geissv

Suspension and strut replacement
Ok so I have gotten things going now. I changed the plugs, air filter was nasty, changed oil and filter. Key fobs work for a few then die even with new battery figure I need new key fobs. anyone else had luck with after market programed key fobs?

My biggest worry now is I just did the front and rear brakes rotors looked great and cv joints and boots look fairly new. I even did the back up test left to right backwards and all sounds great no popping. Ok back to concern the struts boots are gone terrible looking the covers. I have some cupping wear on the rear tires. I know the struts are bad there I can somtimes here a little noise in front as well I assume again struts are the bad guy. I also noticed the tie rod rubber boots are cracked and old. I assume from looking all of this from a front end with 155000 and 13 years will need to have some work done.

Here are my thoughts a complete front end kit sway bar and tie rod ends and control arms. Its like 166 plus shipping. The quick struts are like 127 each front and 83 rear each. tires dont match and like i said back are crap I was thinking just throwing some Nexen brand tires on there for now for 79 each. Its only going to be driven in town as a first time driver for my daughter. My main concern is safe and not a pile of crap. the latter is covered she is a sweet ride even for an old lady now.

What do you think 900 or so to much to spend seems like a bargain considering the kind of car she will have with the work done.

I did have a 303 /1320 code the plugs took care of that runs great now and some injector cleaner and the RIGHT gas. Run the premium its what they like.

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

Especially given safety as a goal, I would not suggest going too cheap on tires. Let me refraise. I don't care if you spend $5; don't put crappy/cheap tires on the car. Any suspension repairs and benifits will soon be lost with cheap tires. You'll likely get poor traction (accel/braking/steering) and increased rolling noise. If those you listed have otherwise good reviews, may be worth money.

geissv

Yeah Im on the fence with the tires. A few have told me the 205/55 16 will give me a smoother ride and could save some money. Stock is 215/55 16. I want to keep it reasonable I will have full coverage on her. I dont want to do this for her to crack her up and have nothing at end. I see your point maybe spending the extra 100 is smart. I wont be putting on the racer ones it had at 150 a pop no need. I dont plan on it going 140 ever again. (I hope it dont, I know it still will I ran it up over 100 no issue at all. ) Figure nice H rated tire will cover it.

On a good note I decided the front end kit was a bit pricy I was able to go here.
http://www.fcpimport.com/Nissan-part...000&m=49&e=848

Site seems pretty legit didnt seem to terrible and had alot of the OEM stuff which I trust. I ordered the control arms sway bar links and tie rods. It didnt really seem it needed the other part for the tie rod at 5 dollars each (If I see any issues stripped ect throw in trash and spend 20 on the good ones on the site still much cheaper than 166 for kit). They are in good shape. I will clean them up parts cleaner before I start taking it apart. I lost a tie rod end on a Mustang as a kid and it was totaled. Trees and cars dont mix with no steering. I saw those boots cracked and got scared.

Thanks for the advice this will keep me motivated to do it right. Great part is a kid with a good experience on first car and enjoy driving and not loathing the car they got. Thats my goal is happy kid! 4.0 she has earned my hard work and cash on the car.

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

Is this the kit you ordered? Kit should be $140 shipped if the sale is still good. Call them, maybe they can fix it or adjust the price for you.

https://maxima.org/showthread.php?t=...ontrol+arm+kit

Wanted to add, I've bought an installed this kit last summer. Good quality parts and no issues installing. Everything went in as it should. Only thing I didn't install was inner tie rods. Couldn't see the point. If you research, there are others who mention this kit. Overall reviews is that it's a good kit, indicates by some to be right below oem quality. Also mentioned that some have had to replace parts after a year, others no issues after as long as 3 years. My driving/cornering is not so abusive that I believe the front suspension gets hammered on, so I bought the kit. If your daughter is driving and stock ride height, I definately think this kit/parts are perfectly fine.

geissv

Decided to wait a week before I ordered had my card in hand. But I saw the tells about a kit and thought maybe go piece was going to give me a lower quality piece.

MaxDoogie

This kit confuses me. Right on the website, it says the MSRP for all the parts is $156, but they are selling it for $224.

Basic economics tells me something is off here...

