I have a 99 max with ground control coilovers and tokico illuminas. I am using the stock 16's. My problem is that I keep bottoming out the rear even with noone in the backseat. I dont have a big subbox in the trunk. I kept wearing out the struts. I replace them and a year later they are worn out. My friend has the same setup and uses agx's instead on 18's and he has the car slammed and he doesnt bottom out. So I replaced the illuminas and bought some agx's to use. The ride is better with the agx's but I still bottom out. It doesnt bottom out as easy but then again these struts are new. I called gc and they swear that their springs cant and wont ever sag.

I need help, I am about to just go back to the stock springs. I can bottom out the rear with just a lane difference like when they pave just one lane and the other lane is like a 2 inch drop. If I go over it like at a T doing 5-10mph at an a intersection it will bottom out! I dont have the coilovers all the way down. The rear collar is all the way up.

Please help

 

Do you have RSB? I had a similar problem... it turned out that one of the RSB brackets was hitting the chassis and did not let the shocks compress any further.

 

I do have an addco rear sway bar. I dont see any scratch marks on it though. I'll probably remove the sway bar to check. But why do I go through so many rear shocks?

 

hm... as far as I know GC original springs are much stiffer than most conventional aftermarket springs. Maybe they are just too stiff for illuminas?

 

I still bottom out with brand new agx's too.

Heres a pic of the left rear strut b4 I replaced it with agx. As you can see I dont have the collar lowered a lot. I did cut the bump stop per ground controls advice.

 

Blown shocks do not necessarily relate to your frequent bottoming out...

Anyways, let's see what others have to say.

 

well I removed the rear anti sway bar and it still does it.. Please someone help!

 

Do you have the settings on the struts turned all the way up?

 

im running the same setup and have not had any problems whatsoever. btw im at 3fr/3rr as far as damping settings go and collar all the way up in the rear.

 

I would NOT NOT NOT cut the bumpstops for any suspension setup ever again, after my experience. I too bottomed out all the time, and really harshly, after I cut my bumpstops (front only). I never cut the rears because it didn't look like a good idea with the rear design. See my comments at the end of this thread. Part of my problem is that my springs (H-Techs) are just too soft for the amount of drop they give, but in your case I bet that replacing the bumpstop/dustboot unit with a new OEM replacement would help you a lot. Even if you were still bottoming out for some other reason, your ride would be a lot more comfortable because you'd have enough rubber to slow down the strut before it crashes into the bottom. Bumpstops are your friend!

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=291334&page=4