Well, I have forever raved about Konis and how they are better dampers than one could ever hope for in any coilovers made for the Maxima, especially per $. But the truth is, I have had every problem known to man with my Konis, I have bought three sets of fronts now and that is not including the set that was on the car originally. Out of the four sets of fronts I have, three inserts are not blown and since they are not shortened I am not sure how well they are holding on. You can only shorten the newer inserts so much (like 1/4-1/2") and as thus are not able to get an acceptable amount of compression travel out of them IMO, and thus the excellent properties of the damper, longevity included, go out the window as they will be bottoming out if I drive the car like I want to.

I am sick of ****ing around with Konis. I'm studying Electrical Engineering at UCSB and it is really starting to pick up; I don't have the time to screw around with the suspension every time something goes awry. In light of this, I am considering moving over to the dark side and picking up a set of decent coilovers.

Ksport, D2 and Tein are out. Seriously, no offense to the owners, but I like dampers that work.

JICs are iffy. They (also) use pillow ball mounts, and while I like the idea of camber plates, the slightly better ride and theoretically more correct design, I do NOT like the reduced life of these mounts, and from what I have heard their customer service is atrocious.

I am looking for damper quality/robustness, ride, travel, and longevity. Pretty much what I see that is left is Boss Chens or Progress. They use the stock upper mounts, use decent dampers and seem to have good customer support. Also, I'd be running a moderate drop, maybe 1.5" all around, or what I'm at right now with the Eibachs.

What do you think, am I making a mistake looking at coilovers, or is it a step in the right direction? Should I be looking at Boss Chens or Progress? Does Larrio frequent the org any more? I haven't seen him around in quite awhile...

 

From what I have read, Boss Chen are very nice. A buddy of mine used to have progress coilovers but they made tons of noise so he got rid of them in a week. I don't know how old they were since they were used; but I think the "newer" progress have fixed that problem.

 

try k-sport never had any problems except i tried riding extremely low and blew an axle but that was my ignorance

 

jics are now being made with rubber bushings rather than the pillowball mounts. the progress are also a good choice, but the dampers are not adjustable. not a huge deal imo since they are probably the only coilover valved specifically for our application. can't comment on boss chens.

 

good luck trying to get boss chens

 

Now you see my position sir

I would say JICs are about the only real option for us, as well as progress, and apparently Boss chens are hard to find...

Good luck on getting progress as well though, as far as i know Cattman is on their last sets with possibly no intentions of getting any more

So on that note....JICs

 

i have talked to bryan about the future of the progress coilovers, and its unsure at best. it appeared to me that he was beggining to make the switch to jic as well (opinion not fact).

 

JICs are more $$, plus they are unreliable and they have HORRIBLE customer service... I am very reserved.

For comparison's sake, could you PM me the price you can get on these?

 

jic is pretty well respected as one of the best suspension companies out there, although i'm sure some have had issues as with all products.

pricing is no secret:

msrp: $2080
lowest advertisable price (per jic sales policy): $1976

there is some room for additional discount, however i am not the type of dealer to "***** out" a quality product at an extremely low price/profit margin (they are out there however). i am down to my last set of pillow-ball mount type, which i recieved at a discount from jic because they were the last sets in stock and they wanted to clear them out for the new design (rubber bushing).

 

It's the pillow ball mounts that make the g0d d4mn ball-peen hammer to the strut tower sound. I honestly would have been completely satisfied with my D2's If I had them mated to stock or GC style mounts. With the ride height I set the car at camber plates are a non-issue for me.

I am convinced that besides product defects, all noises are related to mounts and spring isolators/mount isolators. If you can believe it, my GC/AGX setup is quiter than stock (considering how stock "clomps" over bumps). Much vibration (or road feel LOL) is transmitted to the cabin and through the wheel however due to the metal on metal on metal connection (minus the thin strut bearing/mount) from the knuckle all the way to the strut tower.

Talk with Brian Catts about your needs, he has a wealth of knowledge on 4th gen suspension and doesn't just try to sell you something.

 

No.

 

the pillow ball mounts do transmit more noise than rubber bushings due to the metal on metal nature of them. it is a trade off of performance vs. comfort. that being said, i doubt that any other company put in as much r&d as progress/cattman for our chassis. i have my own reasons for choosing jic over progress, but they are both products i would recommend without hesitation.

