My max was in the body shop, getting some cosmetic work done. Well, we all were talking about my tires, and he was telling me how fast they wear out cuzz their performance tires, ect ect, and then I asked "So do you guys do any suspension installation?" and he said DON'T add any lowering springs becuase they put more weight on the tires (like a sponge), thus SHORTENING the life of the tire to about 10,000 miles! WTF ? It seems everwhere I go people are discouraging me from doing any mods to my car. What do yall think ?

 

Your sig is NOT MedicSonic approved.

 

YOu *****!

 

I will change it medic. But fella's I need help on this !

 

Interesting.....my 94 with Michelin MXV4s with Eibachs have about 42k on them.......they'll be disappointed to hear that they shouldn't be on the vehicle.....

 

That shop doesn't know squat. It's hard to believe that they actually have a shop and that they actually work on cars for a living.

 

 

Some people believe if it doesn't come on the car, it's gonna hurt your car. I feel sorry for those people.

 

Good Tires...I have those on the rear of my car..

 

Thanks for the replies, but can someone please explain why or why not springs decrease/increase tire life ???

 

I am thinking from a Physics perspective. Lowering the car will lower the center of gravity. Lets say, you have an adjustable height bookshelf. With the same amount of books, would it matter whether you mount the bracket 5 feet or 6 feet from the floor?!

Similarly, lowering the car will not ADD any weight on your tires. If you drop it enough (more than 1.5") you may need to buy camber kit for adjustment purposes ONLY.

Find out what it takes to be a mechanic and you'll know why he says that...

 

Any suspension modification (whether with stock stuff or otherwise) changes its geometry, as everything isn't EXACTLY as it was before.

However, that shop probably hasn't heard of something called an alignment, which is performed after such suspension replacements to get everything back in line. Thus, no excessive tire wear, etc.

Those people you've talked with are idiots. Please avoid them.

 

well i am just getting into cars but lets think physics for a minute... if the car weighs X lbs and is distributed over 4 tires... then the car is lowered... lets see... ummm... well we still have a car weighing X lbs distributed over 4 tires.

 

Can you elaborate on this? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Maybe that guy should find out what it takes to be a mechanic and maybe he wouldn't have said that in the first place?

 

WHY, WHY can people say this **** then ? Now my mom is all worried and belives everything he says and doesn't want me getting suspension now. And Get this: Another mechanic I went to said lowering the car screws it up!

Guys it seems like we are the only one's who think these don't hurt/downplay your car ! What the hell.

 

Lowering your car w/o knowing what you are doing or understanding how it affects your suspension is not wise.

General statements that say "lowering your car = ruining it" is ignorant on the "mechanic's" part.

 

I can maybe see his point, the mechanics, I don't beleive so much but I have a theory of why. When you lower the car you buy shorter springs, with a stiffer spring rate. Also, if done correctly, new struts should be added to help the "shock" effect which are alsao stiffer. So now when you go over that pothole etc.. it is more of a harsher jolt. This harsher jolt puts more upward force against the tires, because that softer spring rate is not there to help "soften" the ride. Just a theory, not that it matters anyways, I would just buy new tires if they do wear out.

 

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Another theory might be that, when turning, since your springs are shorter and stiffer, and center of gravity is lower, you put more force on the tires, thus wearing them a little more. Just a thought ?

 

look how many people have lowered cars. anyone yet to post that they are going thru tires like no tomorrow? i think its more personal opinion than anything else.

 

another thing is.. do SUV tires wear out faster than sedans? I really wouldn't worry about it... the only reason for the tires to wear faster is because you will feel more bad a$$ in a lowered car, thus peel out more often.

 

Actually, it makes sense to a point. If you stand up perfectly straight, your weight is distributed evenly. If you squat slightly, you feel more pressure, although the weight is the same. The effect is amplified the lower you go.

Of course, this aside, I still don't think lowering will ruin your tires.

 

just find another mechanic that will tell you lowering your car will lengthen the life of your tires and you can go on and lower your car and be happy like the rest of us

 

I don't know if this is right, but if the car weighs 3100 lbs regular height and it is lowered and is realigned, it still weighs 3100 lbs. I have noticed that car mechanics are actually pretty dumb sometimes. They told me once that they couldn't do my alignment because I put the springs upside down. Stupid.

 

Oh yeah! So a lowered car will make a .0000000001 difference on my quarter mile because the spring is smaller and has less metal!

 

man the wheels are always turning arent they

 

When they were talking about lowering your car, did they mean to cut your springs? Because back in the day, that's all people did.

