MaxWgn

iTrader: (1)

OK, so I've had the parts to rebuild the front end for a while now, and I finally got the time and motivation to get it done. In the process, I had one bad CV joint, so I replaced the axle, as well...

Well, I bought the kit from the groups buy here, from Groton, and all went smoothly, for the most part, except ONE of the inner tie-rod ends was incorrect, and since it's my only car, and in the air, and BOTH the originals were SHOT, I had to buy another locally...

then, took to a shop for the complete alignment, and when I picked it up, the techs there were impressed overall with the car, for the milage... kept commenting on how well it runs...

not too shabby for a 180k...

MaxWgn

iTrader: (1)

Ok, just a follow up on this - those control arms and sway bar end links were not worth the money...

They actually all lasted less than a year - but I was unemployed for a while, and couldn't afford to fix them.

Well, I finally did them 2 weeks ago - in about 2 years, and less than 20k miles, BOTH of the front bushings were so shot to hell, I was able to press out the inner sleeve with my fingers. The Sway bar end links were totally shot, and barely holding together. The Ball joints that were in them were tightened and torqued as far as they would go, and the spindle had slop and play on the shaft - all in directions... like they weren't even the right ball joints.

Luckily, I had kept my original CA's, and cut out the old worn bushings from them, installed ES bushings, new ball joints and new sway bar end links, as well as new sway bar bushings...

It's like a whole new car - bad sadly, 2 days later, went and put new tires on it, and was driving home, and the transmission literally blew up while pulling away at a stop light.

So, $2500 later, I have a nice, shiny, reman transmission installed with full warranty. They shop tore the old one apart, and found one of the diff pins sheared off, and essentially detonated the trans, blowing the pan off, and ripping apart the casing...

Needless to say, back on the road, and driving good now - but with all the goodies done up front, and new tires, definitely need to replace my rack - it's not leaking, but it IS heavily worn - about 1"-1.5" of play on center...

LTXMitch

Damn sorry about your luck, but after the rack hopefully you'll be good. I put a control arm from rockauto on a few weeks ago hopefully it holds up. What's your mileage? Auto or manual?

VQ3.02

iTrader: (6)

Those are the fcpimport ones? I guess it's a good thing they never got back to me about that deal. If you're gonna do the rack it might be worth giving this a quick read http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...ring-rack.html

MaxWgn

iTrader: (1)

LTXMitch - the car is now resting on 210k, and it's an auto. I'd love a 5sp, but I've blown out my left knee bad enough that I cannot drive a stick regularly.

VQ3.02 - I already have a new rebuilt rack at the house - but getting the time and motivation to do it aren't easy - I have my kids most weekends (only time i see them anymore, so I tend to save wrenching for when they're not around) and in addition to my knees, my back and shoulders aren't the best anymore - so it has to start off as a pain free day.

In general - I have a question about the Rack replacement, though. Everything says to remove the steering wheel when replacing the rack, to save the spiral cable for the air bag. Has anyone who's done this had an issue here?

I replaced the rack on my 2nd gen about 10 years ago, and it was a mess - but mostly due to my own ignorance, and my ex-wife's impatience... this time I know better, and have better information to work from.