# 2003 GLE suspension question



## kone (Dec 2, 2004)

Bear with me here....my wife has an 03 GLE that rides horribly. If it were mine, I trade it tomorrow but...it's not mine. Anyway, I'm willing to put some $ into it to get it to ride better. Over dips it bounces like a boat and over bumps it makes your teeth rattle. It has 46k miles and is all stock. There are spring cushions installed to keep it from bottoming-out. We put those in when it was almost new.

I'm no mechanic or street racer, just a regular guy that likes to drive. What should I be looking to do? Specifics would be nice. Thanks.


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## brianw (Feb 25, 2004)

Sounds like it's over-sprung and under-damped. Common questionable design decision by Nissan, repeated over and over on the B15 SE-R Spec V's first two years, the 350Z, etc. etc...

Tires with soft sidewalls will help, but it really sounds like your factory shocks are dead or dying-- either that or you really just can't stand the ride of a stock Maxima. (I've seen that... some of my friends must have the soft pillow ride of a Lexus ES or similar, anything else and they get carsick, even in a new Acura TL. I didn't believe it til I witnessed it myself...)

If you can stand a little stiffer-- but what should be much, much more controlled-- ride, stiffer aftermarket shocks will help. KYB AGX or Tokico Illumina's are high-end adjustable shocks which, on the softest settings, should be ok for you. KYB GR2 or Tokico HP's are non-adjustable shocks which might work as well, although on lowered vehicles (I know, yours is stock!) they don't tend to last as long or ride as well. Actually, given that if your stock shocks are blown, regular aftermarket replacements such as GR2's might be a good idea.


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## kone (Dec 2, 2004)

brianw said:


> Sounds like it's over-sprung and under-damped. Common questionable design decision by Nissan, repeated over and over on the B15 SE-R Spec V's first two years, the 350Z, etc. etc...
> 
> Tires with soft sidewalls will help, but it really sounds like your factory shocks are dead or dying-- either that or you really just can't stand the ride of a stock Maxima. (I've seen that... some of my friends must have the soft pillow ride of a Lexus ES or similar, anything else and they get carsick, even in a new Acura TL. I didn't believe it til I witnessed it myself...)
> 
> If you can stand a little stiffer-- but what should be much, much more controlled-- ride, stiffer aftermarket shocks will help. KYB AGX or Tokico Illumina's are high-end adjustable shocks which, on the softest settings, should be ok for you. KYB GR2 or Tokico HP's are non-adjustable shocks which might work as well, although on lowered vehicles (I know, yours is stock!) they don't tend to last as long or ride as well. Actually, given that if your stock shocks are blown, regular aftermarket replacements such as GR2's might be a good idea.


In my opinion, the car had a "floaty" ride from the start but it has gotten progressively worse. As I mentioned, I would bottom-out the back end often over nearly every road dip at speed (even creeping over speed bumps.) I had spring cushions, pads, whatever, installed and that stopped but the bouncing has gotten worse. Any sort of road undulation (sp?) cause the cars to float or bounce up and down. Also, it's starting to concern me now that the car seems to "skitter" sideways when I hit rough pavement on highway curves. The jarring of the rough pavement along with the float/bounce from dips is too much to take for me. The original crap Bridgestones have been replaced with Michelin Pilot Sports and I'd guess they have their life left. 

So I should try top quality aftermarket adjustable struts? Any particular brand and model that would work best for what I'm expecting? How about springs? Leave them alone? I will be having the work done by my local trusted mechanic so I'd rather have it fixed once-and-done, you know? Thanks again!


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## brianw (Feb 25, 2004)

I would leave the springs alone.

Between KYB AGX and Tokico Illumina, I'm not quite sure which have better-matched low-speed damping for your needs. Either is generally ok for the performance nuts around here.

Skittering sideways on rough pavement is an inherent drawback of the rear beam axle design. (axle tramp or axle hop)

Michelin Pilot Sports have a fairly stiff sidewall compared to lower-end "touring" or more typical "passenger car" tires (IIRC their sidewall is fairly soft for a high-performance tire), which is also contributing to a stiff ride.


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## kone (Dec 2, 2004)

brianw said:


> I would leave the springs alone.
> 
> Between KYB AGX and Tokico Illumina, I'm not quite sure which have better-matched low-speed damping for your needs. Either is generally ok for the performance nuts around here.
> 
> ...


THANKS! Looks like around $200 difference between Tokico and KYB. Which is best? Can you recommend where to buy?


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## kone (Dec 2, 2004)

kone said:


> THANKS! Looks like around $200 difference between Tokico and KYB. Which is best? Can you recommend where to buy?


...and would these be too "street"? No springs? Stock would be ok for thes set-up?


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## Puppetmaster (Mar 28, 2005)

I have Tokico Illuminas (with Progress springs) and I like em... I had the cheaper unadjustable Tokico Blues too and they were good. IMO, get the Illuminas so that you can adjust the dampering to match whatever springs you have. I say try H&R or Maxspeed springs if you're gonna do the springs as well... they'll give ya a stock-like ride with some handling improvement.


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## Puppetmaster (Mar 28, 2005)

Btw, check out this site for some great info on suspension set-ups and other 2002-2003 Maxima things: 

http://www.innerbean.com/housecor/spring_strut_decision.html


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## brianw (Feb 25, 2004)

Going to aftermarket springs is only going to stiffen the ride, which sounds like the opposite of what you want. You don't want to go to stiffer springs if your car is already oversprung and underdamped.

With stiffer shocks you may be able to go to stiffer springs to match, but that will lead to some increase in ride stiffness, which may not be what you want. Because all currently available aftermarket springs for the 5th generation Maxima also lower the car and hence reduce the available suspension travel, they _must_ be stiffer to avoid bottoming out. If you can accept that ride penalty, then you can think about it...

I honestly do not have a low-speed valving preference between the Tokico Illuminas and KYB AGX'es. I can only say that I would definitely go with those rather than the non-adjustable units if the soft-damping settings on the adjustable units is similar in performance to the cheaper, less-durable non-adjustable units.


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## kone (Dec 2, 2004)

*thanks.*

I'll look into what's been recommended. I don't want it stiff - I want the car to ride and handle like a sports sedan - not a Lincoln.


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