Just looking for some educated input in helping me diagnose an issue with my front suspension.
Car has approximately 60,000 miles. ONLY when I go over bumps, I feel too much vibration transferred through to the steering wheel. No other time, only over bumps, so it isn't a wheel balance problem. I also hear what I think is a bit of a clunking noise from the front end of the car, again only over bumps,but, it isn't very loud.

I'm guessing it could be front struts going soft, but, when I manually press down on the front end and release, the front end just returns to its normal position and doesn't continue to bounce.

Could it be inner tie rod ends?

Or something else? - I'm looking for help narrowing down the source before I take it to a shop.

 

Those are all common problems with 5 gen. Not a big deal, just try to live with that.

 

well, I'd prefer to figure out what's causing it and deal with it. I've been doing some reading and it seems a lot of people complain about wheel bearing issues, but, I'm not able to figure out whether my symptoms are the same as those replacing wheel bearings. I'm not getting any scraping noises and the only time I hear any noise or feel any looseness or vibration in the steering wheel is ONLY going over bumps.

By the way, my car is unmodified.

 

I'm having the same issue, I plan on replacing the whole suspention anyway, so it just gives me a excuse to spend the money

 

Tires getting old and hardening? Struts or strut mount bushings worn out? Stiffening/hardening of control arm bushings, etc?

Put the front end off the ground and grab the tire by its tread. Attempt to rock/move it back and forth like you were trying to steer the car. Also attempt to move it side to side (like you were leaning it into the car and away from it.) If you have a LOT of free play when doing this your front end components are worn. Also, make sure the front end is in alignment and that all components are tightened properly (retorque your strut mount bolts, check tie rod ends for looseness..?)

 

what the hell are you talking about? None of those are "common problems"

poor ride quality + clunking = a blown strut. you will not necessarily feel it when you press the car down manually. I blew one of my stock struts with far less mileage than you have. 60K miles is well past the "actual" life of an OEM strut, no matter what the dealer may tell you.

I might note that almost everyone I know locally (not org guys, just normal maximas) with a 5th gen (on stock suspension) has had a blown front right strut within the first 50K miles....mine was replaced under warranty and the dealer said for some reason the fr. rt. struts go bad faster than the others...

 

Irish44J,
Could you elaborate on what constitutes "poor ride quality"?
I don't think my ride quality is poor....feels quite normal to me except when I'm going over bumps.

 

Paralyse,
I don't have the equipment to lift my front end off the ground so I'd have to take it to a shop. My concern is that there appear to be so many front end components that the mechanic can say, "replace this, replace that" and then if it still doesn't fix the problem, he'd just say, "well, they were worn anyways so you needed to replace them and we'll just keep going until we get the right part". I'm not prepared to replace the entire front end with new parts. The ride most of the time is fine; it's just an annoyance going over bumps and I was hoping others might have run into the identical situation and I could benefit from their experience by finding out what part they replaced to fix the problem.

 

well, obviously the ride quality will be ok on smooth roads. I meant poor ride quality over bumps as in "ride quality that is less comfortable than it used to be" I suppose. But considering you live in canada, you probably get alot of salt on the car also, which can "help" struts go bad if some gets into the piston. My call is a bad strut, since it's fairly common. Really there is nothing else that would make the noises and feel you are referring to.

You don't have the jack in the little compartment in the trunk of your car?

 

I thought you needed to have the entire front end off the ground at one time.

However, another fellow Canadian gave me a way to visually inspect the strut piston without lifting the car off the ground, so I'm going to try that and see if I can definitively cast the finger of blame or absolution at the struts using this method.

 

sounds good. Just to let you know, when my strut went bad, there was no oil leaking or visual signs...but once it was replaced, the problem was gone (so I am positive it was the strut).....

 

well, just a follow up. He had suggested I push up the accordion shaped, lower strut dust covers. I did that and as you found on yours, no fluids leaking at all. Apparently on his car (a 4th gen), the strut piston was chrome and he could see black marks on his indicating problems. Mine, unfortunately appears to be a factory painted flat black colour, so I couldn't really see if there were any unusual black marks on them. So, I'm back to square 1, it's likely the struts (that was my first guess), but, because I'm not getting the soft front end from the "bounce" test, the expense of changing them and then the further expense if it turns out it is something else in the front suspension that is worn, and mostly the fact that I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to keep this particular Maxima is what is holding me back.

 

Hmmm... Depends on if you always had this problem but you never noticed it before, or if it just suddenly appeared. My car has always been like this, so I always thought this was normal. I get my car serviced/inspected regularly, but have never found any other symptoms that would point to bad bearings or struts, etc. I just thought it was part of the inherent flex in our chassis. When I go over potholes and speedbumps, I can see the gaps in the center console change. If you put your finger over the gap next to your radio while driving down a bad road, you can feel the flex pinch your skin. Never felt it in a Honda or Toyota, but I see this in every stock 5th gen Max/I30/I35 I have been in. I was going to fix this "problem" over the summer with a FTSB and/or LTB plus SFC.

But Irish is right, you can't always detect a blown strut. By the time it shows up on the bounce test or leaks, you should have noticed a change in ride. I wonder how mechanics test/detect bad struts or if there is any way to detect it earlier. Sorry I couldn't help more. Good luck though.

 

Interesting Thread, I myself have experienced these symptoms, I am a new Maxima owner and attributed this rough feeling over bumps to be a combanation of
bigger rims ( bigger than im used to) and stiffer suspension than my previous car. It never even crossed my mind that it could be a strut. Of course I am still gettin used to the way the car feels.

On a side note, the org has been a great source of info for a new owner and i have picked up lots of useful info already.

 

just an update. Took the car into a shop this morning and had them drive it and check out the front suspension on a hoist. I watched them doing the checkover and they couldn't find anything that appeared to be worn and in need of replacing. Decent guys! My last 2 cars were a Solara and and an Acura RL, both with 16" rims and 60 series tires, so perhaps the Nissan suspension plus the 17" wheels with 50 series tires on this Maxima is making a bigger difference than I would have thought. A number of years ago I owned a '95 Legend coupe with 17" rims and 50 series tires and I don't recall that car feeling the same way this one does over bumps. So, for now anyways, I guess I'll just live with it even though I think the front end should feel tighter over bumps than it does.

Hey, for those of you reading this, perhaps someone might have a quick answer for this. Is it possible to turn off the horn toot when locking the car via the keyless remote? I assume it likely is as it could be done on my RL, but, just thought I'd ask and save an hour of search time if someone reading this knows. Thanks.

 

It's in the stickies, and it's also on the back of the keyfob... where it says:

"PRESS BOTH lock & unlock 2sec beep - quiet"

 

ah, the advantages of good eyes! I never have my reading glasses in the car or with me when I'm driving. You are indeed correct and once I looked at the back of the remote fob with my reading glasses on, it all became clear. Thanks!