I am going to replace my front struts which are bouncy and have 130,000 miles. The rear struts are still firm and don't bounce. Should I still replace the rear even if they feel okay?

 

Depends. Are you doing stock replacement? If not, then you absolutely should do all 4. Chances are if the fronts went the rears are going to be soon after. You might as well just get it all done in once shot. I just got Tokico Illumina's 5 way adjustable and Sport Tech lowering springs (1.4 inch drop) all around. They are performance and cost less or equal too stock replacement. I got them from auotanything.com with a 10% discount AND free shipping. I think they have regular stock replacement on there too. Just know that if you decide to go with the after market I got, you will need to use your original none-wearable parts with the new set up such as the steal and rubber strut seats. But it won't hurt your car to do stock replacement in the front and keep the rears till they die.

 

I will be doing a stock replacement. Is there a way to tell if the rear are starting to go out too besides pushing down on it?

 

Chances are if it feels good it is good. Check under the strut bumper/boots (the plastic accordion looking thing) for any oil residue or listen for knocking like you are probably hearing in the front. But if the car is at the right hieght and it doesn't feel uncomfortable they are most likely fine.

 

If there is oil on the struts, it's on it's way out.

 

I will check the rear to see if they have any oil leaking. I know for sure the front is leaking pretty bad. Thanks for the help.

 

No problem.

 

I did all 4's on mine but I took it to a shop to inspect the suspension then I bought springs and struts and installed myself saving 200 or more dollars on install!! But Good Luck!!

 

bullet, where are you located?

 

At 130000 miles, your rear struts should be replaced. Even if they are not leaking, the internal valves and seals are worn and the strut is not functioning at 100%.

 

What do you charge for suspension install? I am in STaten Island

 

Ominous, PM replied

 

I am located in Los Angeles.

 

Cool man thanks. I will get back to you when I get a chance. I am at work. Is that full install or per strut? I the only parts I still need are strut seats (steal and rubber) and various other little parts all are on the stock ones which I was just going to re-use. I have all new mounts too.

 

I've just been told by NTB that I too need new front struts on my '02 GLE with 100K miles. Apparently they are scraping my tires, they are so bad. They wanted to do all the front and back for around $800 and change but I wanted a 2nd opinion. In any case, I"m now reading through all these threads and appreciate everyone's input. Ominous, if you don't mind, can I PM you? You seem to have a lot of info on this topic.
Thanks!

 

Duke, PM sent.

 

Mounts, bearings, boots.
Get Moog K90655, it includes new bearings. PM me if you have questions - I'll get your suspension back to 100%.

 

Good thing you found the Org, Duke Leto. $800 is way off base.

Do your research, buy the struts and mounts on your own, and find a good mechanic for the install.

Everyone knows NTB is a front for House Harkonnen.

 

Duke, try to find a shop that has a buy 3 get 1 free or a 50% off labor. I was able to get all four struts plus labor for 540.

 

...but what kind of struts?

 

Monroe

 

Standard mainstream struts. Many org members find them too floaty and soft.

 

I justreplaced my front struts with the chapest possible on the market... I got the "replacement" brand from autopartswarehouse after a coupon I paid $75 out the door for both front struts.... it took me about 1 hour to do both sides, I have done many struts replacements before...
The parts were surprisingly good quality, they fit perfect and the ride is back to normal (both of my front struts were leaking) The only reason I went the cheap route was b/c with the holidays comming I felt no need to spend more money... will get good struts in the spring..
So here is the brake down:
2 Front struts ----> $75
Spring compressor ----> $60 form autozone (Rent got the money back)
Did i replace the strut mounts: NO
Did i replace the boots : NO
Is the ride back to normal : YES

Just my .02 cents

 

Good to know. Out of curiosity how many miles were on your car?

And one thing to note, northeast weather wreaks havoc on all rubber components in the suspension, especially the boots. And the potholes here are atrocious for blowing strut mounts. Even on cars with 60K miles I've pulled off wheels and seen dustboots sitting in a flat pile of rubber rings at the base of the strut.

 

Purchased the car with 166,XXX miles two months ago none of the struts were leacking, then a month latter both front started to leack... Replaced at 167,XXX... yes they were the original OEM that the car came with... I guess the previous owner was driving mostly highway which might have been true...

