I need to replace my rear struts and was planning on using Monroe. Anyone know where I can buy these online for a good price? I checked Ebay and the only struts I found for a 96 Nissan were for a 300ZX and Altimas.

 

I believe Sears carries Monroe.

 

I was trying to purchase them online if possible, because I'm sure they will be cheaper.

 

http://oe.1motormart.com/parts/motor...del=MAX-SE-003

 

Monroe's suck. They are to soft. I put them on a 95 SE I had and took them off and put on KYB's. You can get KYB on E-Bay motors

 

As far as I know, no one has yet to try out the Monroe Reflex on their Maxima. Here are some links:

http://waw.wardsauto.com/ar/auto_chi...up_suspension/

Monroe website

They are a firmer than normal strut under normal conditions, but as soon as things get really bumpy, the damping decreases, giving you a more comfortable ride. The 2000 altima se apparently came with them stock.

 

I'm thinking of relpacing mine's rear ones with Monroe too. The indep mech is charging $54/strut and $70 for labor for each wheel. I don't really care too much about performance because this car is basically for my wife who does daily driving back and forth from school. I just want to be able to fix the struts problem that the mech identified...so i'm leaning towards getting Monroe. The tokiko ones are I think twice as much and sort of out of my range at this point.

The problem is that in the rear tires the inside wall seems to be really worn off unevenly. The mech said that since the struts are gone...the tire is bouncing around and that's why it is worn off that way. Also, when he pushed on the trunk the car bounced a little too much which he says is indicative of bad struts.

One thing i also notice is that when I'm driving i hear a humming sound coming from the back...it's like i'm driving a loud SUV. Do you think if I replace them the sound will go away?...that's what the mechanic told me. I've never driven on another maxima, but the sound level seems pritty high specially at high speed...more so than my 97 corolla.

I was wondering...do our cars have shocks or struts? Should I replace the springs too or is it not necessary? My car is a 96GLE and has 93k miles on it.

Would really like to get your opinion on this.

Thanks.

 

what did they feel like. i knwo you say "soft", but did they, for instance, bottom out over big bumps, come back up real slow, or what?

im looking for a SOFT ride as my other thread indicates

 

Monroe's will probably do you just fine, are the Tokicos really that much more?



Inside tire ware indicates an alignment issue. Were those tires ever up front and what does the inside of your front tires look like?



Thats most likely comming from your unevenly worn tires.



Front struts and rear shocks, you don't need to replace the springs but new strut bearings up front and new dust covers all around would be a good idea.

 

hey thanks a lot for the info.

To answer your questions...well I don't know the exact cost but when I ask the mechanic he indicated that tokikos will be about twice as much as monroes.

Rest of the tires are fine. I've had the car for two years, and I've never rotated the tires. The front tires and also the driver side rear tire is fine. Its just the rear passenger one that has uneven wear on the inside wall. I think its a combination of alignment and shocks, cause if it was just alignment then the wear towards the inside would be even. I will replace shocks on both rear wheels and also look into doing what you suggested if it doesn't cost too much more.

I really hope after I fix this the noise level drops down cause it is a bit too much for a car like this.

 

put the back shocks on yourself =]....the back is the easiest to do

 

nice ride u have there

 

I looked at the stickies and it doesn't look too hard. I will save enough on labor to replace all 4 then....hmmm. It looks a little intimidating though.

I didn't see instructions on changing the rear shocks though. Someone told me that I have to remove the back seat to get the rear shocks out??? But from some pics i saw it looks like there are mounts in the trunk...i'll have to open the trunk and check it out...then it will probably be the same proceduere as front ones.

I'm still confused about what goes in the rear wheels...i know the front ones are struts...but some people refer to rear ones as shocks and some call them struts?? or is it basically the same thing?

 

The sound you're hearing could be either the tire or a bad wheel bearing. A bad bearing could be causing the tire to wear. I would imgine the rears aren't too tough. I did the fronts on my old 89. The first was a *****, The second wasn't too bad. Learning curve stuff. Once you get whatever it is fixed, get a four wheel alignment at a GOOD shop.

