I have a 98 maxima gle with tokico and factory springs. I was in a accident late last year. My passenger side rear sits lower than the driver side rear. My allignment hasn't been the same ever since, i was told by firestone(i have the lifetime alignment service from them) that i need to get the rear beam bent.
Anyone please let me know if this really works and gets the car back to factory conidtions?
Can anyone tell me what place does it in orlando?
Is it better to just get another rear beam instead(and if i'm doing so what else should i replace while at it to get it factory specs?)
Any help would be greatfully apprecaited. i'm new to the orlando area and haven't found the maxima club out here

 

Wow, a firestone that knows what they're talking about... rare...

Since the rear on our cars can NOT be adjusted, you will have to bend the beam to get it to factory spec.

You could chance it and get another rear beam (440 new as it appears on courtesy) used but you take the risk of still having a non-perfect alignment.

But it sounds like you have more then one problem if your car is sagging on one side.

Post your alignment specs and we can get a better idea from there how bad it really is.

FWIW My rear alignment is off too, but tire wear is fine and I haven't noticed it being off in my short experience of tracking/driving this car.

 

Lmfao you killed me with the firestone joke yo. Ironic a member from htown helping me out, Guess what i'm from htown(southwest side by west oaks mall) I went to elsik high school. anyways, here is my alignment. yeah my tires wear out unevenly, i just bought all new tires and i want them to last longer than the last set(6 months- good year honored their warranty luckily for me)

 

Yes, definitely replace your rear beam. One should be easy to source. I've had to do the same thing in my Max to get her to align properly. Got mine for $75 and installed it in 2-3 hours. Aligned perfectly afterward.

 

Replace the beam, your doing the crab walk down the road.
It's what's throwing your steering wheel center position off.

Ride height is controlled by the springs.

 

Hey nick thanks for advise where did you get your rear beam from? junk yard? maxima.org?
Also which are the best tallest springs for our maxima, se, gle? i want to get rid of the sag in the rear

 

I completely disagree everyone on the beam replacement.

Until someone can explain exactly what is wrong with the car, to me it makes no sense to make a suggestion of this sort. TS the issue properly and do a check on learning. This means ensuring you have considered all aspects of said issue and the answer you came up with is the only correct answer.
As aackshun stated, "But it sounds like you have more then one problem if your car is sagging on one side."
The only REAL way to take care of this problem is to have a REPUTABLE company (ie NOT Firestone) look at your car (ie auto body shop). I would def. watch them or ask them enough qualifying questions to make sure they did it the job correctly (unless you know and trust them). Obviously I would not take it to the same person who previously repaired it from your accident (if applicable).

If you consider the risks and benefits, this should be on the top of your to do list. (Handling, tire wear, general driving safety, looks, etc

If it was me, I would check the junkyard making sure the car I pulled from was not wrecked in the rear. The auto body shop will have the tools to make sure the beam is not torqued, stretched, or bent.

DO NOT put different springs in your vehicle! This is a stupid idea that had NO advantages. Make sure ANY part put in your vehicle is (when applicable) designed for it, and matches related parts. Again, DO NOT put different shocks/springs in different corners. They must all match! (Obviously matching back and front will mean slightly different specs as the loads are different.)

 

Just find you some stock springs, they're for sale everywhere in the FS section.

And no, not all springs are the same, SE/GXE/GLE have different spring rates.

Well, the two post before you hit the nail on the head, the beam is responsibile for the alignment issues, but I was subliminally hinting at maybe the body could be damaged too, which could cause the beam to never sit true.

Either way, you're dropping the rear suspension, since you're in Orlando, there are plenty of local orger's to help you with that taask (it's not that hard, our rear suspension is mighty simple)

 

To clarify:
1) I agree with aackshun There is clearly more to this situation. (I quoted him as I thought he was spot on.)
2) Often fixing part of the problem creates new problems and/or complicates existing problems. Swapping the beam is a great idea / a huge step in the right direction (from the sounds of it). That said, when you do work, do the right work the right way. The more you 'half-***' stuff the bigger issues become in the future.
3) IF there is more wrong with the car, is it worth causing more problems down the road to save a nominal amount of money now?
4) You asked for the “best tallest springs”. From context I assumed you were trying to 'level' the car by using a slightly taller or stiffer spring on the one side. This should NOT be done. If your thought is to replace a possible faulty spring, my advice is to do so only after you have verified that to be a contributing problem and do so in pairs at minimum.

 

Great advise guys i really appreciate it. i will find the local orgers and get a rear beam(hopefully one that hasn't been wrecked ) then proceed to replace the rear springs with a factory set.

 

Well i found out that my rear beam does need to be replace, the price i was quoted is $675 for a used part installed. since i found out that the ride height is controlled by the springs, i need also another set of spring. are all 97-99 maxima rear springs the same as far as height goes? I'm going to get another set for my rears and get a rear beam used from someone on the org that has a good one

 

well i finally found someone that was parting out their maxima and i just had the rear beam(paid 175 and it was delivered from tampa to orlando) replaced. Both sides of the rear seems even in height now and the car drives a lot better. Only thing i noticed is my passenger rear tire sits in father from the fender than any other side. I will be taking the car i for an alignment(since i have lifetime alignments from firestone) and hopefully my alignment will be perfect again for once. Could anyone suggest what may be causing the tire to sit like that? I will take a pic and upload it tom and also measure the difference with the other sides from the fender to the top of the tire. If anyone out there can measure there rears so i know how far off mine is also that would be appreciated.

 

Maybe I missed this... But are you at stock height?

If so then your car's body may not be aligned properly... Have you checked your vehicle's history? Maybe it was in a bad accident and had the quarter replaced..... What was your accident like? What did they fix?

(For other people who come to this thread)
If you're not at stock height disregard the previous statement and read below.

When you drop our cars the rear beam will shift to one side (to the right IIRC), one side of your car will be HERRAFRUSH (like mine) and the other kinda flush because the rear link on the beam is now upset by the odd angle it's at with the drop.

 

Was the russell link link replaced as well?
There is a way to center the beam, the russell link must be loosened while the car is on the ground. The beam should center itself, (might need some help) then it should be tightened up again.

Search, centering rear beam on here. There is a post somewhere that shows you exactly how it's done.

 

Congrats on figuring it out. I'm parting out and would love to sell the rear beam! By chance, did you change out the bushings while the beam was out?
Dr J

 

I didn't change out the bushings when i swapped it. I didn't know if there were any aftermarket bushings sold for our cars, I already have ES poly bushings in the front suspension. If you do know any let me know. What is the russel link? is that the lateral link of the beam that sits at the center of the beam?

 

Yes. It holds the beam from moving side to side.

http://forums.maxima.org/advanced-su...centering.html

This should help you out.

 

does that write up really work? cause i want it perfect, i read some people complaining that it didn't work at all.

 

I'll be testing that beam trick Monday if I don't forget about this thread ill post if it works!

 

great! please let me know how it went and what exactly you did and if it worked?

 

Not to threadjack, but how are the ES bushings?