spiritman

My Maxima has been "jerking" the steering wheel to the right for several months now. The wheel had a lot of play when I jacked it up. I noticed the bushing has been destroyed by the power steering fluid leak I had. Here are the pics:







Do I need to remove the entire LCA just to change out that bushing? Can I just take out the 4 bolts and the nut on the end? Moog K200152 is only $10.49.

03VQMAX

iTrader: (46)

You have to either buy the entire control arm or insert energy suspension bushings, best ways to go.

luvlexus101

iTrader: (6)

Interested in this as well. My lca bushings are toast from that high pressure power steering leak. OP please keep up posted.

spiritman

I sure will, the uneven wear on the inside of my tire is bothering me. I want to get this done before the weekend is over. Time to put my air impact wrench to good use

spiritman

If i go with ES bushings, do i need a special tool to install them?

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

dude dont go with ES bushings. They aren't worth the money. Unless you live in the north with salted roads then you wont benefit from the longevity of the urethane. Get some rubber Moog bushings from O'Reilys and it will work just as good trust me. and yes, you need a press to put the control arm bushing in but you can rent it from the auto parts store so no worries

spiritman

Thank goodness! I did NOT want to pay a shop to do that (unless that was the only option).

StevieB

iTrader: (1)

That Moog part number is for the front LCA bushing only, and I can't find a MOOG P/N for the front rear. I've never touched the LCA on a 5,5, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume the front rear bushings also tend to wear. The ES kit contains both the F and R bushings+sleeves/washers(front).The Moog front LCA bushing is a one piece press fit? I can't find any images of it.

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

moog might not I dont know. If ES comes with everything then pay the xtra and get them. they certainly arent bad bushings

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

You're assuming far more wisdom in that response than is warranted. This shocknawe 4th genner is getting quite a reputation lately for his one-man crusade to dissuade people from purchasing Energy Suspension products. And while he may enjoy the notoriety that comes with attention, it's not necessarily the kind of attention he thinks it is.

When replacing bushings, as long as you're receptive to - or willing to compromise for - the added NVH of solid polyurethane, you will certainly appreciate the benefits. It's not for everyone, though. It depends on which you value more out of the Maxima: sport or comfort. Your call.

Bushings come pre-pressed into most mounts, including Lower Control Arms. Similarly, most LCA kits come with new ball-joints. So the easiest thing to do is purchase new LCA's and call it a day. The more difficult approach is to cut out the OEM bushings and press in new poly from ES, then purchase new OEM or Moog ball-joints. While the cost of the bushings and BJ's alone is less than the cost of a Lower Control Arm kit, once you factor in the labor cost of going to a mechanic to hack away at your LCA bushings, it's kind of a wash.

In other words, both approaches are roughly equal in expense. If anything, the custom approach could be more. Then again, if you're a DIY guy, that completely changes the calculation.

My personal rule-of-thumb is, whenever an OEM part wears out, that's when you upgrade.

ES products are an upgrade.

cjandura

iTrader: (3)

+1 on Every point brother Rochester spoke on!now my input i have owned 2 4th gen and 2 5th gen and still due have one of each.if your just looking to replace and gain no performance advantage sure go moog or check out FCP Import in the GD section and get their complete kit for little more then the price of one oem arm.if you want to upgrade and a better ride and reduce the chanches of you getting the clunk that every 5th gen get eventually due the es bushings and moog end links.now if your handy working on cars i installed the control arm bushings with nothing more then a C clamp and 2 pieces of 2x4 the ball jount you will need a ball joint press for you can rent that at the auto parts store or buy one from harbor fraight for $20.the choice is yours but the es helps preformance and reduces the clumk we develope.also i would try to stay with the advice that is offered by actual 5th gen owners!this is my 2cent and i stick by it 100%.

spiritman

This makes sense. Luckily, the max is now the 3rd vehicle (i.e. my play toy). I have the luxury of taking my time to work on it. I will go with the ES and Moog BJ. You say you used a C clamp and 2 2x4's. How did you position them to "push" the control arm bushing out? I'm have a rough time picturing that.

cjandura

iTrader: (3)

Mine actually was ripped in half on the pass side the other i just cut off

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Good for you, OP, turning your own wrench on projects like this.

I have a street-pro mechanic who does stuff like this for me. That said, he couldn't press the OEM bushings out, they had to be hacked out with a combination of a long drill, a saw and an impact gun. It's slightly less of a job than getting torque-mount bushings out of their mounts, but you'll still need an ample supply of patience and determination.

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

lol ok my "one man crusade" is trying to save people money. As far as performance, urethane might take the W but only slightly. The reason I go with Moog is because I can get them that day at O'Reily's for a decent price. I do all the work on my car myself and I know exactly what goes on it and where it is made. I support Moog and just about all the Problem Solver stuff they put out. ES stuff isn't readily available, if it was and only a few dollars more then I would have got it too. I never said they were bad bushings, they are great with very few drawbacks and all the benefits of rubber. My "one man crusade" is trying to show people there are other options besides ES that do the exact same thing, you can get it locally most likely that day, and its cheaper.