 

I was particularly speaking of PBM failure and the awful sound/play that developes.

 

My $0.02 on a few things:

IIRC only D2 and JIC had pillow ball mount issues, and they fixed those. The newer ones D2 used were the same ones that Ksport used, and they never broke. It is true that pillow ball mounts transmit more vibration to the cabin, and the extra precision and control won't really be meaningful in a Maxima, especially with second-rate dampers. The real benefit to pillow ball upper mounts on a Maxima is the camber plates.

I still wouldn't buy Ksports unless you absolutely can't shell out for better stuff, but I do get the impression they've gotten better. They've definitely been doing some serious revisions on their products, e.g. new oil seals, new dampers with clicking adjustments, etc. I would be surprised if they had the same issues as they used to.

I agree with BLACKonBLACK98 about Progress's R&D. JIC really is the only other decent option, and IMO the only reason to choose them over Progress is for the feature set.

Progress is almost definitely going to be discontinuing those coilovers, but unless the company goes under I am sure they will continue to support you with minor stuff like rebuilds.


Now, as to the original question: If you already have Eibach springs and are sick of d!cking around with stuff, don't get coilovers. Slap on a pair of non-shortened Konis in the front, get the car back on the road, and call it a day. No coilover setup is going to be as much of a fire-and-forget solution as that.

 

One note about stock mounts vs PB on CO's. After switching back to OEM insulator mounts from PB and running -2.0 camber using crash bolts I got lots of wear on those metal holes where the strut top goes through the mount. They elongated the holes sideways maybe 1/4" in just one year causing a bit of side to side top play. Might just be my driving or setup

It was FAR more comfortable than my previous Stillen plates and metal Technotoy top hats though.

 

What's wrong with Tein coilovers?

 

tein is definitely a quality company, but being that the basic is the only 4th gen option i would geuss the concern is the valving.

 

I'm still waiting for someone to slap Konis into their coilovers (insert brand here)..

 

No matter what I do it will be a step down from the Konis, damper-wise. I want to minimize that step. I might take a second look at Teins but ATM I am leaning towards just shortening the Konis and seeing how long they last.

Secondly, the Teins are a fairly new product as far as I know, and not many people have long-term experience with them. It's somewhat possible that the dampers are up to par and maybe that the construction is great, but for the price I doubt that that's true and I have no real way of knowing how long they will hold up.

If they had the SS/EDFC available for the 4th gen it might be a different story. IIRC they have it for a 5th gen, I was considering doing some homework to see how easy it would be to retrofit them...

 

I was kind of thinking about that... but again, waaay too much work and a similar amount of $$ even if I just got ksports or something.

 

The Basics are okay. They're valved fine for what they are (simple, cheap coilovers). The main concern with them is that you can't adjust height independently of the spring position, so you the lower you set them, the less travel you have.

Theoretically the narrow piston diameters they run could indicate less robust damper design, but I haven't seen that to be a problem. Then again, we can't really tell because not many people own them...

 

It's not that they're new; they're actually one of the oldest kits available. It's just that there are very few people using them and talking about them.

The SS is the same thing as the Basic, only with adjustable damping. It's not a big improvement. For the price, Progress would be much better IMO.

 

hadn't heard of them before recently. I'm guessing there's a reason...

Which basically means that there is no reason whatsoever to go with them over Konis and Eibachs. Preload adjustment != independent ride height adjustment, which is the main reason that I'd want coilovers.

 

i actually forgot about the lack of a length adjustable design on the basics. thats a big minus in my book. taking a second look at the basics, they are definitely not a performance oriented design. like doodfood said, the ss share most of the same design features so i wouldn't really bother with those either. what i would say about the applicable tein products is the quality is there, but the features are not.

 

If you have the money... Blistein setup is always nice.

 

Since when does Bilstein make Maxima parts?

 

This is what I have been looking for. Good thread...

I have been using Agx and Eibach for 3 years with no issues. I am looking into getting a set of coilovers and have been researching different forums. I found out that alot of guys are using and liking Megan Racing Coilovers. But they don't make them for 4th Gens. With some phone calling and emailing I found out that the Megan Coilovers are made by Bor-Chuann Enterprise (don't guote me on it), which make them for Apexi. So I went to Bor-Chaunn's website and saw that they do make them for the A32. So I called Megan Racing and they stated that they may make them for the 4th Gen this year. So with a little pressure we might have a New Coilover for the 4th Gen in 08. They sell for around $850 to $890 for the 5th Gen.

