I am looking for advice on where to purchase parts and repair information for the following items on a 97 Maxima. Where is the best place to go or what is the best manual for detailed instructions on these repairs?
1)I need to replace one outer CV boot.
2)I need to replace the rear shocks. My wife uses this car for work... The car is the base model and the current struts are stock. She would like the car to feel a little tighter but not so much that it loses all of it's comfort highway feel. What struts work the best on this car for a slight upgrade? And is there any pitfalls with the replacement procedure that I should know going into this repair?

Thanks,
John

 

There is more time and effort required to replace the CV boot than to just replace the whole axle. Contact www.raxles.com for the best axles at good prices.

If there are no plans to upgrade to performance springs, Tokico HP ("blue") struts will be a good replacement. They will be slightly tighter than OEM, but will not degrade the ride quality. KYB GR-2 struts are 15-20% stiffer than OEM and will firm up the ride much more noticeably, although this might be a bad thing for your situation.

 

Oh yeah, get a Haynes repair manual. It's the best $15 you can spend on your car. It covers everything you need to know for replacing axles and struts

 

I had the axles out of my car anyways so I replaced the outer boots with a boot kit - $35 each. If your current boots are split open and the grease is gone, then prolly better to replace the axles.