LOWERED THE CAR AND SMOOTHED OUT THE RIDE!!

[generic808]

"whump, whump, ahhhh." Gone is the "boing, boing, uhh." <----

Ok, you're a closet Honda lover! That's it, you're permanantely banned!

[GreyZone]

Not any more, I am now converted, I believe in the Nissan way! I have actually returned home after a few wayward years. Forgive me, oh Nissan Lords, I have learned the error of my ways, and am now here to stay!

[generic808]

OK my child, just don't make that mistake again

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Nice Civic. 230bhp out of a 4-banger is quite a feat.

[prlwhitecoupe]

sell me your sway bar!... and...I don't even know what to say about the 180lbs of weights in the trunk....wow...

[theoctopussi]

WOW - does anyone else think this is the dumbest **** in life? OMFG. WOW. OMG.

[mcheddadi]

WOW - does anyone else think this is the dumbest **** in life? OMFG. WOW. OMG.

[GreyZone]

Greyzone <-------- no longer bouncing and loving it!

And review: Open your minds, get away from "how" it was done and look at the results...tell me how to accomplish all of what is below another way and I'm all ears, it's results I am after, even if the means are a bit whacked

Results:Removal of RSB allows rear end to work more independently, reduces bounce and stiffness with minimal increase in side roll. Reduced downrtravel of springs has taken away bounce, made the ride firmer and smoother, and given the rear end (and overall ride) a much more solid feel, all while hugging the road much, much better. Oh, and lowered the rear end by 1.25"!

[D-Roll]

Pics of the completed project??

[GreyZone]

Coming soon to a site near you! I am still looking into the feasibility of cutting the front springs, I don't like that idea. But, it is possible IF the spring design will allow it to be done while still maintaining enough intergrity to lock in at the bottm (if you look at the picture I posted, this looks possilbe). In a worst case, I will just put lowering springs in the front.

Either way, I have almost exactly what I want, just need now to lower the front.

Funny things is (I've been thinkin about this) if I was to ask this question on several web sites:

How can I lower my car 1.25" AND reduce bounce and stiffness with minimal increase in side roll, but make the ride firmer YET smoother, with a much more solid feel, all while hugging the road much, much better, yet not make the ride stiffer?

I would have been (and have been) told "That's impossible. You lower the car it's going to be even stiffer, and a harder ride, not smoother."

My admittedly ghetto idea has accomplished the impossible! Sometimes you gotta thinnk outsdie the box.

[Buzzman]

Ok, I've been reading this thread and thinking about what you've done.You have achieved your short term goals by adding weights in the trunk. You sound happy with the results, so I'm happy for you.Personally, I wouldn't do it, for several long term reasons.First of all, the ride you describe is probably the ride you get when you are alone and you have nothing in the trunk. The minute you add more weight, either by piling a few of your friends in the back, or loading your trunk with groceries or luggage, your rear suspension won't be able to handle it. You'll more than likely bottom out, among other things. You'll be dragging your rear end big time. Sort of like when you had 360 Lbs. in your trunk (way too much you said, remember?)Secondly, with that extra weight in the trunk, the rear suspension is permanently "loaded". It is not meant to carry that extra weight full time. The springs and shocks are never in their home position, if you see what I mean. Your suspension is working full time to support that extra weight, and this is going to put undue stress on the system, and I'm willing to bet you'll be replacing parts before you know it. That nice ride won't last. Guaranteed.Third, as someone already mentioned, the extra weight will throw off the balance between front and rear. Under normal driving, this probably won't do any harm, but in emergency situations, you may notice a decline in handling.So, IMHO, I wouldn't do it.

[GreyZone]

Thanks Buzzman. Some very, very good points, and stuff I am definitely thinking about as well. My buddy was in the car with me last night...I weigh 230 (6'3") and my buddy is 260 and 6'4." Car still drove and handeled well, but I was just freeway driving, and didn't really get on it. Everyday, I drive to work 30 miles one way on winding mountain roads, and at times really get on it. It's that daily drive I am tuning this suspension for.