 

I don't have any problem saying that I can completely see where you're coming from, and your reasoning behind doing what you did.

In fact, I'm thinking of doing that exact thing, in the short term, so I wanted to know what coupon you used? I found the site and the struts, and I know I've got an '02, so they don't show your struts for my car, but even if they are valved just a little softer for less engine weight, they'd still have to be better than my factory ones at 158k

 

Alright guys, thanks for the advice! I think I've settled on doing this project myself. Well, me and my brother in law. So now I'm trying to find all the instructions people have posted here on how to replace the struts as well as buying the complete repair manual. Does anyone have specific instructions they like to use?

For now I think I'm going with Tokico HP Shocks for my '02 GLE (100K miles). I like the sound of those deals in this thread tho, and will look at the other ones mentioned.

Long live the fighters!

 

Good luck! Don't forget about the mounts and boots too!

(did you get my PM about the spare tire cover?)

 

Yup, sure did and PM'd back!

 

Hey, how did you get that coupon? I'm *VERY* interested.

 

Front struts are pretty damn simple: body-lift the front end, both sides so your sway bar isn't fighting your control arms, and they're not supporting the weight of the car through those strut assemblies you're about to remove

Three bolts in the engine bay that hold the upper mount to the frame, and the two at the base of the strut that hold it to the hub- remove those, lower first. Be prepared to support the rotor/caliper/hub assembly, an old coat hanger wire works fine.

Take the entire assembly off the car, strut and spring together. Compress the spring using a rent-a-tool from Advance or AutoBone, remove that center nut that holds the strut to the upper mount, and voila- you're in the clear.

Re-assembly's pretty much the reverse of the steps above, and you'll want to re-align the front end when you're done. Doesn't have to be like an "OMG" gotta do it now, thing, but get to it asap.

Oh, and the FSM is hosted online: http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/

 

One more thing to add when reassembling -make sure the hardware parts are aligned properly. On the large circular top hat, there is an "OUT" stamped on it -make sure that aligns to the bolt side of the strut.

 

Update: NTB are lying scum! Had my car checked out by a place I trust and not only did NTB lie to me about needing all new struts but they didn't even balance the tires they put on originally. Looks like the scam goes like this: NTB puts on tires but doesn't balance it so you have to come back to check it out. They will try to sell you all the work they can think of and then do the balance, of course. I can't believe they try to pull that!

In any case, I'm going to still redo my suspension early next year so all your help is very appreciated and will be used in the near future and give me time to buy parts not all at once. You guys rock.

BTW, NTB Sucks.

 

Wow, sorry for the troubles. I've never heard good things about chain tire places.

That means you can buy my spare tire cover now

 

Hey guys. I just wanted to share this link with you. I used it in deciding which struts and springs to buy (I got the illuminas with hr sport springs) and also has a very easy to follow and descriptive how to for installing everything. Once you get used to using the spring compressors, the install is quite easy/straight forward. Hope this helps!

http://www.shiftice.com/strut_install.html

 

And here's the link for deciding which springs/struts to purchase, in case it was confusing to find using the previous link.

http://www.shiftice.com/spring_strut_decision.html

 

For y'all, like myself, wondering what coupon could be used at autopartswarehouse.com, I found "MAINTENANC" that gave me $10 off, and with the free shipping, my order came to $80.96 for the both. Not $75, but what the hey.....

 

I'm at 126k miles in a 2000 Max and I am pretty sure I need the same. How do you tell? I hear a knock when I hit potholes and I can feel the car slam when it happens. It feels like there's nothing there to support it and the ride is rough

Thanks in advance for help

 

Sorry for the late response the actual site is www.carpartswholesale.com i believe it is some king of sub website on the autopartswarehouse.com
The coupon is the same "maintenance"
Here are the parts numbers:

Front Passanger PART#:ARBN280501 $33.78
Front Driver PART#:ARBN280502 $32.16

So far I put about 1000 miles on them and to be honest I don't see any difference in the ride quality

I just found out that now they have also the rear struts about a month a half ago they only had the front check out the rears they are only $26.60 a piece

 

other than replacing your worn struts with new there is nothing you can do...