New shocks & struts but now it rides like an old Cadillac
 

I bought my 2000 se used in 03' with about 35k miles, after 50k plus miles the cars had a really rough. Last week I had new tires shocks and struts put on at a local shop. After riding on the streets the ride was much better. However once I got on the freeway and took a curve from one interstate to another the car seems bouces a lot. Even today on the street, I was changing lanes in a curve I had the same responce. I can't be sure but it feels like the back is where the extra movement is coming from.

The shocks and struts were not performance. Will it settle down after a while? Should I buy performance springs to lower it (the car is stock) or should I call it a loss and buy preformance shocks and struts?

Find out what shocks they put on the car. More than likely they put on GR2s or monroes...

What he said. I'm going to bet they put on some crappy struts.

This is an advanced suspension question??? :rolleyes:

shocks and struts are the same thing just so you know.. the first thing i was thinking was tokico blues from the bouncy rear.. i say tell em you want them replaced with stock SE struts.. not the crap that they put on there

The rears are shock absorbers, the fronts are strut assemblies. They basically serve the same purpose, but they are different.

Chuck, when you say extra movement seems to be coming from the back, are you referring to body roll or bouncy? If its body roll, you could try a rear sway bar......might be less expensive than new struts/shocks or springs and installation.

Find out what kind of shocks/struts they put on. Also, they may have replaced your SE shocks/struts for GLEs which are not as stiff.

I have to say it's more body roll. I did feel it bouncy however, but I believe that was because I was in a curve doing about 50 or so trying to get a feel for it. It wasn't the feel I expected. Thanks for the sway bar tip.

The struts are Tokico, for GLE, GXE and SE. The shocks are Unisia for SE.

Unisia doesn't make shocks, they make steering components.

Why didn't you have Tokico units installed all the way around? :confused:

how so? in my car the rear were struts too. Thus you could purchase a rear STRUT tower brace for em? I don't know what i'm missing, but it looked exactly the same as the front.

get a roll cage... jk


what are some good brand struts and shocks?

LOL, I would never ever let anyone put that Monroe crappy struts sound like Pepboys would put those. For certain, when my strut is due for a replacement, i'll make sure Nissan parts and installs the SE shocks, since my car is an SE afterall.

You are right there are struts all around. I confirmed that with the guy at the shop this afternoon.
He also told me that the spring are re-used. Can anyone tell me if springs can wear out?

What color are the shocks/struts. This will give us an idea if they are tokico hp. You should have had them install stock se shocks/struts cause anything else will make the ride feel soft. I just went thru this with my 03 SE. I put hp on and i noticed that the rear felt really soft and the whole car didn't have the solid feel. I dealt with it for a year, but i just recently put stock se shocks/struts on and the car feels like it did when it was brand new. Stock struts/shocks are stiffer especially in the rear......

They are all black.

personally.. nothing but Tokico`s go on my Max. I had GR2`s and they were great w/ my stock springs ( cheaper too).Luckily, you 4thand 5th gen guys have alot more choices...lol I installed Tokico`s (blue)on my friends 5th gen and he was happy. Monroe and Gabriel ( pep boy brands) are for your mom and dads maxima ...lol

Then they could be almost anything.....They are not stock. I feel your pain cause I was in the same boat and the car just doesn't feel planted. All I can suggest is jack up the car to see if you can see any brand name on them....

so you think the se and gle shocks they are diffence

Yes SE and GLE shocks/struts are different. SE are stiffer.:)
check out www.factorynissanparts.com and you'll see they have different parts numbers.........This is where I ordered mine from......

so is really different went you put SE SHOCK
cause my OEM GLE shock is really bumby

are you sure your tires have the right amount of air and are the right size? too much focus on struts when he replaced his tires also. check just to be sure.

I did not check the tire pressure, I'll do that today. But would that cause the body roll?

If the struts that were put on my car are not the stiffer struts that come on the SE, do you think installing new spring and/or a rear sway bar fix the body roll issue or do you believe I need to take the loss and buy better struts.

Yes a major difference........You can tell the difference from just doing the push down test on a SE and then on a GLE. It takes much more effort to push down the front and back of the car on SE models.......

http://usera.ImageCave.com/knight_yyz2/picard.jpg

the fronts are struts, as in macpherson struts. the backs are called shocks. And although you can find struts on the rear of a car it is very rare. Struts on the front have advantages over a shock on the front. They also have disadvantages. There are no struts on the back of the maxima. And yes there is a rear strut bar but that is a misnomer. Just like a rear sway bar. We don't have a sway bar, we have a torsion bar. But people are easily confused so the names don't change.

I think the rear sway bar would make the difference for you that would stop your body roll but performance struts would help too.

Okay, I got that. Thank you very much, but can u answer my last question? Just in case it was missed, here it is again.

(If the struts that were put on my car are not the stiffer struts that come on the SE, do you think installing new spring and/or a rear sway bar will fix the body roll issue or do you believe I need to take the loss and buy better struts?)

Any suspension upgrade will reduce body roll. I`d recommend Tokiko HP struts w/ Eibach pro-kit springs personally. Installing a new stock spring wont do anything unless you upgrade to performance springs. ( unless you have a 3rd. gen ... the VE ( 92-94 SE) equipped cars have different springs and sway bars then the GXE)

The rear bar will help w/ handling and induce more over steer. If you want OEM quality, SE struts definitely.

***UPDATE***
 

Ok, I know it's been a while, but I've got an update. I ordered Tein H-Tech Springs sometime late Oct. or early Nov. But because of work, I hadn't had the time to install them, and I didn't want to have them put on by a local shop.

The H-Tech springs got rid of the body role, the car feels almost normal. I said almost because I didn't replace the struts yet. I'm also planning to install a Rear Sway Bar.

Putting on the springs was my first major mod, it wasn't that bad, it only took me 2 days. Let me know what you think about the drop. BIG SHOT OUT to the how-to section.

Thanks for all your input.

Check out the link, the after shots were taken after everything was put back together. From what I understand the spings will settle after a week or so. If that's the case, I'm glad I did not go with the S-Techs.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/385746

When I saw this old thread resurrected and thought what's up with this? You're one of the few people I've seen here who actually came back and followed up on a fix to their months old problem. I definitely like the drop the springs gave you.

I'm putting on wheel spacers and the slight drop would make mine look a little bit sharper. Might I suggest that you dump the stock wheels? I love the color you have though and really appreciate the info you've provided, it will help me when I decide to do mine.