nlgntr

I really need some help/advice. I recently got a 3.0 L 1995 Maxima with about 180,000 miles. My Dad bought it new so I know the history, pretty good shape, not a lot of maintenance but driven easy. After getting it I decided to start with the basics so here's what I had done all at once:
- Tein lowering springs lowering Front 1.6 inch and 1. 2 rear
- Koni orange struts front and KYB GR2 for the rear
- Changed the 205 60 R15 wheels /tires to 17 inch wheels with 235 45 R17
- New brake pads all the way around
- One new tie rod end passenger side
- New CV axles
The misc pieces for the struts like bearings, boots, the stop etc were pieced together from some original parts and some purchased from MOOG, AGY. It did not look exactly like the original, but everything fit and went on. When I got it aligned the mechanic looked everything over and didn't see anything obviously wrong. After the alignment (which went well) , the car steering is very bad. It pulls into turns and doesn't want to come back to center. My description may not be the correct terminology. After making the turn it will continue to pull to the side (when driving straight down the highway) of the turn whether the turn was right or left. It seems to be worst on right turns, but will also stick in a left turn too.. The alignment guys said he"s seen the problem before and one car he dealt with had to be returned to all OEM parts before it was corrected, but I don't buy that, doesn't make sense to me. I don't know what to do to correct or where to start. My thinking is currently to try a strut bar, which I was planning on anyway, but it really should not need that to perform well. Another option is to keep my struts , but buy OEM parts from the strut up to the mount for the front including seats, bearing boots etc. Other than that I have no idea what to do. It's very noticeable when driving and did not do this before the work was done. Your comments are welcome, I need the help.
Thanks, Nlgntr

Zerodrag

iTrader: (1)

Maybe get a second opinion from another alignment shop.

nlgntr

Thats probably my best bet for the next step before doing anything else

CS_AR

I don't see anything wrong with the parts you are using. I'm running a similar setup on 2 4th gens right now. I don't think the alignment shop did a good job.

This lowered 4th gen with Koni struts and 17" rims tracks like a dream.

nlgntr

Thanks for letting me know that. Since posting for help I've done some more research, the condition apparently has a name, "Memory Steer" and I've read about several cases. The car tends to go in the direction of the last turn. On one guys BMW the lowering springs he used weren't a good fit for the car and he ended up changing that. On another the strut bearing was at fault. I feel pretty sure plenty of people have used the Tein springs on 4th gen or if they didn't work right it would be well known. I'll check alignment first, then double check the strut bearings if alignment doesn't fix it. I didn't do the work myself. I had a traveling mechanic come here and do all the work. He did express concerns about the fit on the stop, bearing etc, but only because it didn't look exactly like the original that came off, and it did all fit. There was only one way it could go together and it seemed a good fit. I will say its irritating to drive especially knowing how good it should be.
Thanks and nice looking car. I'm in the middle of debating with myself on what color to have mine painted later this summer. It has factory paint now. It's called beige from the factory, but it looks more like a light gold with a little flake.

CS_AR

There is a problem with MOOG front upper spring mounts that cause rubbing to occur like you see in the picture. I had to go back to the original mount with the rubber from the MOOG to resolve the problem. If you stayed with your old spring mounts, you should be ok. Here's a picture of the rubbing problem.

nlgntr

I don't think thats my problem , but I will check. I know I bought new mounts, but I think I ended up using my old ones. What was the ride doing with that problem?
Thanks

CS_AR

The ride was ok, you could just hear it scraping when you turned the wheel lock-to-lock.

98Marxima

These are good things to know for us newbies that want to lower our cars. I'd like to lower mine 2 inches or so and don't want any issues
Does size of wheels make any difference in these such problems? Like, larger wheels effecting geometry of suspension or anything like that? Thanks!

nlgntr

I don't think the wheel size is at fault. Lots of people on this forum are running wheels taller than mine, up to 20 inches in cases without reporting problems. If just guessing, I think the most likely area for the problem is the strut mounts. The pieces are different manf. and there may be a mismatch somewhere in there. Once I locate the problem and fix it , I'll report it here, just may be a while. It's just sitting right now.