 

Maybe the thought you were going to lower it by putting 1000 Lbs in the trunk, thus putting more weight on the tires

 

when I got my car I had lots of dumbazzzzes talking me out of doing things, well they can all kiss my .... I went on ahead and did it anyways. Go the Eibach website it has lots of good info. Now when you lower vehicle you get better even tire wear and handling by having a lower center of gravity. Use this maxima.org to your advantage thats the reason is here. I called the nissan dealer for help and were reluctant to help me out they said go to maxima.org for help I was like whatever. I modified my suspension 4 times I am in search of that nice look and barely no gap. Sprint are on backorder to the end of Oct so I bought some dropzones and then I said to myself why spend more money just let me cut one of my coils called intrax and the rep was cool and helpful he told me which one to cut and it worked just fine is not all bouncy like people said ti would be nothing like that. Ill post a thread about it, and guys can go from there and make their own decisions. Just read on the mods that your going to do to your car performance wise.

 

But Seriously folks,
Theoretically.- There would not be more weight on the tires - But there is weight on the tires more of the time. Get rid of the awful stock springs and shocks that bounce a bunch and get some konis and H&R's or whatever and the tire will stay planted to the road more of the time because of the faster rebound rate.

A car that feels like a rocker horse will have less of the cars weight less of the time(less control etc.)on the tires thus less weight overall. -less actual contact with the pavement.

Adversley -When a car with soft springs rebounds abunch on the tires -each time it rebounds it would wear the tires more because of the constant fluctuation instead of a steady solid replanting of the tire to the road that comes with upgraded shocks and springs.

It is not a major problem. If it was I would see more wear on my 97 SE tires than on my wifes 95 GXE with the same tires -SP 5000's 235/45 17's put on at the same time. Basically find another shop and don't worry about the tire wear.

 

just make sure the mechanic who does the install does it correctly. while the car is apart make sure all the upper and lower mounts are in good shape. my car makes noises (sorry for whining) because one of the upper mounts probably went bad from the install. you must get a front end alignment afterwards. hope this helps.

 

the only way you tires are going to wear out faster is if you slam your car. the reason your tires will wear out faster is due to negative camber and negative camber is only going to wear out the inner part of the tread. i have a 1.75in. drop on my car and i dont wear out tires faster than at stock ride height. it is a good idea to align your car after you install lowering springs because the toe will be off. the camber will also be off but there is no camber adjustment on maximas so you will have to by a camber kit. i didnt need one my car drives straight and my tires wear fine

 

So, Is it just luck/chance that I wouldn't need a chamber kit ?

 

I would do anything to make money...

such as cutting springs, installing exhaust tips, and push cats...

 

i tried getting lots of garages to install/fix my suspension. they don't want to get involved because of a liability issue. they feel that altering the car might compromise safety in some way, which i disagree as long as they're installed properly. if you look hard enough, some garages will be glad to install your equipment and make tons of money off of you. such was my case, but sometimes things just don't go as planned. make sure you have enough time and patience for these kinds of things if you're not very experienced in working with major components.

 

SOme shop thinks it isn't safe to do those stuff because they knew that they do not have the ability and the knowledge! For example, you can't ask the guys at an air freshner/shifter **** "performance" shop to install your springs........


I think that springs and shocks could easily be done at home with the right equpiment. If you go with complete coil over, all you have to do is to take out the stock ones and put them on...no hesitation.

 

can somebody forward me step by step instructions on removal and installation of springs and shocks for the max? i am left with no choice now. i MUST replace all of my tokico shocks because one is making a lot of noise and now another is leaking. i figured i could live with the noise for a while as i save money for AGXs but now i must have them replaced. the only thing is, that leaves me with not enough to have someone else install them professionally. i know i can do it. someone just has to walk me through the use of spring compressors! i have all the needed tools otherwise. thanks for any input you guys provide.

 

Me too!

 

im in the process on changing out the springs and shocks to KONI/apex. I also had no choice but to do it at home too because the shop quoted me like $300 to do it and they didnt even know what KONIs were!! geez. Im already done doing the right side of the car and going to finish the other side tommorow. Its not as hard as you think really and this is my first time working with the suspension.

 

The simplest answer (and the CORRECT one which many other members here have so intelligently stated in a less formal way ):::


T H E

L A W S

O F

P H Y S I C S (the answer to EVERYTHING!)


The weight of your car is a measurement of force which is

mass * acceleration = weight (or force).

Remember, lbs is a measurement of force, not mass, so we will use kilograms in this example.

Say your Max has a mass of X kg, the force applied to the wheels by the mass of the car is X * g (where g is acceleration due to gravity). Unless changing the springs/struts somehow warps the laws of physics (change of g) or significantly increases the overall mass of the vehicle (change of X),

THERE IS NO CHANGE AT ALL IN THE LOAD ON THE TIRES!!!!

Damn man, since you do not change the mass of the car, HOW IN HEAVEN'S NAME ARE YOU GONNA PUT MORE LOAD ON THE TIRES?!?! The entire mass of the car is ALREADY ON the tires! Lowering it CHANGES NOTHING! Well, in terms of the tire tread wear.

Okay, Okay, I'm kinda lying cuz if you lower too much and your wheels are out of alignment, then of course you will get uneven wear, but that's not the issue here. The issue is that these guys are dumba$$e$ and should NOT be allowed to touch your baby!

 

just drop it and get the car aligned. thats what i did.