Nice stuff Colt.
I think that motor mount work will be worth the effort in the end.

Looking forward to a review.

 

wow makes me re-consider trying to replace my motor mount inserts myself. good work though.

 

Well, my intention was not to discourage you guys!
It is fairly easy once you gave it two nice cuts. It relieves the pressure that holds it against its housing.

From a 0 - 10
0 = Change Oil
10 = Timing chain

I would consider this job a 3

 

Pictures are great and it clears up a lot of confusion I had. Tell us your impressions I'd like to know how this overhaul feels...

 

Nice work Colt. having the right tools is lovely isnt it? i wish i had them!! i guess ill keep looking and see if eventually i will need to do this, i have 62k miles on the car and feels great but i'd like to get stiffer suspension some day, not too far...Great pix too BTW

 

Great threat, Great pics!!
Good job men, please continue with the pics and updates, I am thinking on getting that done too. ( I wish I had the tools and knowledge to do it my self )

 

I just replaced my Sway Bar Link kit today with moog parts. My one year old Nissan kits were already shot. Thanks to Quebec roads!

Cross Member is back on with the new motor mounts on, now I am starting to change the spark plugs. Will do a bit of clean up I guess while I am at it.

Any of you ever got there injectors cleaned and rebalanced? Is it worth it?

 

Moog parts are great. Everybody seems either happy or indifferent, but no one complains. My end-links and front strut mounts are Moog, and I just purchased Moog lower ball-joints.

BTW, Colt, here's one for your good-karma collection... I clued you in to those sub-frame collars, and you inspired me to do the control arm bushings when the ball-joints work is done.

So thanks!

 

I might push my luck with this good-karma collection, but an hydraulic press is not that expensive. With all the work I did on the max lately, I think it paid it self off two times at the very least!

I dont want to influence you but... Think about it, you will be able to do your own: Ball Joints, es bushings etc.

 

colt, just saw you're a canadian boy too and saw your sig thought i would post this up: http://redliners.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=46316
probably seen or know this car since you guys are both from quebexico but that thing seems badass

and yes, quebec has absolute **** roads, i used to have a slammed integra and would avoid la belle province at all costs haha

anyways, love this thread and will definately look at doing this sometime soon (not too soon since i just lost my license) but A+ for a well made thread. we need more of these around

thanks

 

Of course I know Dan! One of our Quebec DSM community! Probably the best car club all around! we became almost brothers by modding and racing ours cars. Watch some videos, youll see his car and mine appearing a few times

http://www.vimeo.com/videos/search:q...20dsm/2cc7fca1

 

Nope. Very, very happy with my mechanic. He's street/pro, skilled, and fair. The kind of mechanic that advises you against doing certain mods if he doesn't think it's cost-effective.

If my car weren't my daily driver, or if money were tight, I'd turn my own wrench more. As it is, this works for me.

 

ya, i saw your car and it reminded me of that redliners thread
not my kind of car but i have an appreciation for well built cars no matter the make

 

I'm assuming Canada has some rough roads that are tearing up your end-links so quickly? Does the links get strained, twisted, or torn...? What motion is causing them to wear so incredibly fast?


Looks like I need to do more learning on what those parts do and not just how to replace them. =/

 

ya, canada does have some bad roads but its all due in part to the harsher winters tearing up the asphalt

 

End links will go bad the same way lower ball joints and tie rods do. They are in fact two ball joint attached to a rod. When they go bad the ball gets loose in its housing. This is causing the clunking noise when going over little bumps or crack in the roads.

Well, greater area to cover with roads, more difficult weather conditions, less tax payer and very corrupted road contractors.... we definately do not have a winner combination!

Amazing the difference when you cross the boders, Ontario's or USA's!

 

Hey guys , Quick question . 2000 maxi GLE . Ive been noticing a slight clunk in the front end lately .And im getting a lil bit of shimmy in the steering wheel, but not all the time .Just replaced all of the brakes ,roors pads and even calipers and the shimmy is still there . Could this be caused by ball joints or possibly struts ( just got a pair of staggs off Ebay ) only because of the reviews on here
Any help would be great thanks .

and thanks for all the pics , Im getting ready to do do the full overhaul on the front end this weekend ,much help

 

The shimmy might be caused by the inner tie rod end or the outer tie rod end. Jack the car, grab the tie rod and shake the wheel in a steering motion. If you feel any ticking, knocking or any type of loose, one of your rod ends is shot.

