I called them to ask if they recomend me cutting the bumpstops and they said DEFENITELY NOT there is a list provided with the springs of the cars that they said needed to be cut and the maxima is not one. then he proceeded to tell me the sport springs are designed to be used with the factory struts/shocks. i told him i have a set of tokico hp blue and he told me that that could possibly change the fact of needing to cut the stops,he said something to the fact of tube length and dampening. he also explained to me that bump stops are actually progressively dampened and that cutting them will make the rebound in a negative way if the suspension is contacting them,and he said there shouldnt be a noise if you hit them that they are meant to limit suspension travel. is this guy right??? all who have the setup i want to install please please let me know if you have cut your bumpstops or not and if not have you ever hit the stops on dips/bumpy roads. going on a 2kse with factory 17in rims thanks all!!!!!!

 

yes, cut them. your car will bottom out otherwise. i had this setup for a few months, then took everything apart, and trimmed the bumpstops about 1". i knew beforehand that they recommended not cutting them, but it sucked on potholes and large bumps.

 

Usually you don't want to cut the bump stops. However the lowering springs offered for our vehicles are quite shorter than the OEM springs, meaning that that you lose a lot of lateral suspension travel with a aftermarket setup.

The only option left is to trim the bump stops for a little bit of extra travel before the suspension bottoms out when the strut compresses and sandwiches the bump stop between the strut housing and shock plate.

 

I didn't cut my bumpstops when I installed mine. I've been running H&Rs w/ 235/45 tires on stock wheels for about a 8 months without bottoming out. I like the setup for my driving style; not crazy but I like to get in some corners every once in a while.

 

now there is 1 to cut and 1 to not cut, arrrrghhhh more input guys please

 

do you mean bottoming out like scraping the belly or just getting the loud painful thumps when hitting potholes?

 

anyone????????????

 

CUT EM, Housecor says to cut them, I cut mine, just cut it about an inch in front and half-3/4 in back. You will need some serious cutting power for the rears(I reccomend Saw-zaw + Vice)

 

Definitely cut them.
My installer didn't, and I made them do it after a year of suffering and constant, insane bottoming-out.
I got real good advice from alot of members, but the proof was in my first hand experience riding with it both ways.

Cutting them reduced the bottoming-out and added some additional travel for the strut.

gr

 

I have Maxspeeds (which rumors have it, are similar to H&R, i'm not buying it though). Never cut the bumpstops, i did bottom out a couple of times on my OEM struts, but after swapping them out with GR2's i have yet to bottom out at all.

 

bumpity bump

 

more of what your're looking for here:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=291334

 

the car bottom will not hit the round. but the top of the strut will smack against he bump stop, and make a loud noise. i used a cerrated kitchen knife to cut mine. not too bad, just a lot of sawing back and forth.

 

Don't cut them. I had mine cut and the differences in ride were only slightly noticeable when going over speed bumps (parking lots or school zones). At faster speeds it made absolutely no difference at all. And I cut off two notches. Eventually my front struts began to make funny noises, and grew increasingly weaker and these were Tokico HP Blues on Maxspeeds. The Blues are just a harsh riding spring. Don't pair Blues with Maxspeeds or H&Rs.

I remove the front Blues, took out the cut bumpstops, and replaced it with new bumpstops and OEM struts in the front. Now it's terrific. The ride is as smooth as our FX35, and yet it continues to handle quite well (as opposed to stock).

Next week I'll be removing the front Maxspeeds and installing H&Rs in the front with OEM struts, so we'll see how that feels.

 

I totally agree with you. I was told by my mechanic buddy that you shouldn't cut bumpstops. They are there for a reason.........

 

would it be detrimental to only cut 1/2 inch off

 

Don't cut them at all. Just pair your H&Rs with the OEM springs or get Illuminas.

 

I've had the front only H&R drop for about 6 months now and bought some barely used Blues to pair them to. I have been extremely disappointed with the harshness of the ride and can't wait until the day I can get some Illuminas. Personally, I wouldn't cut the bumpstops -- I haven't, and in 6 months have never bottomed out.

 

I'm about to install my new progress springs onto the stock struts/shocks.
Since the progress drop is more than H&R's, is it recommended to cut them? On the how-to link about replacing springs, he cut them but I want some feedback please!!
BTW (wouldn't cutting them w/ progress cause premature strut failure?)

 

wow thats wierd, blues are suppose to be a better than oe replacement. and h r are designed for oe struts,,,hmmmmmmm

 

Blues will be nice if you use them on OEM springs. But they're naturally a harsher strut by about 15-20% it's been said. It's nice to have the harsher Blues in the rear -- it keeps the rear straight and in check over bumps. Where as the OEM was too soft and allowed the rear to hop around a bit, especially with our lousy single-beam in the back.