But alot of guys in Ny have been using Nex Gen, G4, and the new D2 with no issue's. Here is a link to a coilover review http://forums.nycmaximas.org/showthread.php?t=28904

 

I have seen many suspension reviews on Evo, 240, and 350 forums and they all are reporting blow outs from every shock and coilover maker. But what i didn't see is, what caused each shock and coilover to blow out. As cheaply made as the K sports are. I have seen some K sport owners that have never had any blow outs and they have had K sports for over A year. Now my Agx's have seen numerous trips to LGA, JFK, and Newark Liberty airport with the muffler scrapping all the way. But some people have been reporting blow outs with Agx. Both my 4th gens have had (and still do)Agx on for 3 years. What is causing everyone's shocks and coilover's to blow out?
I bottomed out several time in Manhattan and the Bx. I blew my axle's twice from that but never blow my Agx.

I just want to go a little lower and was going to do the shorten Koni's until the reviews about them blowing. So now I am waiting to see if Megan Racing will produce a set, if not I am looking at D2's and Progress (if I can find them in the spring). Megan Racing has been focusing on drifting. Nelson from Megan said that the 4th gen was on the list for this year. From all the reaserch I have been doing. Coilover's are not built for continued street use. Race tracks don't have pot holes.

Good thread... I hope to get some answers from this thread before I purchase my coilover...

 

Well it's certainly possible you won't get any "blowouts" no matter what strut or coilover you go with, that doesn't mean that it's improbable.

 

I agree with you Morpheuszero. But the lower end units tend to blowout more. My friend has Eibach and Tokico blue's and he has replaced all four twice in 3 years under warranty. But I think that these companies need to do more R&D. We should get alteast 3 years out of our shocks.

Alot of us over looked Progrees Coilover's because of lack of dampening. I have seen tv reviews on them and they showed how they design and test their coilover's. The bottom line is, you pay more for the Jic's and Progress compared to Ksport but you are paying for R&D. I am not saying that the other companies don't do R&D. I think that the higher end companies do more dyno and track testing then the lower ones. Jic, Progress, Tein, Kyb, Tokico, and Megan all have shock dyno's. If you can't wait to see what Megan Racing will do and you don't want to spend $1900 for Jic's I would go with Progress or check out that link and look into G4, Nex Gen, and the new D2. But look at that link and post some of your concerns in it.

I will give Megan until April and If they dont release a set for the 4th gen I will try the D2. But since I have 2
4th gens I might put Ground control on my beater just to try them. But I am looking at coilovers for my turbo Max..

 

Well you're paying for a higher quality product, but yes, that definitely entails more R&D.

 

I am glad you started this thread. I am looking into coilovers. And I want to get them before my shocks wearout.
Let me share this with you. My friend wanted to hook his 4th Gen up. And he aproached me last year about getting a lowered look, rims and some exterior work. So he wanted a lower ride then what I have just for looks. I ended up getting a brand new set of Ksports for $700 shipped for him. Now my friend doesn't drive as aggresive as I do. A year and 2 months after he got them all four blew. What I am saying is just do research. Try to contact guys that live in NY,Nj,CT, Mi areas where the streets are bad and get some opinions. DId you look at the link?

 

I know this topic a little better than I'd prefer to know it.

There are a few factors here.

I am absolutely convinced that "never had any problems" is a meaningless statement about a car. How many times have you seen kids say that when it's blatantly false? People think that certain problems are normal, so they don't mention them. A lot of people don't even know when they're having a problem in the first place. When you hear someone say they've "never had a problem" with their suspension, they might be bouncing all over the place because their damping is set badly or their dampers are blown, but think that's normal. Or they might be getting a lot of noise but think it's from interior panels. How can you tell?

Half the time, people pass judgment on a product before enough time has passed, or before enough information comes in. People come into coilover threads all the time talking about how they've never had any trouble with brand X or Y, and then it turns out they live in California and have driven on nothing but silky smooth roads in warm weather, and have owned their coilovers for all of four months. There are a lot of cases where people say "I've been riding on these things for two years and 40k miles and haven't had a problem", and then try to say the product is solid. One guy (usually the first customer), one car (often the testbed), one forum post (usually aimed at selling you something), and you're supposed to believe that the entire line is totally reliable.

