GoldMember

iTrader: (5)

So I have had some bushing problems recently causing horrible steering issues and a sloppy ride. The most noticeable part being the vibration in my seats. First let me say I am running 275's in the rear so this more than likely is the cause of my problems(for the rear bushings). Please save the lol staggered setup on a fwd car for a different thread.

These bushing on my LCA's are torn.(sorry small pic but they are circled)


These Trailing Arm bushings have leaked dry and are torn.


So after a lot of research and some horrible price quotes on labor I decided to venture off on my own to get these done.

I found a couple of write ups to help me out.
Trailing Arm Bushing: http://www.digitalpolo.com/2002Maxim...hing%20Set.htm
Rear Beam centering: http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...rear-beam.html

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best for mechanical ability would put myself around being a 6 and I was a bit nervous when I started not being sure what I was getting in to. The rear beam job went fairly smooth except for breaking loose some of the nuts/bolts. Total time for install was around 4 hours and we completely disassembled the rear end of my max.

I also did this a bit differently than some others would. This car being my dd I couldn't go with too much down time if something went wrong on the install. I have no experience with pressing in bushings. So I checked some local yards and found a rear beam for $200, it came with the lateral link + complete rear brakes and looked brand new so I grabbed it. The ES bushings I got from Cattman. I did the removal of the old bushings and install of the new ones in about 2 hours in my living room lol. So total I am into this is around $280 and 6 hours of me and a friends labor when done. It could be quite a bit less if I decide to sell some of the brake parts and my old rear beam to someone else wanting to do it this way.

So I got the rear beam only installed and left the lca's off the car to install another day just to see how these rear ES bushings perform alone. I took it for a spin on some of the most craptastic roads I could find around here and found that these are possibly one of the best additions I have added to the max. Not only is all the sloppy steering gone but the ride is quieter and handles way better. I'm really not sure why these going bad caused so many steering issues over bumpy roads but they did(I'm sure some suspension/steering experts could explain).

Below are some random pics of the install and some side shots attempting to show how well centering the rear beam works when done. I have also found that you can't ever get the rear beam centered perfect while being lowered more than stock height. You can get it close but no matter what I did the passenger side rear would sit closer to the fender than the driver side but not by much.




I will add a quick review for the ES lca bushings after I install those also. I already got the lca's with the bushings installed ready to go on so hopefully I will get some time in the next few weeks to do it.

GoldMember

iTrader: (5)

ColdSHO

iTrader: (25)

i noticed a big difference when i got mine put in as well, and mine werent even leaking or anything, wait til u get the lca's done, itll be a whole new car.

nice work

JonBlz

iTrader: (11)

good work +1

secondtonone317

iTrader: (12)

NICE!! I will have to do this as well, I have my ES bushing set sitting here.

Ephraim

iTrader: (15)

nice job! did the local yard clean up that rear beam and paint it black, or did you? looks in quite good condition

what suspension are you running, coilovers?

-did you take a torch and burn out the stuff like it is mentioned by other to do?

diverdown3

iTrader: (9)

Excellent series of shots. How did you remove and install the bushings?

GoldMember

iTrader: (5)

I cleaned up the rear beam a bit just to make sure there was no damage. It did come from the yard looking like that in the pics just not as shiny black.

I'm running Tein SS coilovers.

I didn't use a torch. I got a pic here of all the tools I used. They were just some hand tools laying around my apt. I was able to cut the center of the bushing out with my dry wall saw and from there I hammered out the metal sides/two pins in there and filed down the remaining outer lip.
-missing from the pic is the c-clamp and two boards used to press in the new bushing, left them at my friends it seems.

scarface4522

iTrader: (33)

i jus got my ES trailing arm bushings in the mail today, i cant wait to get them in, one of mine was leaking. I didnt think they make such a big difference. did they make any difference in harshness over bumps? did it make it anymore comfortable?

