What do you guys think?

I'm hearing creeking and squeaking from the front drivers side one and need to know my options.....

Cheapest ideas 1st

 

It takes about 2-3 hours to replace one depending on how rusty your Max is, so dedicate entire day to the job. And you will need tools as well, so plan for that too.

BTW this is a good opportunity to replace your brake pads.

 

you need a socket set and spring compressor for the fronts but you could proboly take the struts and spring to a shop and they could compress the springs and bolt them into the struts and then you could just take them home and bolt them up very easy

 

The hardest part is compressing the springs manually, plus i had to use two sets of compressor.

 

that would be your best bet as subs said. you'll need a 14mm for the 3 strut tower bolts, 17mm socket and box-end wrench for the hub to strut housing and that should be it.

 

check out the FAQs (www.4dsc.com/articles in particular). There is writeup for suspension replacement that'll show you all you need to do.

The fronts are pretty easy if you have some basic tools (if not, buy some instead of spending that money to have it installed). You'll need a spring compressor which can be rented for free from Autozone.

 

You shoulda asked us at the meet last week. I'm not sure it's your strut(s) that is causing the problem

 

I know....but I wasn't having a problem with them. This just started happening within the last few weeks.....

Sounds like we need to take another trip to shawns house

 

I am doing the struts soon as well. Is not really that hard. I'm just doing the front ones for now. I guess when it starts dropping it will look like a hot rod...

 

It took me and my dad about 6-7 hours to do the front. We used the manual spring compressors and would have been done sooner until my father thought he had did something wrong and lowered the car and didn't realize he had the axle on a jack stand and pretty much broke it out of the tranny. Ended up needing a new A/T differential and a new d/s axle. Next time I grab a friend and tell them we're going to the park and hang out and then hand him a breaker bar....lol

 

it is not that hard, just will take some time. My friend and I rented a spring compresser which turned out that it didn't fit the Sprint springs, so we improvised and used tie wire which worked really well. We had to do the left side twice because he intalled it wrong the first time. But everything is cool except we accidenty ripped my cv boots on both sides, which need to be replaced soon.

 

this may be too late, but squeeking from the front struts may not be the strut itself. the rubber mount that the top of the strut secures in may be self destructing. my 94 hasn't done this but both sides of my 97 have and the indication is squeeking. if you go too long, you'll see tire wear on the inside edge. pop the hood and look at the end of the strut shaft. it should be dead center in the opening. if not, the mount is bad, $40 at Nissan. you have to take the strut and spring assembly out to replace it