basic first mods for NEWBIE

[fishhouse]

I'm a complete newbie...so please be patient with all of my lame questions!

I have a 2000 Maxima GXE automatic. I’ve just decided that I’d like to spice it up some. Here is what I’m hoping to do:

Fog Lights
Head Light Upgrade
Tint
Clear Tail Lights
Clear Side Light Covers
Wheels
Performance Upgrade

Ok, now for all the questions. I’m looking for all the info and specs I can find about my ride (and the mods I want to do) and need your help! The wife has me on a budget, so I’m looking for the cheapest (yet most quality) brands and dealers. What most economic and affordable brands do you guys use/recommend for the above items? What good priced online dealers do you guys buy from?


Here are some more specific questions for you:

FOG LIGHTS: I think I read that my 2000 GXE is pre-wired for fog lights. Is that true? From what I have read I could install fog lights myself with little difficulty...right? There are some many brands and types out there...what brands (and from where) would you recommend for just normal fog lights. I don’t think I need the fancy HID ones.

HEAD LIGHTS: I would like to upgrade my head lights. Nothing fancy, just brighter bulbs. Can’t I just replace my current bulbs with better/bighter bulbs? Or do I have to replace the entire housing and all? I like the ones that have a slight blue tint to them as well. There are some many brands and types out there...what brands (and from where) would you recommend? Is that something I can do myself easily?

WHEELS: What are my exact wheel and tire sizes? 16”....and what are the other dimensions will I need to find wheels that fit WITH MY CURRENT TIRES (plain Goodyear tires on the stock 2000 16” GXE wheels)? I like the 17” 6 spoke wheels on the 2001- 2003 SE models and even more the 17” 7 spoke wheels on the 2001- 2003 GLE models. I guess I can’t use those, but where can I find cheap wheels that look like that for my 16” tires and GXE maxima? Any suggestions?

CLEAR TAIL LIGHTS: I like the the clear tail lights used on the 2002 and 2003 Maximas. I’ve seen entire clear tail light housing online for over $200. But, can’t I just replace my red light covers with clear ones? Is that possible? I don’t need the whole thing...just clear lenses instead of the red ones used on 2000 models. Can I (and where can I find) just the clear cover/lenses? And is that something I can install myself (with little difficulty)?

CLEAR SIDE LIGHTS: I’ve found several clear side light covers/lenses on EBAY. Can I install those easily myself?

PERFORMANCE: I may do some type of engine performance upgrade also. What can I do easily (AND cheap) with and automatic Maxima? Specific details and costs would be greatly appreciated. I would just like better response and horsepower. I don’t really care for any added noise or anything (a little would be ok...but nothing real loud!). What are my most affordable options?

Anyone have a 2000 GXE Automatic that could give me some first-hand advice? I’d love to check out some pics of you guys rides as well! Thanks in advance for your responses!

[bk2kmax]

Welcome Fish,
If you want to know about mods go to Cheston's Maximadriver.com page which is at the top left corner of our Maxima forum page and click on that. It will take you to everything you need to know about mods and which are best.
Good luck and welcome again to the forum.

[chillinMax]

Hey buddy-

a couple of tips:

Fog Lights- to make them brighter, you can actually re-wire the fog lights to make them brighter. you can find info on this on www.maximadriver.com , www.maxima.org. If you want aftermarket fogs, i'd recommend Tenzo R 400 series. They go for about 70 bucks, but they are easy to install and are very small. They output a hyper-white look, not the nasty ugly yellow look. If you want, i believe you can even change the color of your bulbs.


Headlights- You can easily change the bulb. I'm not sure of the bulb size, but use the search or ask someone else. I've always used Nokya Artic Whites. They go for about 30 bucks. You can also get PIAA bulbs as well, but these babies are mad expensive (80 bucks). Stay away from those cheap bulbs on ebay. remember, if you want a nicer, bluish/brighter light, make sure the wattage is above the factor 65/45w. Go for the 100/80w. You might want to upgrade your wiring harness as well. check out this site:

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/southwes...ismaxdasb.html

look under lighting.

Wheels- GXE wheels are fugly. If you really want those SE rims, search ebay or just get them off the dealership (its gonna cost ya.) Try to go with 5-6 spokes for the Maxima. I believe your stock rims/wheels right now are 16's or 17's. If you want to get aftermarket rims, i'd suggest to go with 18's, but you dont wanna go any bigger than 19's. check out these rims.
http://www.tsw.com/new/productline_passenger.php

i'm probably gonna go with the TSW REVO's. Take a look at the Apex.

Clear Tail lights- Look on Custommaxima.com

Clear Side lights-look on custommaxima.com or ebay. these aren't too hard to iinstall.

Peformance- front strut bar to go in your engine bay. You can get them cheap on ebay. This will improve your handling/steering like a champ. Cold air intake also adds a couple of horsies as well (look on stillen.com or injen.com). While you're there, cat-back exhausts are nice too. Go to Greddy.com for that. Take a look into the Y-pipe as well. That adds a couple horsies too. Either the budget Y pipe or warpspeed Y pipe. Any of your mods can be installed by yourself, a local garage, or for your exhaust, y-pipe, you can go to midas or a similar place.


You have a nice car man. These are the basic mods you should start looking for. They are cheap too. If i missed anything, the guys/girls on this forum will add to this. If you have any questions, let us know. We're here to help.

good luck.