It works the other way, too. We had a thread here where five people had blowouts and filled two pages with posts, and from then on everyone who came into the thread instantly assumed that the coilovers were unreliable.

On top of that, there's no telling who's going to post and who isn't. How many people do you know who would pop into a discussion threads just to say a product worked the way it should? Usually people only post when they have problems, so those five people posting might be the only five bad cases. On the other hand, maybe other people have had problems and just thrown their coilovers in the trash without bothering to tell anyone. Again, there's no way to tell.

When you get hundreds of people buying the product, using it for over a year in a variety of situations, and making a lot of honest input in discussions, then you can make a call. Until then, it's all a guess.


Now, all that said, there are some guidelines with respect to the durability of suspension products. The most important one in most cases is this: Stiff springs are hard on dampers. The stiffer the springs, the more force they exert on the suspension and the more likely your dampers are to blow out.

Your buddy with Eibachs and Tokico Blues is blowing out his dampers partly because Eibachs are pretty stiff, and the Blues weren't made to handle them. Your AGXs are better suited to the task, so they're doing better for you. If you use the right product for the right purpose, it'll last longer.

Coilovers are a slightly different story because they always use springs that are WAY siffer than any regular spring you can get for your car. Because of that, the dampers they come with have to be WAY better built or they’ll ride like crap and blow out in a heartbeat. Well, guess how many appropriately well built dampers you’ll find on a sub-$1000 coilover kit? Not too many. AFAIK the cheaper kits usually use ultra-thick shock oil, which makes the ride crappy but keeps things cheap and relatively in-control. The problem is that the dampers are still cheap, so you have to set your coilovers up just right and tighten everything down perfectly or there will be excessive side force and you’ll get premature wear and tear. An additional problem is that in cold weather, that ultra-thick oil practically turns into gel and all the seals harden. That’s a really, really quick route to a blowout.

It will always be an unfortunate irony that the coilovers cheap enough to be bought by n00bs are never built well enough to take the abuse caused by improper setup….


Another thing I can tell you is that the Koni blowouts were caused by errors in the install. If you use your Konis normally with Eibach springs, you shouldn't have a problem. Either way, unless you want to slam your car, there is no way in HELL Megan Racing coilovers will be better. Konis are just way better built.


Anyway, FWIW.

 

its a pretty well known fact that k-sports blow out regularly, as well as a couple other issues. imo they are a case of good features, low quality. from what i understand (can any confirm this once and for all?) d2s are made by the same manufacturer as k-sports.

the reason i say progress most likely has the most r&d in it is 1) brian was involved, and 2) they do not have some of the adjustability features. if you were serious about making a quality coilover without damping adjustability, camber adjustability, and total length adjustability then you would be required to do a little more work to get it right.

so heres how it breaks imo:

quality on everything other than tein, progress, and jic is questionable at best. tein basics are designed for looks/comfort rather than performance. progress/cattman are designed with performance in mind, but lack some features. jic offer performance, quality, and features but are pricey.

for the average coilover buyer, i would say progress to be the best choice.

 

So what are some errors that people make with Koni install?
I want to drop my car 1.75inch what do you recomend? The Koni insert isn't hard to install but, I like the plug and play of coilovers. And I understand that the new Koni can't be lowered as much as the old ones. Do you know if the Koni can stand up to Ground control, progress or tein?

Some of the guys who get longevity out of their coilovers, take them off for the winter and regrease.

I keep telling my boy that his shocks are not made for that but, he gets them replaced under warranty..


As far as passing judgement, I am guilty of that...lol .. but now I have learned to do my own research. If it wasn't for me passing judgement I would have bought Progress coilover's 3 years ago...

 

I think by the time I am ready, the Progress coilover won't be avaliable. So I was looking into Megan and D2 or koni with progress springs or ground control.
I spoke to someone from Ground Control and he was telling me to use Agx. Since I have two Maxima's I was going to try them on my daily driver...

Do you sell the D2's?

 

as of now, i don't sell anything other than the progress and jic. if you can't get your hands on progress when the time comes, i would consider a normal shock/spring set-up for a 1.75" drop or maybe a custom rate ground control/koni set-up.

 

Wait, Progress don't have separate ride height adjustability?

 

I was thinking of GC with the default spring rate and ordering a softer spring after.

 

I think they do have separate ride height adjustabilty. The Tein's don't...