Got some work done - drop & wheels

[Mr. Music]

After more than five years, I finally wore the factory tires down. That meant it was time for a change... Eibach springs plus new struts and shocks from KYB, TSW Nurburgring wheels in the matte bronze finish (size: 18x9 +32), and some BF Goodrich SportComp 2's in 235/45-18. Here are some pics.


After the drop; waited until the wheels and tires were installed to get an alignment.


I put the wheels on my scale and they rang up at 21.1lbs. With the tires weighing 26lbs each, each new wheel/tire combo only weighs about 6.5lbs more than the stock setup. Not bad for the size increase!




My TPMS light had been coming on flashing for a few months, letting my know that a sensor's battery was dead. Got them all replaced along with the wheel/tire installation for less than $200 at Costco.




Wheels sit nice and flush with the fenders now.


The center caps are two pieces - a plastic piece that snaps into the wheel and the metal finish piece that goes stuck to the plastic with double sided tape. I didn't want to risk the tape failing over time, so I epoxied the two pieces together. Here's to hoping for longevity (as each center cap is $22 )!

I'm super happy with the results. Ride quality didn't suffer much and the handling is way better than with the stock set up. These new tires are of course more noisy than the stockers, so I'm thinking of laying down some sound insulation under the carpet. Maybe, it's not all that loud. I was able to sell the factory wheels with the pretty worn out tires the day after installing the new ones, so that was a nice way to recoup some money and avoid storing them. I've still got the factory springs and rear shocks (slightly under 34,500 miles on them) sitting around and I accidentally ordered too many boot/bump stop sets from KYB so I'd sell that all too if any one is interested. (Long shot for sure, but PM me if you are.)


Thanks for looking.

PS: dangeris - if you see this - I know your looking for wheels; want to keep our historic look-alike thing going on with some bronze mesh wheels?

[Mr.HacKeR]

I really like the color combo! Good choice.

lol. Sorry, I couldn't help but notice the sag in the front fascia. I think it can be fixed, right?

[DJ_B_Easy]

I like, nice fitment and still functional. Can I get a front 3/4 view shot? Would like to see the front end with the wheels as well.

I also ordered the full KYB boot kit, didnt use one of them. To be honest I couldnt even figure out how they went on, as stupid as that sounds. They just didnt fit any way I turned them.

[SanoSuKe]

Needs more low! The ED rear bumper would look great on your car. It would compliment the stillen fascia and side skirts.

Good looks! you're on the right track.

[Mr. Music]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Mr.HacKeR, yeah, the front fascia is definitely saggy. I got one of the very early ones when Stillen came out with it, they've since made some design improvements so it won't sag (as much, at least). It can be fixed though, and I've been meaning to fix it for some time but we all know how that goes. I'll get around to it sooner or later - it's no show car so it doesn't really bother me too much.

DJ_B_Easy, I didn't want to go too crazy with the fitment since this is my daily/only car, so function was the main consideration. I snapped some more pictures of the car yesterday evening, they are below. Let me know if I got the shot you wanted or if you want it at a different angle. I'm hoping to do a quick shoot with my brother and his car this weekend if the weather holds out, so hopefully I'll be able to get some better pictures soon - better than cell phone pics at least! I had the springs/shocks installed at a shop (don't want to mess with spring compressors for the fronts) but I don't think the mechanic had any issues with the KYB boots. The factory ones are pretty good to begin with though, I don't think that there is a need to replace them unless the factory ones are in wearing already - I wish I would have taken a closer look at it all before ordering parts. Live and learn.

SanoSuKe, I agree that it needs more low, but its not happening haha. I've already scraped over a few speed bumps even though I crawled over them and I don't want any issues (granted, those speed bumps were abnormally tall). I think the rear end looks pretty good as is, the ED rear fascia would be too over-the-top for me. I'm happy with the looks now, I just kick myself sometimes for getting the CVT...

[dangeris]

Looks Nice. Like those matte bronze wheels but something looks a little off on that front view pic of the car...not quite sure what it is though..... hmmmm.....WAIT!!!..I Know....You need a set of Projector Headlights! Like these.....

[nismogxs21]

cars looking good bro! definitely should invest in coils keep up the work

[BamaCoupe]

Should have kept your stock springs on so your car would look like this while on the ground; just kidding. The wheels look great on your car, and I'm usually not a fan of wheels that are not so form of silver, but I liken the matte bronze. BTW; what's this about blinking TPMS light/TPMS battery thing, so is that a DIY fix? Kind of sick of seeing the TPMS light come on about a month or two after Nissan reset/replace them all while having proper inflation.

[T00Ezy]

wheels look sick with the drop, wait till the springs settle the front would look abit more dropped im assuming.

[Mr. Music]

haha dangeris, I was actually snooping around your website looking at headlight options a couple of weeks ago. I'm not going to do anything with them any time soon, but its definitely a possibility further down the road.

BamaCoupe, when you turn on the car and your TPMS light flashes for a minute and then stays steady, the system is telling you that there is a problem. The WT section of the FSM goes into detail about what the problem could be, but knowing that the normal life of a TPMS sensor's battery is 4-5 years and that my car is older than that, I figured one or more sensor batteries were dead, causing the TPMS light to flash. I had all the sensors replaced and programmed so the car recognizes them; its been two weeks now and I haven't seen the TPMS light again. Replacing the sensors isn't really a DIY fix because you have to at least partially dismount the tire to get at them. I had the work done at Costco - they use Dill "REDI-Sensors" that are programmable and work on several makes/models and are therefore cheaper than the OE TPMS sensors (made by Schrader).

I put about 500 miles on the car between the suspension work and installing the new tires, so I hope it doesn't settle much more and throws the alignment out of whack! Thanks again for the compliments everyone.