Granted, I am putting some un-natural positioning on shocks and springs. They may wear quicker and have to be replaced. Understood. One thing so far (long term would need to be trail and error) is with some very aggressive driving on my part, the handeling has actually improved consdierably, and is hugging the road much better. I could also experiemnt with weight, as 180 is quit a bit. I am also going to put the RSB back in, and see how that works with the weighted ride. Since I toook that off prior to putting in the weights, I dont know how the weights alone would have affected the ride. Altohough I gotta tell ya, roll is practically non-existent. Of course, as parts wear, it would get more noticable, maybe then, put the RSB back on to compensate.

Also, I am wondering what differnce it will make when I lower the front, but I cant imagine it will be anything except good. A slight drawback currently is when I get on it, it understandably has a tendency to front end lift. Of course, this is a no brainer wih all that weight in the truck. I have hit some pretty hard dips, so far the suspension is holding it well, no bottoming out. As the srpings and shocks wear, would it approach bottoming out? Probably, of course, weighting could be reduced accordingly also.

Really, I have just been open to expermenting with different ideas. The weighting was done based on a recommendation that if you reduce the downtravel of the spring you reduce bounce (and that was one of my chief complaints). The dealer said to start at 100 lbs. I never tried that, I just put in 180, and loved it so much I stayed with that. It would be interesting to see what 140 and 100 do to the ride. Additionally, I wouldn't mind replacing springs and/or shocks as they wear. Small price to pay for the ride you want.

In many ways, 180 pounds is also not that much. Many have amps, woofers, ect that approach 100 pounds of weight. Most of my friends are 180 pounds or greater. I am 230 myself. 300 or 400 pounds would worry me, Im not sure 180 does. But I must admit, aspects of this idea are so Mickey Mouse its hard for me to even take myself serioulsy, but when you really look at the dynamics of what has been done, it all really makes good and reasonalbe sense, it has just been a really dorky way to accomplish it. What I know at this point is that I am damn pleased with the results. I went from being very discouraged and frustrated to absolutley loving the way this car new handels. And, I would think this car is tough enough and fast enough to handel 90 lbs of weight on each side of the trunk, without it causing too much in the way of problems. I probably would not do this in the 2.5, but the 3.5 SE is a bit beefier all around.

For now I am really looking forward to getting the front down 1.5" or so, as I think that should improve handeling even more, and reduce the slight frontend rise with acceleration.

And I really appreciate your response to areas of concern with this idea, and I apprecaite you taking it seriously. I am definitely taking this issue of fine tuning the suspension seriously, and getting it exactly the way I want it, including looking all ways of doing it (with in reason). There are definitely some things to watch out for and be cautious with.

As with any modifications we make, there is almost always some give and take. It really gets down to is what your being given worth what's taken away. In my case, so far, it more than has been.

[Serban]

I'm sorry I had to bump this thread up, but this is seriously the dumbest thing I've seen.

And I hope you realize the 19" wheels you're looking to get aren't going to help your smooth ride out any.

Oh, and if you had a Nissan tech recommend something like this, he was either messing with you, or he wanted to see if you'd be dumb enough to do it.

If you wanted a nice sports coupe, there's other cars out on the market that ride and handle smoother, you should have looked into it a little.

PS: what a great thread to have my first post in
Modified by Serban at 7:30 PM 3/9/2008

[Shift_Altima]

I'm sorry I had to bump this thread up, but this is seriously the dumbest thing I've seen.

And I hope you realize the 19" wheels you're looking to get aren't going to help your smooth ride out any.

Oh, and if you had a Nissan tech recommend something like this, he was either messing with you, or he wanted to see if you'd be dumb enough to do it.

If you wanted a nice sports coupe, there's other cars out on the market that ride and handle smoother, you should have looked into it a little.

PS: what a great thread to have my first post in

Modified by Serban at 7:05 PM 3/9/2008

Bro. What's your deal? Who are you? Grey had an idea leave him alone.. bashing people here isn't a good idea so be nice or shut up

[windhaven]

Bro. What's your deal? Who are you? Grey had an idea leave him alone.. bashing people here isn't a good idea so be nice or shut up

Guys, I know we cut up on ricers in general, but don't make it personal. At least GreyZone had the courage to share ideas with this group (Even though many of us wouldn't do it ourselves), hell, some of the best results i've seen in my line of work come from the people who think up their own solutions.