[Pick]

For performance, here's some idea's:

Intake- decent power (7-9 horsies), pretty nice sounding noise.- www.frankencar.com, www.custommaxima.com, www.injen.com

Exhaust- 12-17 horsies, nice sound. Don't go cheap.- www.greddy.com, www.stillen.com

Y-pipe- best mod available besides big $$$ projects, 20 horsies, minimal exhaust sound, nice gains.- www.budgetexhaust.com, www.stillen.com, www.warpspeedperformance.com

underdrive pulley(UDP)- lightens up stock pulley, no noise, 7-9 horsies.- www.custommaxima.com

All are pretty inexpensive.

[EPVQ30]

ok for the stuff you're looking for which are all show and no go... which is ok.. cause we all like the bling. you can get most of those mods on ebay. like PIAA bulbs, clear side markers, head lamp bulbs at a very reasonable price.
i would recommend going to the maxima.org group deal forums for the performance mods at the best prices available. for a newbie max on a budget like yours truly. i would go for the rear sway bar and front strut tower bar first. along those lines you can squeeze in some hyper white bulbs for the clear side markers and interior lighting.
if you want an intake, i guess the frankencar a short ram hybrid style that is very popular which the org is having a group deal on. or you can go for the injen, which is a cold air longer tubing going down the engine bay that looks and sounds great. i have it and hightly recommend it.. a bit pricey though.
after that, it all depends.. do you want to spend 250 for tints.. or 250 for a Y pipe installed?.. do you want rims? wheelmax.com is having a great memorial weekend sale on its stock.
for fog lights i'd go for the piaa, preety much they make the best bulbs for fog lights.. yellow ion crystals, platinum super white, or extreme white.. depending on what you're looking for, you got to go to their sight and do you homework. but look to buy them from ebay.
for head lamp, i have sylvania Xtravisions bright white halogen, best bang for the buck at 10 bucks a bulb, if you want the blue halogens, sylvania makes the cool blue at about 13 dollars. anything else than that is crap, unless you buy piaa head light bulbs at about 99 dollars a pair and wish you never bought them.. they also make HID kits at about 300 for the cheaper ones. since you drive a 5th gen you could even get a 2k2 or 2k3 stock HID set up for your ride
for your year max i dont think they have clear tail lamps, but, you can look for SE style tails at salvage yards or even at the for sale forums at the .org or at your local dealership if you hate your stock GXE tails that much.
another great cheap mod which i enjoy everyday is my broadway mirror. it clips right over your stock mirror so you dont even have to remove your old one and it makes your rear viewing a whole lot better. under $20

for exhaust, springs, shocks and struts, strut tower bars, rear sway bars, electronics, dash kits, clutches, flywheels, UDPs, leather seats, nick nack patty whacks, etc. go to the GROUP DEALS FORUMS at maxima.org you will not find anything cheaper than there.. people put together deals where 10 or more members jump in and buy the same item within a period of time (a week or two) together therefor the vendor drops the price significantly enough to give the buyer a good deal.
stay away from rice shops unless you're good at barganning and getting them to drop their blown up prices.

good luck and good modding.

ah, also southwestautoworks.com is a great sight to browse through and gain some knowledge on what's out there for your maxima.. Greg has a lot of deals going on at the GD forum so look out for him, he is a great guy.

after all this typing i need a butt. :smoker2:

[chillinMax]

southwest autoworks is alright, but they sent me hyper industry bulbs instead of the Nokya Hyper Whites like i asked. They didnt tell me it was outta stock, just assumed i would go with the alterntate. I wasn't happy about that.

[EPVQ30]

go to ebay for bulbs, hands down it's your best bet.

[paqman]

I was thinking of doing some similar mods to a Maxima that I'm buying. It's a 2001 SE. Can you take the 2002/2003 tail lights and put them on the 2001? I'm talking just the stock tail lights. I haven't looked close enough to see if they'd fit.

[carrrnuttt]

Originally Posted by paqman

I was thinking of doing some similar mods to a Maxima that I'm buying. It's a 2001 SE. Can you take the 2002/2003 tail lights and put them on the 2001? I'm talking just the stock tail lights. I haven't looked close enough to see if they'd fit.

I wouldn't do it. 5.5 gen guys like me consider the stock SE taillights from the 5.0 gen as a mod.



As far as cheap performance, I heard that a two degree timing advance does wonders for the VQ30 motor, though not much help for the VQ35 like mine.

[paqman]

So you're saying you wouldn't take stock lights from a 2002/2003 and put them on the 2001? Why not?

[carrrnuttt]

Originally Posted by paqman

So you're saying you wouldn't take stock lights from a 2002/2003 and put them on the 2001? Why not?

The 'Altezza' look just doesn't do it for me.

If you're lucky, you can swap taillights with a 5.5 gen owner. My taillights are stock from a 2001 Maxima SE. Love how that "carbon-look" matches with my Gray Lustre real well.

[paqman]

What about these mod resistors? (see ebay auction below) Looks like it could be harmful to the engine. Just curious what you all think.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=260016270622

[paqman]

Yeah, you're right I actually like the black around the tail lights. And they doo look good on your car. I really like that color, but mine is the champagne color. Not my favorite, but color was my last priority when looking for the Maxima. I was making sure I found a good solid engine with few problems. So I'm not sure what tail lights would look best on mine. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe those ones with the carbon border would look decent on the champagne. They might accent the tail lights quite nicely.

[carrrnuttt]

Simple rule: "If it's too good to be true, it usually is." (about the 'resistors')

[paqman]

Originally Posted by carrrnuttt

Simple rule: "If it's too good to be true, it usually is." (about the 'resistors')

I totally agree. Plus, even if they did do what they advertise to do, I'm not sure I'd want that. Tricking the engine into thinking it's cooler, forcing it to output more power? Sounds like it could be harmful. Anyway, just curious.