yea as some of you know, my car is still sporting the 4x4 style.

here she is in case you havent seen her:





basically what I want is a CLOSE TO STOCK ride, with about a 1.5"-2" drop.
the idea being that my car is more of a luxury ride than a sport ride, but still has an agressive look.
money doesnt matter that much; id rather have a great overall setup that is going to last a long time and give me a smooth ride and look, than a cheaper setup that is going to have to be replaced in 40,000 miles.


at the suggestion of three local maxima.orgers, my initial idea was a setup using Tokico Blues and H-techs (blues because i wont be autoxing, and the adjustible feature of the illumina is overkill)

however over the past 6 months ive done a fair amount of research and reading on the org about peoples experiences with this setup, and not all of them have been positive.
the most common complaint i have heard about blues is that they do not last.

ive also pmed various 4th gen "OGs" and asked their opinion, and two of them agreed that the FULL ILLUMINA Ebay SETUP would be my best option.


so knowing what im looking for here, (NOT a slammed look, a reasonable drop that looks stock) I would like some of you gurus to help me decide from the hundreds of choices available.







and yea i know this is about the 10523011391239th thread on this, but i HAVE searched the org AND asked various people over the past half year.
i have lots of information, but i want some direct feedback for the time being.

im close to making a pretty serious financial decision and i want to have all the input possible.
i appreciate your understanding.

 

You could get what i'm getting...Illumina/Progress

Progress is actually cheaper too, and from what i've read, not really all that different from H&Rs/H-techs, but are a tad lower.

If you're doing it yourself, just make sure to pick up all the little parts needed for the suspension (i.e. strut mounts, dustboots, etc) to make it easier on yourself.

I'm currently in the parts-gathering stage mahself.

 

H&R + Illumina is your only choice on a lowered setup that actually rides nice.
Set them on 2 all around and it rides pretty dam smooth.

Don't waste your $$ on the Blues if your lowered, they are kind of on the soft side, especially on the rebound. I didn't like them when I had them coupled with H&R's.
As soon as I switched over to the Illuminas, there was a big differance in ride control, yet the car still rode very smooth.

My .02

 

im runnin blues with an eibach pro kit. car drives beautifully.... most of my driving is around downtown atlanta and on the highway.... not one complaint...i wanted a little better handleing but more importantly i wanted to fill that wheel gap. and the eibach pro kit did just that....PM me if you got any questions. there are also some pix in my profile of how the car sits...

 

KYB AGX's + Tein S-Techs. Only way to go. Set the AGX's to 2 on the front and 4 on the back and you will not regret it.

 

for struts that will bolt right up Illuminas can not be beat. i have them and love them and would definatly buy them again.

for springs i have s-techs. the drop is decent because it gets rid of the sag *** but they dont allow your struts to work to their full potential. if i was gonna get another set of springs i would probably get the Tokicos.

but if your gonna end up spending 6-$700 on a strut/spring setup and maybe plus labor(another $150 or so) you could get a set of coilovers and do it once, do it right you know....cant wait for the after pics!

 

I have this setup and I am willing to sell it (pending you provide me with a suspension to replace it with, or pay more so I can buy a used one somewhere).

My suspension has new bump stops, strut mounts, and boots.

Let me know if you're interested and we can work out a deal.

 

So much for getting a consensus.

Hopefully you won't be changing your suspension as many times as your rims!

In for more opinions....

 

even though you stated that your not a fan of the having adjustment for rebound and damping controls... I would spend the coin and just do it. I have the kyb agx and I find that they are really temp. sensitive. 10 degrees can make a huge difference in the ride quailty of the shocks. Adjustment is key to me maintaining a smooth ride slightly stiffer than stock.

H&R springs ftw in my case. 1.4f/1.3r.

 

I have the Tokico HP245 Kit and they ride VERY smooth. I'll say a step up from stock since its still soft as someone mentioned it above. Only downside I hate about them is that the ride height is identical to stock. If you want a nice drop I don't recommend them. I'm actually considering selling them later as I was low on money and my stock suspension was blown.

Next setup might be Illumina's and H&R or Ksport coilovers.

 

ok so illuminas seem to be the overall best bet for struts.


what about springs?


anyone have beef with HTechs?



also, what else will i need (some of you mentioned boots/mounts/etc.)?

 

Well bro....^^ we are in the game together. As you might know, i have had the s-techs for months now and unable to buy struts. Nonetheless, my time is near and its either agx's,illuminas or konis.

 

go illumnas and either eibach or the FULL ILLUMINA kit.