GoldMember

iTrader: (5)

I wasn't expecting them to make all that much of a difference but since my stock bushings were in such bad shape the difference was amazing really. I can't really tell you if the ride will be more harsh than your stock bushings since i'm not sure of the condition of yours. All I can say is my ride going from bad bushings to ES bushings rides quieter and more comfortable than before.


Kevin

Maxima112

iTrader: (16)

how can you tell if your rear trialing arm bushing is bad?

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

The front ES bushings made an amazing difference on my car. I need to get to the rears as well... Good job on the install! The motor mounts took me forever to get out, and I'm sure these aren't easy either.

Ephraim

iTrader: (15)

you might notice a wet spot under your rear wheels in your garage/where you park overnight. if you can determine it isnt your brake fluid then it will most likely be the trailing arm bushing on that side of the car

i am about to hit 90k, my passenger side one leaked out last year, and my driver side one is leaking out right. so i would guess that if the car is over 100k miles then there is a good chance they have already been worn out

Viperoni

Since the beam does allow one wheel to move *somewhat* independently of the other wheel, do you think the poly bushings would cause any binding during articulation due to being a lot stiffer than the factory bushing?

luckyadam

I realize this post is old, but thought I would take a chance some of you guys are still around. New to the forum so still getting the hang of the etiquette.

My trailing arm bushing leaked on the the right side. I'm already a little cash poor having to replace the the clutch hose and rear calipers/rotors/pads in the last few months. Did the work myself, but still, calipers aint cheap. The install like the one pictured above (nice work btw!) is a bit out of my range for DIY.

Besides the rough ride, how much am i risking driving it on a bad trailing arm bushing for a few months while I save up the cash for the repair?

Thanks guys. Loving this forum, a little embarrassed I've owned two Maximas for a total of ten years and just found it!

MAXIMA_STYLE

iTrader: (21)

i was also wondering myself, if the rear bushings are bad would it cause a noice going over bumps??

shavedmax

iTrader: (6)

bad bushings could cause noise over bumps, but so could bad struts, strut bushings etc. just jack it up and look to see if the struts are leaking and shine a flashlight at the bushings to see if theyre cracked

ImJustMe555

Maybe this will help with that:
http://myspec-v.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1904

http://myspec-v.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2645&start=0

I know this is on a Sentra Spec-V and they currently stopped production of them, but maybe this will give someone else an idea of how to fab something like this up for the Maxima.

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

I actually need one of those, and know at least one other, because I've recentered my beam twice now and it is still "biased" towards the passenger side. The other option would be to not drop it so low I guess.

Deckdout2

iTrader: (151)

I'm in need of one too. I'm also in need of someone with the capability to bend my rear beam for me since it's out of alignment by 2*. I think the sentra guys had beam bending meets in the past. I need to find one of those.

shavedmax

iTrader: (6)

i would make them if i had a car to test them on. my 5th gen isnt dropped and i dont have this issue on my 4th gen. nissan should have never changed the design

gsxrboy125

iTrader: (1)

i have a ? where do apply the grease at.. the instructions say dont apply to the od or the id ... so where does it go then

dondadah88

my rear left camber is -2. this is causing the inside of my tire to wear un evenly. nissan said they cant adjust this. does anyone know what the part is called and where can i get it???

shavedmax

iTrader: (6)

there are no adjustments from the factory in the rear, so other than replacing the rear beam,or replacing a worn spring if you're at stock height, the service writer you dealt with doesnt know what he/she's talking about.

doublea

iTrader: (7)

Good job man, I did all the ES bushing few years ago and it's one of those upgrade you never regrets. BTW what is the offset on your 275 ? ( I'm thinking of doing a staggered set-up once my car is ready, as you I dont care what people say about staggered set-up on a FWD, it's purely for look. Good job man, sometime it take a bit of courage to do thing you dont necessary feel comfortable with but once accomplished you find that it was not that difficult even if it was.