpstops it won't affect you if you back to stock struts?