I have had the illumnas on two different cars, and both on eibach springs,
along with ksports on another max.
I would only go somthing that stiff again if i wanted a weekend ride.
daily driver illumnas took a beating and lasted for ever.
The eibachs rode great, a little stiffer but not ridiculous. I haven't run the FULL ILLUMINA kit, but i will be doing that next month since i just bought the springs.
You will be happy with the ride, and the height.
eibachs with illumnas on 19s

 

Best strut available for the 4th gen are konis.

for springs dont stray outside of eibach and H&R

I personally prefer H&R they are more linear and refined than eibachs.

 

Just buy my suspension .

It has new mounts, boots, and bump stops front (mustang) and rear (miata).

 

Progress/Gr-2. I have had this setup for a while now and love it. Rides almost like stock but handles and looks much better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This is very true since it has gotten cold my Agx ride like **** but the illuminas on my other car feel great

Illumina>blues,gr2 and agx True Story.

 

+1 From reviews and recommendations it is the truth!

 

I agree... I've moved over to Koni's on H&R this summer and I can't say enough about it. Don't get wrong, Illumina's are nice as well but I've only driven them with Eibach and, I have to say, the Koni/ H&R setup does everything better.

The Koni install will take a bit of work but it's nothing too hard. It is an amazing strut, seems to do everything well. Also, with those wheels the drop would look amazing.

 

Koni>Illuminas>AGX>Blues/OE replacements

Pair them up with either H&Rs, H-Techs or Progress. I believe the spring rates are all relatively the same although it escapes me whether they are all progressive or linear springs. Anything lower, move on to coilovers unless you want to shell out money for shortened Konis.

I started with H-Techs, then moved to S-Techs because it wasn't low enough still, and ultimately ended up with coilovers. Just for you information, choose wisely in case you're not going to be completely happy with your ride height in the future.

 

QFT!!!

Glad someone brought it up. I dont understand these people that say that illuminas are the best we can get...

Frank, Eibach spring rates are probably too high for you. Not familiar with the differences between S and H-techs. Progress is good too.

 

Do you guys have H&R cause those are as good as eibachs just not as bone jarring...

 

Follow this thread:

http://forums.maxima.org/advanced-su...nerations.html

Eibach (progressive)
Front: 166-257 lbs/in
Rear: 166-343 lbs/in

Tokico (progressive)
Front: 111-225 lbs/in
Rear: 148-295 lbs/in

TEIN High-Tech ("H-Tech") (progressive)
Front: 180 lbs/in
Rear: 250 lbs/in

TEIN S-Tech (progressive?)
Front: 200 lbs/in
Rear: 280 lbs/in

 

LOL, as if. I rode on AGXs for years.. not the best by any means. They are nice becasue they are adjustble but are a bit on the stiff side. Even when lowering the settings, even more so in the winter.

 

+1 I have eibachs on one car and H&Rs on the other, H&Rs are much much better for DD use by far

 

NEX GT coilovers.

 

So what solved your problem...was it tokico or coilovers.?

 

jic.

/thread

naw... in all seriousness i think h&r are what you are looking for. i rode similar springs (maxspeed) on gr2s for a while and it was comfortable yet definitely more responsive. i personally think adjustable are overrated and can do more harm than good in the wrong hands, in respect to ride quality.

 

Did you make a decision as yet Sir.?

 

When you say H&R springs...do you mean the Red or Black?

 

only seen blacks.^^

 

Red are the Tokico Springs that come with the Tokico Illumina+ Spring package. I have the kit and love the performance and the comfort. Why are these springs so in the dark when it comes to discussions about springs that have performance and comfort at the same time.

 

I'm actually starting to love the Tokico HP245 more and more as the ride comfort is awesome! If I get 18"s and they fill the gap pretty well I will be keeping the setup otherwise I'll make the switch.

 

i have ksports on 1 and tokico blues on the other, tokico blues.... tokico 10x > * but ksports love corners tho

 

Im talking about Tokico Springs, I know the struts are pretty good rockin Illuminas myself.

 

Yo Rockart, it's been a few weeks since you started this thread. Come to a conclusion yet??

 

so wait...the "full illumina setup" that i see on Ebay are Illumina struts with Tokicko red springs?

if so, then i think that this will be the final decision, because you are the 4th person to claim this is the best overall setup.

 

So upon purchase of the Full Tokico Illumina setup (struts and springs), is there anything else necessary to purchase to mount everything.

I do not plan to use any old part off the old stock suspension. Because it is going on a different car.

If so please advise. Thanks

 

UPS just delivered me the full illumina setup....hopping the decision I made was the right one...Can't wait to install them but I'm not sure if I should wait till the spring time, thats when my car gets a full make over, but if I do deside to install them next week I'll make sure to give you some feed back.

 

I would personally wait until spring, but the only reason I installed mine right away was because my shocks were blown.