I have been hearing this klunk like noise coming from the front passenger side when going over a bump (of any size). i looked under the hood and noticed that the top of the strut is not moving with the vehicle. the nut on top of the strut won't tighten down. the whole thing turns instead. what is broken? is it the insulator or the bearing or what? does anyone have a better diagram than the nissan parts breakdown (aka what the dealer and courtesyparts.com have).

 

I would vote a strut bearing. The insulator/bearing assembly can be bought for quite cheap @ pinnaclenissan or courtesy(less than 60USD)

 

I agree with NmexMAX, strut bearing. Now is the time to up grade the struts.

 

so do i need the whole insulator assembly or a few select parts?
do you have a part number? (95 gxe)

i upgraded the shocks (kyb) a while back and they are fine.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=530673

 

should've done the strut or bearing plates with them. plus, there's spring insolators, boots, and an insolator bearing that goes on top of the strut. its a shame because your gonna have to re-align the front again when you take them apart to replace. i'd say with parts like 225.00 unless your doing it yourself or the shop is cool and puts em on for just parts price plus alignment,.

 

http://www.courtesyparts.com/betasit...a32b_401-2.gif

so do i need to get the 6 parts that are on the right side (starting at 54329N)?

 

Let that be a lesson to everyone. Replace your old stut bearing assy. when you replace or upgrade your struts. DO IT RIGHT....DO IT ONCE.

 

that should go in the stickies.

 

no, the bearing plate is broken down for some reason, i guess thats the way nissan decided to do scematics for the car. bearing plates are 1 peice.

 

apparently some of you have changed these before, so....what do i need to buy? (part #(s))

 

It depends, but generally there's no need to command all six parts. I had bad insulator -- 54320 which caused me klunk noise when going over bumps. So, I think you need to get:
1. Insulator -- 54320-40U02
2. Bearing -- 54325-5V000
3. Spacer-Front Strut Insulator 54329-39U00, depends how bad your spacer is.

If the boot and the spring seat is in good shape, you may leave them. This part numbers from above are for my 95 SE M/T Maxima. Check stickies also.

 

it was the insulator that was bad. the rubber was completely separated from the metal! i replaced the bearing while i had it apart.