In the course of repairing the damaged rear suspension on a '15 SR, I noticed that the part number for the rear sway bar had a Maxima suffix -4RA0A. Doing some research, I discovered that the Max sway bar is a plug-and-play upgrade for any gen5 Altie just by swapping the bar and bushings, no other parts needed. The links and clamps are identical, and in fact the SR's from '15~'18 all use the Max bar as standard equipment. It's a major upgrade, the Max bar is nearly twice the diameter of the weenie standard bar.

Found a used bar off a '17 Max for $75 on eBay and installed it on the wife's '13 SL this weekend. OMG it's a different car! No more "setting up the rear" when entering a high speed sweeper, she's totally point-and-shoot. I don't think I could induce a fishtail if I wanted to.

The bar from any current generation Maxima will work, 56230-4RA0A or -4RA0B. The bushing part number is 56243-4RA0A (same part left/right). I notice a lot of people spending big bucks on Stillen bars (and they're great, I've driven one with a Stillen upgrade), but you can get the same results for a fraction of the price by using the Maxima bar.

Brilliant!

I put the Stillen bar on my 2014 Altima. It was a very noticable improvement.

I also posted about it in here a few years back.
The Maxima bar sounds like a very affordable alternative.

I wonder then if the Stillen bar isnt really just a Maxima bar?

PalmerWMD wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:40 am

I wonder then if the Stillen bar isnt really just a Maxima bar?

Dunno. I didn't have a Stillen on the lot for comparison, but the diameters look similar. If you like, measure your Stillen and I'll put a caliper on the Max bar. I can tell you for sure that the handling improvement is similar, although I can't say "identical" with certainty. As I recall, the one upgrade I drove had Stillen bars at both ends, so there may be a skosh of apples and oranges in the comparison. Our SL just has the Max rear with an OE front.

The Max bar measures 1.08" (25mm). There may be differences in temper depth on the Stillen, but the spring rate will still be largely governed by diameter. Bars that are tempered too hard tend to snap, so differences on that count shouldn't be major.

VStar650CL wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 11, 2021 8:26 am

The Max bar measures 1.08" (25mm).

Oops, typo, 27mm. To be exact, 27.432.

I no longer have that car so I cannot provide a comparison measurement

Anybody else own a Stillen rear bar and a caliper?