 

Damn those motor mounts look like they are a B!tch, and damn that's alot of things you got there!!

 

Ok! Time for the review!

Just got her back on her wheels and went for a little ride before getting her back in the garage for the rear end.

Motor mounts: Vibrates a bit more on Idle, but feels a lot better drving in town at low speed. It gives a lot more throttle responsivness, very different then the sluggish boat feeling I had when tapping the gas pedal.

Illumina shox adjustable with stock spring: Ride quality is unchanged. A bit stiffer but not too much. I was expecting to be more rough, but it is still very comfortable.

ES bushings! What a great feeling when going over train track and nothing moves and nothing makes those awfull clunking noises! Definately a great combo with the Moog ball joints, tie rods and sway bar links.

Overall, I was expecting to have better steering, it still feel a bit "boatty". I guess you are right Rochester, I will need the Subframe collars. Maxima's are not go-karts, they are just Peppier Grand Father's Sunday ride In the end, with all those mods, to the front end, it definately feels a lot better and more manoeuvrable. Everybody should do thid to their Max.

 

Glad to hear you're happy with the mods and maintenance.

If you want to feel how solid everything is through the steering wheel, try replacing the frame bushings on your Front Sway Bar. ES makes a set. Or did you do that along with the rest of this stuff?

 

Yes I did! Just about everything ES makes is on the car now! Including Shifter bushings.

 

The shifter bushings are a nice, simple mod, with great returns in driving feedback. You did the bushings under the assembly, too, right?

Now that your shifter is nice and solid, how about a STS mod?

 

I have never been a big fan of short throw shifters, I even made the throw longer on my other car, gives me more authority on the gear changes. It shifts or it breaks

I am not really finished on the shifter bushing mods, I only did the one under the hood this morning. So I kind of cheated in the review But I do have the same thing on the mirage.

Is the STS on the Max a lot shorter? How does it feel?


Update on tonights work:
Now that the front end is complete, I attacked the rear end. Tokicos are installed. What a pain to remove all those panels in the trunk to acces the bolts! Anyways, got the chance to clean the broken glass from the past history of this car.

I will have to add two rear calipers. The pistons are completely rusted and seized in the calipers. They are too rusted to give them a try, Ill buy new ones tomorrow.

Cant wait to give her a good wash and go for a ride (after the allignement of course! ).

 

You really should install both banjo bushings, and the bushings under the shifter assembly. Collectively, it's a great mod, and a fantastic feel. Very solid.

About 40% shorter. Very, very noticeable, and a much better way to drive our cars, IMO. It doesn't really change the "feel", per se. That's what the bushings do. But you do shift really quick. There's a small learning curve.

 

How much more effort does it require?

 

Barely perceptible change in effort.

But that's a fair question, because in the dead of winter, with a stone cold engine, you might notice it requiring more effort than otherwise. "Normal" is a relative term, and when you become accustomed to changes, they become the new normal.

 

Right to an extent I agree with that if the effort gets moved up so much even once you become used to the new effort it still wont feel 'normal'

 

Are the inner tie rods the part that is connected directly to the steering rack? I was told by my alingment shot i should replace my outer tie rods i was curious which ones were the inners and if i should replace those too?

 

Excellent thread...it's really a great feeling of accomplishment when you can do it all yourself. Think I'll pick up that 12 ton press I've been putting off.

 

I agree with Rochester. Change out all the bushings and you'll be happy. The old bushings will feel like you were stirring mashed potatoes once you get the new ones in.

As for the car floating, I got rid of it by changing out the shocks and springs for Blues and H&Rs. The drop wasn't much but I am totally fine with that. I am very happy with the handling. It doesn't feel any harsher than stock, but handles like a dream.

 

Okay! Time for a review!

Car feels AWESOME! but with certain reserve.

Positive:
- No clunk, it feels newer than our 2010 sentra.
- With settings to 3 in the front and 5 in the back, bumpiness is really acceptable onto our completely destroyed roads.
- Throttle on and throttle off response is greatly improved by the motor mounts.