 

no..no need to remove the back seat..just your rear tires and the strut mount u can reach from your trunk. just 2 nuts. better to have 2 guys working on it because the whole shock might drop when you losening it. you dont really need a spring compressor for the front but it would be better. its not like its going to pop on your face or anything. also i would recomend air tools if you have them. faster but u can use socket wrenches and all.

there is no 4 wheel alignment. you can only aligned the front. camber and toe. the rear is fixed setting so dont pay extra money for 4 wheel alignment. is there a firestone near you? 130-140 lifetime alignment but i would recommend somewhere that uses the laser technology

 

Great!...thank you.
I wish I knew someone who was mechanically inclined to work with, but unfortunately I don't. Will try to do it myself, but will wait for a week or so until I read through all the notes and educate myself. I'm sure once someone has done it, it would be a piece of cake for them, but for a newbie it seems a bit daunting.

 

He's got stock springs, those WILL pop. When working with springs always use spring compressors. For lowering springs, you just don't need to compress them as much.

 

i installed monroes myself in the rear and they are perfect.... i am purchasing 2 more for the front... they are awesome. and my buddy has kyb's and i went for a rid in his car and i flew off the seat in his maxima when we hit a bump it was a awfull ride.

 

I think i'll get a spring compressor to be on the safe side. I don't want to add further tension when working on my first major project of this magnitude :~)

Hey mattleo, thanks for letting us know...yeah I would take comfort over performance handling anytime if I had a choice.

 

yeah I would use a spring compressor... and giving somone the idea to not use one is bad! it's like a condom... you might not need one ... but why risk it...?

 

check prices at rockauto.com

 

#1 - if you do this yourself, yes, you do need to use spring compressors if you have factory springs. if you had lowering springs, you would not need them.

#2- the humming you hear is more than likely you rear tires. i just swapped back to my stock wheels and tires for about 2 weeks. one of the stock tires was badly worn on the outside. i had a humming that came from that tire for the 2 weeks i had them on. the noise was not there before i put those tires on, and left as soon as i put my 17's back on.
if you replace the tires, and the humming is still there, it can also be the rear bearings/hubs. but start with the tires.

im sure the monroe's wiil be fine for what your looking for. make sure change the strut berarings up fornt, and the dust boots like njmaxseltd said to do. i would also change the rubber noise isolaters on the springs, because im certain yours are badly worn.

you are better off getting factory strut bearings as opposed to the ones kyb makes. the dust covers really dont matter. people that are lowered use the kyb's because they have a shorter bumpstop on them as opposed to the factory ones. but this doesnt make a real difference for you.

http://www.kcmaximas.org/tech/suspension/


that is a list of every part you can change when doing struts, along with the part #'s.

if the car is in nice shape, and your the type of person that doesnt mind spending a few extra $$ to make sure it stays that way thats a good list for you.

get the dust covers, and anything that says "seat rubber", and the strut bearings. shock/strut mounts really dont go bad, so dont worry about those.

 

i didnt use it on my rear..i do have the SE model so i guess the springs are shorter? mybad

 

i have monroes, back wen the max was my parents, they had it installed for around 400 or so including labor at sears. also they offer lifetime warranty labor included.

 

oh and one more thing.. you can get to your rear struts from either the trunk, or the back seat. from the trunk, you will need to remove the rear panels to expose the mounts. or, you can get to them by taking out the backseat. i would assume that you will still have the factory metal plate behind the seats, so that would need to be removed it you went that way. its up to you. for my car, its easier for someone to remove the back seat. i have a pretty big stereo in the trunk, so rather than removing my speakers and amps, its much easier to just take the seats out.

 

Stuntin - thanks so much for all the info...it was very helpful.

 

thats what we're here for.. too bad your not closer, njmaxseltd coulda hooked you up with a good deal on an install.. he did mine for me..

 

I put Monroes on my '97 and they sucked big time. They were soft, bottomed out, and caused the car to wallow. I left them in there for 20K and they were totally toasted when I finally took them out. Still had pressure but no resistance at all left in them. Buy anything EXCEPT those Monroe POS struts. If you're looking for cheap, Gabriel makes some that Autozone carries for $66. They can't be any worse.

 

just when I thought I had it all figured out, I see this post ------^ :~D

jvienneau - were they really that bad from the start? or if you live in a city with bad roads they eventually became wallow? or maybe depending on what kind of driving you do, they weren't a good fit for you?
Price is not really my #1 consideration...however since I wanted softer ride and coupled with good price...i thought maybe monroe may be a good option for me...
Thanks for the feedback though...personal experience really tells you lot about a product.

 

I bough mine whit monero's sensatrack

it ride pretty well , very confort , SOFT (They are new 5k KM )

great remplacement for Oem , but i am more into coil over , next one ...