Front Strut Replacement - what parts do I need & tips?
 

I need to do the front struts on a '98 Max. 100K (southern miles until 80Km so not too much rust under there).

Aside from the strut cartridges themselves, what other parts am I going to want to replace during the job or will I break during removal?

The mounts look good when the steering wheel is moved lock to lock... no apparent movement (unless that means they are rock solid :-). Should I replace them anyway? I've had poor results with some aftermarket mounts these days (Chinese junk) so I want to avoid adding a problem if they usually last longer.

Rough hours to do this job for someone who has done a number of strut replacements, but never done more than brakes on a Maxima?

Any special tools needed aside from spring compressors?

If they're OE mounts, they should be perfectly fine to re-use but check for separation and play on the rubber. Check for accelerated wear on the strut bearings otherwise you can re-grease and re-use them. Replace with OE units only if you need to.

The orange paper gasket may or may not be chewed up. I usually toss those and make my own out of thick gasket sheet just use the ones on the car as templates and trim accordingly.

With only hand tools, you'll be done inside an hour for both sides. Breaker bar (2) will make short work of those strut bolts otherwise it's super easy (easier than brake work). Just remember to re-clock the top spring seat and mounts in the right position before tightening them down onto the chassis.

Have you considered using quick struts? It would be alot easier than using a spring compressor, more expensive though. I replaced my front struts with monroe quick struts. The handling is pretty floaty and loose. Not sure if its because I haven't replaced the rears yet or the brand monroe itself...oh well they're new and ride well. Looking back, I would have rather reused my SE springs and replaced the struts. If you don't want to go that route, then forsure replace the Strut bellow, and bump stops with your struts. Buy a can of liquid wrench or W-D40 before taking off them bolts. And of course, get a wheel alignment afterwards.

I used Moog Problem Solver strut assemblies. Complete and the easiest way to get them done quick. I did all four. Pretty much got the original new Maxima ride back. No springs to deal with or any of the other components either. All new and complete.

For the most part, if you shop around, about $100 each delivered! Like the gentleman above, I made my own gaskets with some heavy paper type gasket material. Nissan charges stupid money for them.

First side (front) took about 2 hours and the second, a little over an hour. First time doing my own.

While you're there, inspect the End Links, Sway Bar Bushings and Your Lower Control Arms (Bushings and Ball Joints)

Good luck!

Thanks for the tip on the gasket... the factory is $14 each. Yikes. I'll make those. How thick is the gasket paper? I'd like to have it on hand before I start to save time.

Yeah, the bellows are shot... so I will be replacing those. Any preferred aftermarket brands for the bellows or ones to avoid? I would go factory but I need to get them fairly quickly so Ebay might be a better choice.

An hour total is spectacular... I'm used to more complex/convoluted cars that take much longer.

There are different types of gasket paper. There are OE thickness but the one I used was really thick comparable to a cork placemat. I think mine was Mr. Gasket branded I just bought whatever they had at the parts place.

I just recently swapped my front struts too I used Monroe boots and bumpstops 63622 to replace the KYBs I had in there before the stops were chewed up and the boot separated from the stop after about 60k.

Not a fan of quick struts. OE strut mounts and bearings have shown to be the best for longevity. I had my own trouble with Monroe strut mounts https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...ml#post9085391

Thanks... I'll just get something on the thick side then for the gasket and shoot for Monroe boots.

On the mounts... yeah... I've seen issues on other cars, especially with stiffer springs/shocks. Guess it's universal now with non-OEM mounts.

IMHO Monroe quick struts will save you over an hour in time. I purchased cheap SenSen struts which failed on my car and they messed up my tires. There is a youtube video on how to change them and it is easier than you think just 5 bolts to remove to get each strut out. I highly recommend if you continue to keep it on stock suspension to go with quick struts. No headache at all.

You mean to tell me there another person on here to makes their own strut gaskets? I bet I use the same gray parts store gasket material.

If I decide to do the rears too... is there anything I need besides the struts and new bellows? Any other wear/break items?

Is that as quick as the fronts < 1 hour?

It was gray for me too!

Back struts are WAY easier and quicker. I used the KYB SM5123 Shock / Strut Mounting Kit when I did mine today.

I didn't realized you'd need these parts... do they always need replacement? I already got my strut order in.

They don't necessarily NEED to be replaced (especially if they were don't seem too terrible with the old struts). However, with my experience - reusing old rubber parts CAN lead to a lot of squeaking - however, I'd be more worried about the front struts than the back ones for that. Honestly, it's up to you. The first time I ever did struts I did what you did - ordered just the struts with the plan to reuse springs, mounts, rubber, etc. Ended up having to take them back off again because they were horribly squeaky and the old rubber parts were worn. But if you decide to not get the new rubber parts, you can just do the install and find out. If they indeed squeak or have some issue like that, you can still drive your car until the new rubbers come in.

OK, all done. Not a bad job. Took some extra time since it was the first time on these for me. I also had some cleanup time on the side that blew out... lots of good on the parts.

The Walker boots are nice but the bump stops are bigger than stock by quite a bit and their design doesn't make trimming a good option. After mulling over using it, I compared the height of the stop to the minimum height that the fully compressed spring coils would have and it seemed like it was a reasonable amount over that... maybe 1/4" more. That leaves me wondering about the stock stop though - seems like you'd bottom the springs before you'd hit the stop. Comments welcome.

Forgot to mention: Thanks for the heads up on the gasket material. The fronts were OK so I reused them, but the rears were munched and needed replacing. Since they seal the body, I figured it was a good idea to make sure they worked. A little time with the scissors and x-acto knife and I had a new pair that will keep everything water tight.

I did the full cheapo Chinese / Ebay quick strut set. $232 complete for the set of 4, had them all installed myself in about 2 hours. So far so good...no more sweaty palms on the freeway from the Max jumping into the next lane while at speed.

What is the brand name of your set? I am also looking for a cheap set to last for 3-4 years and saw a set of Unity on Rockauto for about $280, but unsure of how well they work.

I bought my front struts (whole assembly) (passenger and driver) off eBay for about $150. That's for a 97 max. The labor is actually so easy i would recommend DYI to save cost. 2 nuts under the hood and I think about 3 bults around the rotor area.

Quick struts are the way to go.

Monroe is having their rebate promotion through the end of May. The rebate is $100 on a set of four. On Rock Auto, the pre-rebate price is about $450 (with a promo code; google "rockauto promo code"). The price after rebate comes out to $350 or so.

Avoid Gabriel, because their struts for the A32 have elongated holes at the bottom, which will be an alignment nightmare. However, I have used Gabriel Ultra Readymount quick struts successfully in other cars (just not the Maxima).

The no-name Chinese struts rarely last more than 10k. Besides, the Monroe rebate makes good quality struts not that much more than the cheap junk. Monroe's premium quick struts (painted black) come with OESpectrum struts and will last at least 50k, and have a lifetime warranty.

Monroe's blue econo-matic quick struts aren't that great, either, and have no warranty, and won't make it to 30k. They contain the Monro-Matic strut.