I have a 96 and need some advice. I know my struts are bad in the front but the back are new. I havent had the money to switch the front ones yet. My question is.... When the strut on the driver side goes bad does it make the car shake really bad when accelarating ? I am assuming it would due to it being the side that does the pulling. My car shakes when im accelarating but as soon as let off the gas and coast it clear up completely. I guess what i want to know is does it sound like it is the struts or could it be something else. Also how long do i have before i HAVE to fix this issue. I know i need to asap but i just want to make sure my wheels arent going to fall off while im driving , lol. I need it to last another 550 miles maybe ? Thanks in advance for any CONSTRUCTIVE help , lol !

 

both my front struts are toast and im doing mine tuesday. mine have been blown a year (yaya i know... moneys tight) anyways my car doesnt shake at all like that it just rides like crap and u feel every pebble and crack in the road and clanks like a ****. so it seems as if u have other issues as well

 

shudnt shake. thats prob axles or sumin else.

 

yeah i got back to Tn for thanksgiving this weekend and tried to make it back hometo La but it shakes so bad i had to leave it at my father in laws house and take his car back home to La . It started this crap like half way into the trip up to TN. So next weekend i have to go back to TN and fix and drive it home. Just wished i knew exactly what to fix , lol ! AHHHH the love hate relationship i have with my car is really sucking right about now. Maybe it time for a new one(5th or 6th gen)JK , lol ! Man i wish someone else had this issue so i could know what to do. I agree with ya'll though i have ran it for a while with struts bad and nothing like this. Anyways ill keep you guys posted , Thanks for help !!!!

 

you say you have pulling to one side..could be shot outter tie rod. when you say shaking what do you mean? severe steering vibration? if you have both, outter tie rod could be the culprit..

 

GL bro maybe axles or cv joints?

 

it doesnt pop or anything when i turn just shakes like **** when im driving

 

Im having the same problem but when i hit 65-80 it vibrates and I dont know what it is!! I thought It was my struts cuz I was hearing this clicking noise every bump!.. I got new struts and yet still annoying clicking noise when i go over a bump or something.. CLICK!CLICK!CLICK! I hate it! BuT it shakes less after i go to 65-80 now and Yes i did get an alignment.. Please help and the car still pulls to the right a bit..

 

my car also starts shaking from the left side at around 65 mph, under 60- 65 its fine. It started happening one day when i was turning in the curve in the white castle drive thru and my left rear tire was too close and it got squeezed bad, must affected the alignment im guessing

 

There are couple of factors that can contribute to shakin acceleration. The struts would cause that if the strut mounts are worn badly, because bad mounts allows the wheels/axle to move freely. The other factors are bad ball joint and the lower control arm bushings. If these components are worn, the they will cause vibration. The mounts and LCA will also wear out your tires prematurely on one side. So check that for sign.

The LCA cost 120/side at autozone. it is complete with balljoint and bushings. Struts vary depends what you want. The Mounts are 53 or so at autozone. There's a good write up here, if you worked on suspension before, its a fairly straight forward removal/install.

The other minor factors are bend rim, wheel balance and alignment, If you know you nailed a pot hole. But you would've known immediately after the pot hole cause all the shaking going on.

Good Luck.

 

Ok here the deal . I bought the car 2 months or so ago. when i bought the car the guy said he had the tie rods, rack n pinion , and all that replaced. He had reciept for it so i never questioned it. Although he did say it need new struts in the front. I let it slide cause i was planning on going with some K- sports after x-mas was done and said with. I can pop the hood and looking at my strut mounts from under the hood you can see three bolts and one nut which if im correct should be in the center of the big hole right ? The driver side nut is noticeable not centered its close the being at the edge of the strut opening (hole). The other one isnt that bad but clanks as the driver side does when you push up and down on the car . Hope this makes sense . I figured maybe this could kinda narrow the field down a bit. Like i said though it only shake when im accelarating as soon as i let off the gas its back to being smooth as ice again ?

 

Hey aczace87, I am having just about the same problem with my 2000 nissan maxima. I was told I had bad inner tie rods by several people, but a good buddy of mine said I dont have to bother with them for at least another year! Then i was told it could be my passenger strut...I changed my axles so I know the problem doesnt lie there....I just seem to hear every darn bump and rock in the road and the front right side seems to have something loose in it? Like a clunk sound when I hit bumps....But honestly I have bigger problems with my max than these minor issues. My water pump is leaking and I have this horrible cold start problem!!!!!!!!!!!

 

bump for help

 

Ugafanz, Both of your mounts are VERY damage. If what you mentioned about the Stut bolt (one in middle) being off center then what that means is your strut is moving freely - which will cause the vibration. The Strut Mount is to hold the strut in place (middle) with no movement. This will also cause serious wearing on your tires, your traction is probably poor as driving on sand and probably hearing screeching sounds when you turn.

 

UPDATE !!!!

OK, after 2 struts , 2 strut mounts , 2 strut bearings , 1 set junky @ss coil compressors , 1 36mm socket , 1 axle ,my father-in-laws shop & heater, alot of WD-40 and some excessive cursing , Problem fixed.

I did the strut on the drivers side first. Got that done and moved to the pass side. I pulled the pass side wheel off . Unbolted the bolts on the lower strut. swung the caliper out of the way and what happens? MY AXLE FALLS OUT !!! It was broke. The rubber boot was gone and it pretty much was trashed. I dont even see how it was capable of pulling itself into the shop. I guess that would explain the shaking. So if anyone want to know if a maxima is tough Read----> My car started shaking in Jackson , Ms. I drove it all the way to Memphis , Tn to my folk house. My father in law drove it to and from work for a week (since we had his car) And then pulled it like 50 feet to the shop. All that with a freakin tore up cv axle . lol ! I was thinkin about moving to a 6 gen but after all that i think ill be keepin my 4th gen , lmaoo. All in all i just wanted to thank everyone who tried to help me out . I really appreciated it !

 

thats awesome man well kinda... glad u got it fixed!!

 

Its a little scary to think of the axel breaking free at 80 mph, tho.

 

Yeah , tell me about it ! theres no telling what kinda damage that thing would have done. The first thing it would have took out would have been my oil filter and oil pan . Prob my floor board too , lol .

 

my 95 did the same exact thing i replaced inner and outer tie rods on both sides and ball joint and control arms that didnt fix the problem i replaced the drivers side cv axle that didnt fix it either so earlier this week i went and bought a passengerside cv axle an bam problem solved rids some as h*** and the axle that came out didnt look bad at all boots were intact no grease guess something in side goes bad try doing that

 

Fixed it !