haha yeah im pretty sick of it, ive even had rotors turned, im going to redo my front brakes to weed those out too

 

Nick, I'm was wondering if the tool you used to seperate the outer tie rod joints could also be used to seperate the ball joints? I just ruined the ball joint boot with a pickle fork and I need to work on the other side soon so I'm looking for other options.

 

there is no need for any balljoint tools , once you separate the strut from the steering knuckle , you will have enough room to get socket on the balljoint nut , once you brake the nut loose , leave it on and gently tap the balljoint nut with small hammer
it should seperate without braking any sweat.

Hunter11, you should replace: strut mounts,bearings ,rubber bushings and dust boots

Nick.

Nick

 

I read further up in this thread about a clunk? I hear a clunk and I can't figure out where it's coming from. I don't have to be turning or anything but I hear it when I go over speed bumps at a certain speed or a stiff bump in the road. You have to have the right situation for it to happen and of course it never does it in the presence of the stealership techs.

 

Missouri probably puts some salt on the roads in winter. I needed to use a cheater bar on a picklefork to get mine apart.

Dave

 

Same here Dave. I tried using my old tie rod seperator tool on the ball joing last time and bent the bolt so I had to start using the damn pickle fork. I'm looking for a new way that won't ruin the Ball joint boots. It's also a good idea to put anti-seize on the ball joint and tie rod posts when reassembling, but even with that they're still sometimes tough to get back apart.

 

There is a tool which is built like a gear puller (or just use a 2-jaw gear puller) which doesn't touch the boot. It's the way to go, but I was replacing the balljoints and the picklefork tool was only $10. Also, PB blaster is your friend.

Dave

 

hunter i have a post on the forum that gives you the part numbers for every nissan part you can replace to do a VERY complete suspension job. however it does not include the steering parts mentioned in this thread. i will edit it later and try and give a description of the parts and a price for each so check back.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=393491

 

Thanks for that. That is exactly what I was wanting. I need to replace everything because I plan on keeping the car for a good while.
So do you think the AGX are part of my problem too? Are they tighter than the gr2's? I have bent 2 rims so far and the ride is just getting on my last nerve. I can't keep an allignment,my tires are wearing out wrong, and after 2 years the harsh ride just isn't doing it anymore. I gotta get a softer ride, forget the handling. So I am getting the H&R and try to replace as much suspension as possible. Thanks!

 

If your ride is bad be sure to either cut your bumpstops or get the KYB dust boots (which include shorter bumpstops); many people who lower their Maxes don't realize they're hitting their bumpstops all the time. As Dave B explained it, the SE bump stops are progressive, meaning you won't feel a sudden bump or thump when you hit them; rather you just dig into them but your ride goes to hell.

Also, replace your AGXs with Illuminas or Konis; that will improve ride as well.

 

never had the agx's but i have heard people complain about them being stiff, especially in the cold weather. what size rims do you have?

 

FYI, I have Illuminas and they DEFINITELY get stiff in cold weather. Last December I was driving around with temps in the 20s and 30s and wondering why my ride was so bad. The car thumped and clunked through bumps in the road. My Illuminas were set to 3/4 or 4/4 I think and since the weather gradually had been getting colder since summer I didn't really notice until then.

It's not a problem though, I just set them to 1/1 and had a comfortable car again. Illuminas rock.

 

I have 18's and sometime or another I want to get 19's. I would just like to think that I could have a decent ride with at least 18's though.
And as for a ride going to hell I think mine has. I am not sure if I just didn't mind the ride when I first lowered my car or either it really has gotten worse.

 

well i cant say for sure in your case, but i would definately suspect your struts playin a role in your rims bending.. kybs have a bad rep for riding really hard. honestly, i would look into changing them mabye, or turning them all the way down cause your car is just gonna get worse. rite now even with my new tokico's, the ride is pretty good for a lowered car, but what makes it seem bad is the noises and rattles from the car taking a beaten with the gr2's i had.. i drove tom's max. its a 99 with the same set up as mine, and his car is silent inside. if your cars makin noises now, its just gonna get worse.

 

oh and by the way.. if your ride is that stiff, or anywhere near as stiff as mine was, theres no way your hittin those bumpstops

 

yah this guy is slowly jacking his prices as more and more .org people give him a try. I smell a group deal!

 

Well I am about to order some H&R. That is the first step in my suspension overhaul. I will replace the LCA and tie rods,then probably get some illumina's b/c I have heard good things about them.

 

I had those problems too and my 99 only had 65k miles on it. I recently upgraded to G35 Coupe 18"s (Fr: P225 Rr: P245) from my stock 15" steelies and the problem has vanished. Steering feels tight and smooth again. But interesting post though... will look into that.

 

i will be changing my wheel bearings tomorrow and want to replace the ball joints while i'm at it.

has anyone replaced just the ball joint instead of the whole LCA? can someone give me some tips on how to replace it?

thanx
Emil

 

wheel bearings and new cv axles are the only things left to repalce on my front end suspension - everything else is new.

cv axles should be easy , but the wheel bearings could turn into real PITA
I think i will remove the steering knuckeles and have the dealer press in new bearings

I assume that dealer will know how far they have to be pressed in , Ive heard stories of people having their bearings pressed in too far or shallow, and that caused whole lot of new problems.

