Hello all. I am upgrading my suspension this weekend by putting in Tokico shocks and Eibach Pro Kit springs. This past weekend I noticed that the Dust covers for the Shocks were torn on the car. So I contacted Courtesy Nissan for the Dust covers, here is what they told me: "You should also replace the Strut Bearings, and the Bump Stops in addtion to the Dust Boots". Is this normal? Should I replace these? What exactly is the Strut Bearings? Any clarification would be helpful.

I have a 98 Maxima SE with 93k.

TIA

Marc98se5

 

strut bearings are important, but you may not need new ones for sure. They are little plastic items that look like disks which allow your front strut assembly to rotate as you turn the wheels from left to right. If you have bad strut bearings, many report hearing their springs make a poping sound as they turn.

bumpstops, you'll probably want to get new ones that are smaller than the factory ones. You can either trim your existing bumpstops, or you can get new ones. Many folks choose the KYB dust boots because they come with shortened bumpstops. You want shorter bumpstops so you have more travel in your suspension. bumpstops' function is to prevent the piston of the strut compressing so far in that the body of the strut comes in contact with the strut mounts directly.

 

The bumpstops and dustboots are all molded together as one piece. You dont have to replace the strut bearings, but it's not a bad idea.

Before you start, send back the Tokicos and get some GR-2s. You'll be much better off.

 

Order the KYB dust boots from Tire Rack or your local speed shop. The P/N's are SB103 and SB108, you need 2 of each. They are cheaper then OEM and have shorter bump stops for your lowered car.

You can pry open and regrease your old strut bearings. Use a small screwdriver and simply pry them open, clean them up inside and regrease them with wheel bearing grease. The bearing is plastic and has a teflon sleve inside that it rotates on. Pretty easy to do and that will save you about $50 bucks.

As far as your shocks go, the rear Tokico Blues are really not strong enough to handle sport springs. The fronts should be fine and will give you a softer ride. So consider sending back the Tokico rears and getting your hands on a set of rear KYB GR2's.

If you really want a nice tight setup that handles great, go with KYB GR2's all around as mzmtg says.

 

Do the Kyb dust boots sb103 & sb108 have a bump stop molded to them??? I called Coximport who sells them and he said there could be a fit problem with these boots and that there wasnt a bump stop on them,does this guy know what he is talking about?, what is your epxerience with these,,do they fit good to both tokico and kyb struts?...do you need separate bump stops with these boots???? Thanks

 

Didnt someone say about two weeks ago that you can get those kyb items are you local parts store like autozone under the trw brand name? and you just tell them you need (i forget what it is actually called) for a mustang and miata? will this work what is the actual name that the man will look for in the computer? and what year mustang and miata is it? this is cheaper right?

 

The bump stop is indeed part of it and there is no fitment issue with these, they fit just fine.

 

Hey guys thanks for all of your suggestions. Sorry the delayed response back, I don't get the chance that often to get on the computer at home and my company's firewall blocks this forum. Now I have a few more questions. So here we go.

Why do you say that the Tokico Blues don't work well with the Eibach Springs? The reason I ask is that I am looking for a suspension close to Stock, but I wanted to lower the car to get rid of the wheel gap. This car is my daily driver so I didn't want that stiff of a ride (To and from work, plus I have small kids). I don't think that I will be going to the track or anything like that.

The other question is the bump stops. How much shorter are the KYB Boots? and can the stock bump stops be shaved?

Thanks again guys!!

Marc98se5

 

i have eibach prokits and kyb agx shocks ...its a real performer thats for sure, if you set the kyb agx's on 1 or 2 its not that bad. i would also get new mounts or take a good look at the ones you have on the car and see what kind of condtion they are in. mine were pretty bad, and now I think they are worse. I feel and notice I am loosing handling and Im wondering if the bad mounts are the culprit ? check yours !

 

 

The rears are known to become blown when lowered. They go better with stock springs.

http://drewm.dyndns.org/~drew/maxfaq...p?MaximaShocks Scroll down to Tokico Blues for 4th gen.