So my wife is giving me a grand to mess around with the car. It's got 164K on it and i need to make it ride better. My plans are replacing the mounts, springs, and some bushings. I'm also planning on doing the 02 sensors and knock sensor. Anything else I should get for it? I'm wondering if I should even do the 02 and Knock sensors. Theres no check engine light...

 

def. get the springs and struts. go to advanced and get them to check for codes. if nothing shows up, dont worry. I dont know if you are going performance or style so I dont know. I personally would order a lip kit

 

ok, what needs to be fixed....what doesn't needs to be fixed...is this thousand you have strictly for whatever you want, or is it part of maintenance. If its maientance money, i would get new rotors and brake pads right away and stash them until u need to change them. I would also buy oil and air and oil filter. If your springs are fine, why get new springs and such? Save money for used rims with tires since tires will eventually need to be replaced. Or just get new tires on ur stock rims. $1k goes fast as i have spent $600 on maintenance in the past month alone. Dont start replacing things that is not broken. There's no need to replace the knock sensor if it works fine. No need to replace 02 sensor if its working properly. Just because u put in a new sensor doesn't give you better mileage. Unless you hear popping noises and really rough ride, changing the springs won't give you a better ride.

If you want it to look good, i suggest tints, rims, y-pipe for performance, and a few hundred worth of ncessities for maintaining the car.

 

If you want the car to handle better get springs, adjustable struts, front strut tower bar, and a rear sway bar. You will feel like you are driving a completely different car.

 

How's your gas mileage? If it's good, don't bother replacing the O2's. Besides, you don't have any codes. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". No need to replace the KS either IMO.

 

maintenance first of course.

then the mounts and springs.

maybe some oem nissan take off (or anything else of equal quality you can afford) wheels if you have enough left over.

 

take the 1k and save it for when something breaks. at 164k you aren't far off from needing new rubbers on anything rubber on the car.

 

The gas mileage seems to be worse lately. Thats whats making me lean towards replacing the knock sensor. I just don't have a check engine light, but at 164k some of them need to be replaced... right?

I had noises in the front end so i got new struts. Had them just over 10k. It took care of some of the noises but not all. So I did the control arms, ball joints, and bushings. Still have a few left. All I can think of now is the mounts and strut bearings. I've decided to put new springs on it since I'm replacing the mounts. These have taken a beating so I'm going with the EiBach pro kit to go with my KYB GR-2's. Feel good about that one. There are some parts I'm not sure of though. Reading though the stickies I see there are some sleves that go on the top and bottom of the springs. Are thoes necessary? I want to use reuse as many parts as possible.

 

sleeves are usually thrown away

 

For 1k turbo lol. Im playin. DO all maintenance you can.

 

A grand will not go far for a turbo. lol

Did you get a codes pulled ??? If I had a grand to soak into the car, I'd probably do the following:
KS, Fuel filter, Brakes (rotors and calipers), Struts, Raxle's axles (well, the ds anyway cause the ps is already done. lol).

 

Open a checking account.

 

what the hell do you mean... she's giving you a grand?... i don't like where this is going.

don't you mean you've told her you're taking a grand to work on the car?

being married myself i fully understand sexual politics and the subserviant role we need to play intermittently in order to survive... but good God man, when it comes to your car... man up or at least don't advertize your emasculation.

...crap, i somehow feel compelled to invite you over for a twleve pack, a footbal game and maybe even some NASCAR... and i friggin hate NASCAR.

 

I'm horrible with money. I gave her the responsibility of the money and even gave her my bank and credit cards. Lets just say we have a lot more money now that I've done that and that we actually have a grand to play with! I hate NASCAR too so lets just work on the cars...

 

i wish my lady would give me a thousand dollars!!! sheesh

 

yeah if you want it to ride better get the Eibachs and use your struts. and do the mounts and all. you can get the KYB strut boot kit too. do that and get a rear sway bar and you will love the way the car rides. you will still have money to play with too for the KS and full tune up youknow

 

FYI, the knock sensor will throw a ghost code if it's bad. By that I mean the ecu will spit out a code for the knock sensor even though the check engine light is off. So get your codes checked regardless if the light's on or not. You can do it yourself quite easily actually. Check the stickies

 

if all sensors are ok, dont mess with it. It'll just be a headache. Dont fix whats no broken and invest on things you need right now. Run a diagnostic on your car and make sure there are no codes. Once that's done, see what else you need, like you said, get a better suspension. good luck

 

and if you want better handling... I would definately add the es poly bushings for the lower front sway bar and end links.

 

Well yesterday I found the reason my car was making noises and riding rough. I forgot to torque my sway bar end links. Once I did that the front end sounded great and had a smooth ride. I feel better accept I found that one of my struts were leaking. Does that mean that it's bad? The struts have only been on for about 12,000K. I'm thinking of replacing them all anyways.

I'm going to check for codes this afternoon to see if anything pops up. Heres my list of parts I want to get.

Keys 99 Maxima Transoponder Keys
Seat Rubber Rear Seat Rubber - 54034
Seat Rubber Front Seat Rubber - 55034-A32B001
Antenna 4" Aluminum
Remote 99 Maxima Remotes
Strut Mounts Front KYB Strut Mount - SM5122
Strut Bellow Front KYB Strut Bellow - SB104
Strut Bellow Rear KYB Strut Bellow - SB108
Knock Sensor Nissan Knock Sensor - 2206030P00
Chain Tentioner Beck/Arnley Chain Tensioner - 0241181
Wheel Barings Timken Wheel Bearing - 510009
Strut Mounts Rear KYB Strut Mount - SM5123
Struts Front Right KYB GR-2 - KYB-334150
Struts Front Left KYB GR-2 - KYB-334151
Struts Rear KYB GR-2 - KYB-341202
Springs Eibach Pro Kit - EIB-6334-140

Total with shipping right now is just under $1100.00. Thoes didn't post right. I coppied them from an excel doc but you get the point.

 

plus labor ?

 

I do it all myself man. Got all the tools or have access to them.