I might also look into replacing the steering knuckles from low milage maxima

but those are plans for next few months or so , right now the car had been aligned and it rides great , my CV joints are stock with 145K on them and the boots just now starting to show first signs of wear ( very small crack/tears)


naslime , if you want to replace the balljoints only , you will need to have them pressed in by balljoint press or have any metal shop do it for few $$$

I highly suggest to replace the whole LCA , for small price( ~$75 shipped from Ebay) you"ll get new arm/balljoint and bushings, and it could be replaced in an hour or so.

Nick.

 

Borrow the tool from Autozone - it looks like a big C-clamp.

Dave

 

thanx for the advice!

i had both bearings replaced for $50 at a local machine shop.
i paid $34.05 for each bearing and $9.21 for each of the four seals from abcnissanwholesale.com - best price I found.
I paid $29.99 for each ball joint (Moog brand..?!) from a local auto parts.
yeah i know I could have gotten them both for $38.00 from eBay or possibly get the whole LCA but I couldn't wait for shipping.
and I did use the big C-clamp from Autozone, thanx Dave

 

nice, i have a brand new LCA in my trunk.

 

sounds good , did you notice much smoother ride with new bearings and balljoints, im pretty sure that there is huge difference !!! let us know

bearings and new cv axles are next on my list

Nick.

 

I am about to order some stuff off of EBAY and I was just gonna make sure these are the right parts for the Left and Right side and if there is anything else that I need to make just these parts work right. I will get other parts later like strut bearing s and what not. I am also gonna the outter tie rods,I just couldn't find them on Ebay. Thanks!!!

LCA Right
LCA Left
Inner Tie Rods

 

I'll sell you that exact set of tie rods for 21.99 + $5 shipping, same seller. I bought them last week, and UPS said they would deliver on Friday. They didn't arrive, so saturday morning I went and got some from Advanced Auto and finished the job. They look just like the ones I installed.

I can send them out tomorrow if you paypal me by noon.

Dave

Dave

 

I am probably gonna order next week so I will just get them off of ebay. But, how much are they from Advance? I would rather do that than off the internet.

 

That's surprising, since Advanced cost $30 EACH and the guy on Ebay is charging $14 shipping, where I think $5 is more realistic.

Either way - I'll post a for sale ad if you don't want them.

 

Does anyone know what the difference is between the I30 and I30t LCA's? Everythinginfiniti.com has them listed as separate parts, and I thought the only suspension differences were in the struts and springs...

 

stiffer bushings I believe....they offer a differ part # for the LCA on the GLE and SE maximas. Hardly anyone uses OEM NEW they just rebuild or replace non oem

 

So it wouldn't matter anyway if I'm just going to use ES bushings?

 

Wow, I think I may have to do this later this summer on my '99. Ive noticed a bit of "floaty" steering lately and wondered what might be causing it. Might be a good idea to replace the parts anyways, I should be near 80k miles by the end of the summer.

 

yes!! definitely smoother! still a little tire noise from cupped tires, but definitely smoother

 

nick..

what is your suspension setup?? it seems kind of low to be H&R, but i could be wrong.

 

on which pic?

I've had H&R with GR2 recently , now I am back to stock


Nick.

 

i bought new balljoints off pedro r. fast *** shipping. i reused my lca's, they were quite rusty but i sanded them down and repainted them with rustoleum industrial black paint(heavy duty) and they look brand new. my next point of focus will be my brakes.

 

nick,

My car has 210kkm on it . I had a shop check my alignment while the car was lifted up and it checked Ok ( without removing any of suspention bolts.)

However, sometimes there is a little vibration around 125km/hour even after alignment and balancing done. In your opinion could be existing LCA and inner ties are worn out. Could they be checked without taking suspention parts apart.

I appreciate your response.

 

I bought my 99 car about a year ago with 40,000 miles, it was shaking a lot, so replaced tires and did balance and alignment and it got slightly better but shaking didn't go away; been asking around what can it be, but nobody can tell me exactly what is wrong with car, first tought rims were all bended, but they look ok. I really hate that shaking for such an expensive car; I think will have to replace many parts when get the money to have a decent ride. can't believe my 89 and 92 accords are way better. I am even thinking to get rid of my car for that steering wheel shaking; I paid $11,200.

 

I know how you feel , nothing is worse than loose steering and vibrations on such a nice car , but there shouldn't be any shaking/shimmy on a car with 40k on it , unless something was bent or damaged.

my 97 SE had 80K when i bought it , and even with bald Michelins there was no shaking all the way up to 110mph , than i've replaced tires and shaking started at around 110K - I have been living with that for past 35K and by
replacing lower control arms/balljoints/ sway bar bushings/ and inner tie rods ride did smooth out drastically.

have your tires rebalanced and see what happens , if it doesn't help swap wheels with some other maxima and if shakes are still there that means that something in front suspension is worn out or damaged and must be replaced.

Nick.

 

Bringin this back......

Anyone find a stable dealer for this stuff? There doesn't seem to be anything on Ebay...