Negative
- With the new shock stiffness, I discovered many rattles from the interior trims.
- Lateral movement from the car is still pretty sluggish and too wide. I feel the backend of the car is moving laterally by about 2 inches. My corrective plan for this issue will be:
- Rear control arm polyurethane bushings
- Front Subframe connectors
- Polyurethane bushings on the piece that links the rear panhard rod and the shell.

In other words, major improvement, but uncorrected system weeknesses are more evident.

Now the next maintenance round will be:
- O2 sensors
- Crank angle sensor
- New oil pan
- Oil change
- Winter Tire
- Rust protection

And we are ready for brake sliding this whale in the snow

 

ColtMax, do you have any tips on how to break the nuts on the swaybar end-links loose? I struggled with them for three hours last night and could only get the nut on the half of the link connecting to the LCA to become loose, but then the stud/head/bolt-part that is, I thought!, integrated with the link itself became completely rounded off and I could no longer grab it to spin the nut opposing it across the LCA's bracket.

By the end of the three-hour work session, the bolt had almost worked itself off the link, allowing for massive free-play in its movements. Driving home after working on it felt like the front of the car was disconnected and looser than a 155mm tire driving on ice. I'm hoping some of the rough roads here will snap something loose down there.

PB Blaster sprayed on the nuts two hours before work began didn't seem to do much. Continually soaking it in PB Blaster as I got it to shift the barest fraction of an inch helped more. The awkward position of the nuts meant I couldn't get a nice breaker bar in there... How fine a point can an acetylene torch cut? I'm guessing that's going to be the only option left to me now, but I'm fearful of cutting into the LCA by accident/collateral damage.

My car grew up in Middle Ohio, so I can't even imagine what a car that spent 8 years in Canada looks like on the bottom. =/

 

I feel your pain Eirik! Been there done that!

Nissan bolts quality is by A LOT lower quality than what I was used to on my old 300 000km 1G Eagle Talon.

It has been a while now that I have accepted the fact that some bolts won't comme off from the Max. A grinder hat to be used in so many occasions!

So in other words, cut them flush to the sway bar by taking precaution not to grind the swaybar, buy new End-links wiith new hardware. Use antiseize during re-assembly and put white grease on the new nuts after install.

 

It's not winter that's the issue, it's road salt that does the damage.

Just saying.

 

Makes no difference for my car Quebec Winter = SALT, A LOT OF SALT!

 

Man, I feel for you rust belt guys. I really don't know why they can't find a better solution to melting ice than salt. Although the car manufacturers wouldn't like that. Imagine all the new cars sold only because someones older car simply rusted away. I think the solution my town uses is a fairly good one. At least the salt content is kept to a minimum.

Street Treatments
The City uses a material called "anti-skid" on most routes. It can contain up to 20 percent salt, though Generally is about 16 percent salt, to melt snow and ice and aid in vehicle traction. The mix is altered in colder temperatures to include liquid chlorides. The addition of liquid chlorides to the salt lowers the freezing point, which enables the mixture to melt ice and snow more efficiently as the temperature drops below 25 degrees (F).

I know that after 8+ years of driving on Colorado roads the bottom of my car has barely even started developing surface rust and I don't have to use WD-40 to loosen bolts, they usually pop loose without any trouble.

 

HOW DO you get the nut off the ball joint? Aftr ten years of exposure to road salt , etc., I had to use a cut off wheel to split the nut in half. The rest was easy, but that nut took the fun out of the job. I haven't done the right side yet. Any suggestions beyond PB Blaster? I couldnt get anything beyond an open end wrench in there 'cause the axle was in the way. If I could've gotten my impact wrench on that nut, it would have been a different story.
TIA

 

Definately get the axle out of the way. Then use the impact. Even with the impact I had to cut in halfs the driver's side.

 

+ Fuel Filter Done
+ In cabin filter Done
+ Nice clean up and 24 karats wax! Done
+ Aquapel windshield treatment Done


Well, I have worked a lot on the Max again this week.
I changed the In cabin filter and OMG! It was so dirty that I wonder how air was going through.

Anybody changed their fuel filter? I was suprise to see how easy this was! I was anticipating major problems with the little screw on the assy, but everything came out easy. Replaced all o-rings and the fuel strainer assy.