ride height?

General information about the first-generation Nissan Maxima in the US. What was the Datsun 810 became the luxury leader Maxima in the US in 1981.

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kassim503
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Location: Stony Brook, NY

ride height?

#1

Post by kassim503 »

does anybody know the ride height for the front and back of a 83 maxima, im looking for a measurement of ground to rocker or tire to fender lip, anything just to give me a refrenece to see if i want to change my springs
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
goglio704
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Joined: 18 years ago
Location: East Tennessee

#2

Post by goglio704 »

I don't know a spec, but I can tell you that at least one of my cars is an ass drager with anything in the trunk. I am going to replace the springs at some point.
Matt B.

83 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 5 speed, white, 130k miles. My original Maxima.
83 Maxima Sedan converted from gasser, LD28, 5 speed, 2 tone blue, 230k miles
82 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, 2 tone Gray/Silver, 140k miles
81 810 Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, rust, rust, and more rust!

2005 Jeep Liberty CRD
diesel-man
Deceased
Posts: 150
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Elkton, MD

#3

Post by diesel-man »

I've had to replace rear springs on probably 5 or 6 sedans. The rear struts are on the fragile side also. I've only had to put struts on the front of one car so far, our new member Pistonring.
goglio704
Posts: 726
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: East Tennessee

#4

Post by goglio704 »

2 new TRW springs and 2 new KYB struts (shocks?) fixed the car with the worst rear end sag. The coils are somewhat heavier than stock. Looks a lot better nose down, clunks and groans are gone, and it doesn't scrape the road anymore. :D
Matt B.

83 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 5 speed, white, 130k miles. My original Maxima.
83 Maxima Sedan converted from gasser, LD28, 5 speed, 2 tone blue, 230k miles
82 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, 2 tone Gray/Silver, 140k miles
81 810 Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, rust, rust, and more rust!

2005 Jeep Liberty CRD
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kassim503
Posts: 1027
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Stony Brook, NY

#5

Post by kassim503 »

Yeah, part #'s please
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
goglio704
Posts: 726
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: East Tennessee

#6

Post by goglio704 »

Springs TRW# CC233 approx $78 for the set. Advance auto showed them individually, but they showed up as a set in the same box marked matched pair. :roll:

Struts KYB GR-2 series part# 341012

The struts I took off were marked Nissan and KYB and may have been installed wrong - I'll elaborate on that later.
Matt B.

83 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 5 speed, white, 130k miles. My original Maxima.
83 Maxima Sedan converted from gasser, LD28, 5 speed, 2 tone blue, 230k miles
82 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, 2 tone Gray/Silver, 140k miles
81 810 Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, rust, rust, and more rust!

2005 Jeep Liberty CRD
Carimbo
Posts: 467
Joined: 18 years ago

#7

Post by Carimbo »

goglio704 wrote:The coils are somewhat heavier than stock.
Thicker wire diameter? More coils? Higher (free) spring height? Did they have color code paint spots?
I just installed a pair I found at the JY on a '84 sedan, 150,000mi. Springs looked rather new, paint code orange/lt. blue. 1982 FSM lists orange/lt. green. Wire diameter looked about the same as the (orange/lt. green) springs originally in my car (used a close fitting washer to measure, having no better way to accurately measure) but had more coils. Height was near equal to spec.

Car sits about the same as before but I don't like the pronounced rearend squat under takeoff from stop. Want to put the old springs back in, rubber dogbone spacers and all. Saving up for real replacements.
Carimbo
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#8

Post by Carimbo »

Ground to top of rear wheelwell outer lip averages 23 inches for mine, depending how it is parked, what is in the trunk, and how full the tank is. I know this is lower than stock.
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kassim503
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Location: Stony Brook, NY

#9

Post by kassim503 »

Carimbo wrote:Ground to top of rear wheelwell outer lip averages 23 inches for mine, depending how it is parked, what is in the trunk, and how full the tank is. I know this is lower than stock.
I thought I was the only one who had their car run lower from filling the tank up. :lol: The car dosent even take that much gas too!
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
goglio704
Posts: 726
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: East Tennessee

#10

Post by goglio704 »

Original (as far as I know) springs have paint markings orange and green on them. The replacements have the same uncompressed length and the same number of coils. The originals have a wire diameter of .457 the replacements are .508. The replacements also differ in the coil spacing. The first 4 coils at the top are closer together than the rest. The original springs are uniform in their coil spacing. I didn't take a before measurement, but I can tell you the rear was noticeably lower than the front before and about the same amount higher now. In other words, about the same deviation from level, but now in the good direction. I can take comparative measurements with the other car this weekend. It sits a little low, but not as much as the resprung car did prior to the springs.
Matt B.

83 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 5 speed, white, 130k miles. My original Maxima.
83 Maxima Sedan converted from gasser, LD28, 5 speed, 2 tone blue, 230k miles
82 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, 2 tone Gray/Silver, 140k miles
81 810 Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, rust, rust, and more rust!

2005 Jeep Liberty CRD
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kassim503
Posts: 1027
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Stony Brook, NY

#11

Post by kassim503 »

Matt, does the car squat down less with the new springs when you punch it?
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
goglio704
Posts: 726
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: East Tennessee

#12

Post by goglio704 »

I didn't notice it squating when taking off anymore. I only drove it 15 miles before I turned it back over to Mom. It is her daily driver right now. I'll pay close attention next time I drive it. It will be broken in by then. Unless the new springs soften quite a bit from use, I think the squat is gone, and it was pronounced before. I think the new struts deserve a lot of credit for reducing the squat too.
Matt B.

83 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 5 speed, white, 130k miles. My original Maxima.
83 Maxima Sedan converted from gasser, LD28, 5 speed, 2 tone blue, 230k miles
82 Maxima Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, 2 tone Gray/Silver, 140k miles
81 810 Sedan, LD28, 3 speed auto, rust, rust, and more rust!

2005 Jeep Liberty CRD
HowlerMonkey
Posts: 130
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: West Palm Beach Florida

#13

Post by HowlerMonkey »

Anyone have pics of the camber of the cars once they have replaced the springs.

These cars seem to go to positive camber in the rear once you get the car level.
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kassim503
Posts: 1027
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Stony Brook, NY

#14

Post by kassim503 »

HowlerMonkey wrote:Anyone have pics of the camber of the cars once they have replaced the springs.

These cars seem to go to positive camber in the rear once you get the car level.
Yup, look at some of the ads from the 80's on google and whatnot, you see the rear tires camber off so bad that you can see it in the picture.

My guess is nissan engineers knew that the car was going to sag in a few years so they wanted our tires to be level :lol:
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
Carimbo
Posts: 467
Joined: 18 years ago

#15

Post by Carimbo »

Heard that you can make rear camber and toe adjustable by slotting the wishbone mounting holes, like on the 510 and Z-cars.
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