I have a big problem. First off i have a 97 I30; I bought a complete set of 99 se springs and struts used with 34k miles on them to put on my car since i have 152k and still orginal suspension.

Anyway heres the problem: after putting them on and driving around today for the first time the car is a flying airplane. The rear jumps into the air at any sligtest bump or vibration in the road. I almost crashed into the wall on the highway. I got home and started to push down on the rear and it just jumps back up higher and higher the more you push down on the suspension.

I dont know what could be the problem, i put everything back the right way; i didnt a suspension beofer on my max and never had this problem.

Anyone have any thoughts, I cant drive the car at all .

 

If everything is installed the right way, then you have defective parts. You should have kept you old springs and just bought struts since srpings rarely go bad. KYB GR-2's would be perfect stock replacements.

 

sounds like blown struts. my car bounced all over the highway when i blew my old oem gle struts.

 

Couldn't agree more. Springs don't go bad, you could have upgraded your cars ride with a nice set of front struts and rear shocks. Sounds like you'll be doing that anyhow.

 

Not to mention the SE springs are alittle stiffer. So worn or blown struts would be more pronounced.

 

i agree with you

 

my stock struts leaked around 60k. yeah, get some gr2's. I had them in my altima and just put them in my minivan last week.
Jae

 

a few ?'s

1) Since I have an SE, would the GR-2 be a perfect complement to the stock suspension w/o being harsh or soft? I have no plans on lowering my Max b/c of the roads here in the metro Detroit area

2) I have close to 109K on my '98, should i replace my original shocks/struts at this point or can I wait 'til next spring to do so? My driving style isn't aggressive

 

Are you guys sure they are blown struts? How can that be with only 34k miles on them. My car had 152k miles and im sure my shox had to be gone and the car never bounced the way this does. when i mean bounce i mean you hit a hole and the car rear jumps to another side...????

 

Dont tell me you bought the ones that were in the 4th gen. parts for sale section.

 

Simple, someone sold you blown parts. You should've checked them before the install. GR-2 are pretty much stock replacement struts.

 

how could you tell they blown? i pushed down one them and they went tdown slowy loke they should and came up slowly too. ???

 

If they keep bouncing for a long period of the time then they are blown. On my other car, they were blown and kept going up and down slowly. Did you buy these off of 1nicemax?

 

kyb are not as good as many think
i have agx 1 front blown after 5 months next started to leak a week ago riding on stock SE springs

 

Is there a way to test them out before installation? I don't want to find out that they're bad after I install them. I bought a used set of struts/shocks and was told that it was in great condition. But judging by the looks of it they appear to be in pretty bad shape. i.e. very dirty and even some lite rust on the shinny part of the struts/shocks.

Thnx

 

maximus_pr: you're talking about agx, right? I think only agx are problematic. The GR-2's I've owned seem good. And I don't hear very many complaints of the GR-2 for stock springs. I think they're aggressively tuned, yet not harsh.

Usually, a new strut will be difficult to compress, and expand quickly to full length (pull on strut to be sure)

A worn strut will compress easily, and expand slowly. Sometimes if it's really dead, it won't expand at all. Or if it's leaked, it won't expand to full length.

But if the suspension is still on the car, it's up to the driver to figure it out. Sorry!

Jae

 

still i think illuminas are much better quality

 

New struts should not expand quickly. They should be hard to push down, but not rebound fast. They not only control the compression of the spring but also the rebound of the spring. In slow and out slow. A blown strut just won't rebound at all.

 

It really does not sound like blown struts to me. The ones you took off were surely blown anyhow with 150k miles. I have ridden on blown struts and the car does not jump around like that. Sure it bouncy and all, but the car won't react to the way your describing.

The struts you put on couldn't have been any worse than the ones you took off. I would just check over the install to make sure everything is there that should be.

 

Good struts are as hard to push in as they are to pull out. Bad struts are hard to push in and they DON'T come out at all by themselves or they are very easy to push in and out.

 

aren't they also adjustable?
Jae

 

yeap