T_Behr904

I do the same thing whenever possible. I'm going to need a clutch replacement in the near future, so that will be upgraded over the factory unit. I'm not sure what brand I will go with, but it will not be a factory style Oem replacement from an auto parts store (Advance, Pep Boys, Autozone, etc.)

I say to the OP that if you don't go with ES, then Moog as others have mentioned is a good quality product. I myself and friends have bought and used Moog products with good results.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

My FSB end-links, ball-joints and tie-rod ends are all Moog parts. My second set of wheel-bearings are OEM, and all my bushings (save pass and tranny mounts, and RCA) are Energy Suspension. Those parts in conjunction with my RSB, FSTB and RSTB all come together for one seriously solid, 10 year old Maxima. As you can imagine, I totally love driving my car.

My only regret is not getting coilovers. (Next car.)

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

Soon enough ES wont be more expensive, I dont quite understand why it is in the first place, and they will sell more kits at the parts stores. I just like going locally and getting them and if they are the wrong part then I can just go swap it out. Clutch bad huh Tbehr? Well let me go off topic and talk about a gem I found the other day. Im an A/T person, especially with the quality of modern A/T's. The other day I found an A/T that has a JWT controller I believe and some other upgrades im a little fuzzy on, haven't talked to him much. He said it shifts soooo much faster than the stock. I would love to get it on.

T_Behr904

Well it's not necessarily bad, but I did buy the car with alot of miles on it about a year and a half ago. The car now has 168k miles, and it's starting to feel a bit mushy upon engagement in first gear from a stop. It's not slipping, so I still have some more time to go on it, and I engage the clutch easily when I take off (no clutch dumps).

Ok, back on topic now.

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

yes after this of course, Im not one for all the oil additives or fuel additives or whatever, but when my A/T was slipping and I thought I was going to have to clean the magnets and the filter or worst case, replace it, I went and got some Zmax tranny additive. Literally 30mins after I put it in the slipping was gone and never came back. It could have been a coincidence and whatever was making it slipped just went away but whatever happened, I was LUCKY lol.

spiritman

I was thinking I should finish taking the LCAs off and have my local shop take out the bushings and BJ. After that, have them install the new stuff? Finally, come home and slap them on the ride?

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like a plan.

OAN, unlike OEM parts, front-end parts from Moog have grease fittings and boots. They will come pre-packed, but you should pack them anyway, and then hit them again after a few weeks.

spiritman

I want to avoid taking out the axle, but this ball joint nut is being a PITA!

cjandura

iTrader: (3)

Dont waste your time cut it off or grind it off you will have a new one

spiritman

Maybe this is where my tooling is limited. I have a dremel, but I got a feeling that isn't going to cut it (literally).

T_Behr904

He will also need an alignment after that, and after some driving, it wouldn't hurt to put a torque wrench on the nuts and bolts to check them and re-tighten where necessary.

cjandura

iTrader: (3)

A dremel and 3 of the reinforced cutoff wheels will do it the castle nut is soft

spiritman

Thankfully, I do have a torque wrench.

spiritman

This is the dremel i have.

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pa...pid=200+Series

Will this get it done?

cjandura

iTrader: (3)

Yup if you got a harbor freight get a 25$ grinder you will be using it alot on repairs

spiritman

Do i need to stack them together or run through them one at a time?

It's so tight under there, it's hard to get the cutting on the nut or the bolt thread.

cjandura

iTrader: (3)

one at a time and do the nut first in a up and down cut or slightly angled

T_Behr904

That's what she said!

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Proper torque on bolts, and an alignment when done... roger that. Good advice.

spiritman

cjandura

iTrader: (3)

Its a pain but cut in a angle and take your time bro remember your not reusing the nut or balljoint so cut away at any angle use a chisel and hammer once you cut a big piece out of the nut think of how you chop a tree down as far as cutting

spiritman

Thanks, I needed to hear that. Well, that's enough for tonight. I'll be back at it tomorrow.

ShocknAwe

iTrader: (3)

A shop would of taken about an hour to do this...$65 or so...just sayin. Trust me, I know how it is to want to do all of the work yourself. A lot of people say "oh id never let someone else touch my car". Well you dont have a Dynojet and you cant tune so you can only go so far lol. Props for attempting it and you WILL get it dont worry. Its just a shop would of had you all done by now. When I did mine? took 2 days bc I started at about 5 like you. BTW eff those ES bushings....

spiritman

Then I put the bolts back so I won't get them mixed up when I go to reinstall the LCA.

luvlexus101

iTrader: (6)

Progress looks good.