As for the Ghetto comment, everybody lives somewhere, and no matter where that is, there are people there who love it. Don't crap on them by referring to their home as someplace bad.

Two cents,-- Wind

[Serban]

Bro. What's your deal? Who are you? Grey had an idea leave him alone.. bashing people here isn't a good idea so be nice or shut up

Sorry if I didn't introduce myself, I'm Serban, been tinkering with Nissans for the last 10 years, and I know when I see something silly. I've been a strict believer in doing things the right way, or not doing it at all. And all I'm doing is sharing my thoughts on this. You don't have to like what I say, not everybody will, but its the truth.

[windhaven]

Serban,

Not complaining about your position/opinion, beliefs, or experience. It's just that most here don't respect bashing, it isn't what made this forum strong.

As for me, I'm 100% on the non-shortcut way of doing things. But, to each their own.

-- Wind

[Serban]

Serban,

Not complaining about your position/opinion, beliefs, or experience. It's just that most here don't respect bashing, it isn't what made this forum strong.

As for me, I'm 100% on the non-shortcut way of doing things. But, to each their own.

-- Wind

Sorry, I figured my form of "bashing" was just a harsh form of constructive criticism. I wish the guy luck if that's how he wants to do things, but remember, companies that make suspension products spend a ton of money on R&D for a reason.

If he wants to get fancy, look up the Bose electronic suspension

[TeKKiE]

Umm...

I guess, if you're worried about ride comfort more than anything else, it works for you...

However, cutting your front springs, equals more stiffness due to less travel, and the springs are now pre-loaded to support the same weight the stock springs handled. Not to mention you've voided the warranty on your car.

Same thing applies to the rear of the vehicle with all of that weight in the trunk. Your springs are now pre-loaded, however they won't be AS bouncy, due to the fact that they're not cut (yet).

And for the record, I honestly don't think your going to be able to put a 19" wheel or larger, and keep a 55 65 series tire wrapped around that wheel. I would imagine you're likely going to end up with a 40 to 50 series tire, which just defeats the purpose of all that you have done. You WILL feel every bump in the road, regardless of your current modifications.

And oops I didn't realize I just posted in a thread that the Serbinator brought back from the dead

Anyhow, best of luck with the Coupe. My advice to you is to do it right, or not at all, but I guess whatever you feel is comfortable, should suffice.

[Voodoo Coupe]

WOW... um yea good luck with this Ill stick with my springs.

[ursus]

Very interesting ideas, but one thing came across my mind... the money you spent on those plates will prob almost get you a set of Eibachs

Just a thought, I'm sure you thought about it

[mcheddadi]

Reviving 3months old thread is scary

[adidas2go]

and just to bash it at that. I could understand if there were another breakthrough on the "barbell lowering" front...but just to cause trouble

[Serkle K]

Not to mention this "solution" was only untill spring were released, as this was months before they were even available to the public

[NEEDaSE-R]

I'm sorry I had to bump this thread up, but this is seriously the dumbest thing I've seen.

And I hope you realize the 19" wheels you're looking to get aren't going to help your smooth ride out any.

Oh, and if you had a Nissan tech recommend something like this, he was either messing with you, or he wanted to see if you'd be dumb enough to do it.

If you wanted a nice sports coupe, there's other cars out on the market that ride and handle smoother, you should have looked into it a little.

PS: what a great thread to have my first post in

Modified by Serban at 7:30 PM 3/9/2008

I agree with serban.. Maybe its nicos version of snowballz..lol Who puts weights in the trunk to lower a car?? Sounds like something a civic owner would do

[mirrortints]

^^^ And did....hahahaha

[SHIFT_COUPE]

For the sake of the OP and avoid any further comments, this thread is done.

Any serious questions regarding anything can be directed through email to GreyZone.