MaxDoogie

Another question...

How hard are all these parts to replace? Is it doable with a jack and basic hand tools, or is this something better left to a pro?

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

Pretty simple. You might need a large 15/16 wrench for the front bolt on the LCA. Can't get a socket in there to loosen/tighten while on the car. You will need a ball joint/tie rod end seperater. You can do it without one, but it helps. You should also ensure when doing the tie rod ends, you match them up on install as close as possible to where the original ones were set. Then immediately go to the closest, most trusted, alignment shop to have front end aligned. Or, have a shop do the ends then align, but call and see what the charge is first. I made that mistake on another vehicle years ago and it was like $50-60 per side even though they were doing the alignment as well. So I made sure I did the tie rod ends myself on my max then drove it one mile to the alignment shop.

geissv

Cool thats all good advice. I saw the separator and I didnt really want to spend the cash on it and a strut spring compressor. I got my bonus today so Im going to order it all. I may spend a little more and get the moog parts thats are out there and buy the other pieces from FCP. I did note the price is wrong and I added up the parts minus the inner tiedrod and it was not bad. Though if the kit is good I may just order it. Decisions decisions. Not like we are going to drive this SCCA it will be below normal driving and most trips less than 5 miles at a time. I noticed yesterday it started rough ran like crud then eventually cleaned up. I think I still have a coil or a sensor to sort out. Check engine flashed then went away. My struts are shot I checked the boots are in pieces. Who have you guys used for the struts. Thanks.

Yesterday I picked a up a great deal on the Radar brand tires at Sears P215 55R16. Got four new tires at like 67 a piece with balance install and warranty out the door right a 400. Also order the APX struts as a set.

http://apxautoparts.com/apx/shocks-s...-4-pieces.html

Also scored some shock boots and stops here as APX was out of stock on those.

http://www.justsuspension.com/kyb?ye...utmk=159323321

I will still get the outer tierod ends as the boots are cracked and crap but will hold off till I get it aligned after struts and then see if anything else is needed. All bushings ect look good on LCA.

Yoshimitsu

I have read a lot of terrible reviews about sensen brand shocks and struts.. Anyone else?

geissv

Ordered mounts front and rear here.
https://www.autopartswarehouse.com/m...nt/#trackorder

It was pretty reasonable for both sets free shipping for 79.40. You know Im not sure about the sensen struts. My deal is they have a warranty and Im going to roll the dice. If any this is a learning experience and my kid is learning a ton about the car. I could have gotten quick struts but I did save about 150 plus the labor putting them in. If they last three or four years thats fine. 50000 is what struts should be changed out at these NEVER were. It will be night and day once I get this all in. The radar tire line at least initially is a great performance deal for the price. Now how will they last that I dont know but ride quiet and firm. Handles great with them so far. No rain to try them in the wet yet.

As I said Im an old Mopar guy so this is first go around with Nissan. Im very happy so far with cost and the how its put together.

I recieved lots of boxes today for struts. Mounts boots ect and new Sensen struts. They appear to be OEM or better quality. Well see but I think we will be very happy with the purchase.

So things went pretty well started with drivers side first. Its obvious which strut goes where based off the clips for the brake lines. I hate that clip that holds the break line on. I will get that tonight was tired didnt feel like fighting the clip any longer. I did note while assembling the struts make sure you take note on the stamp "OUT" means facing the bottom of the mount facing away from fender. Great autozone youtube video explains this. Compressing spring is fairly easy and I used hand tools and a battery powered Milwalkee for some of the work. It just speeds things up a bit. You dont have to have air tools for this. The KYB stoppers used some light soap and water to slide them on as per the instructions goes very smooth. the bearing on the OEM monroe shock was CRAPPY plastic JUNK. The Gabriel after market front mount kit had real nice steal unit. So those who say chinese made monroe is so great think again. Take one apart, it depends which ones you buy what you end up with. Just an FYI.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Tociko Illumina or blues seems to be 90% of the forums preference if NOT going w/ CO's. Either way.

Max_Gator

Judging by the way you asked that question, I would suggest a pro.

I have a full set of tools and impact wrenches and it was still a major, dirty nasty pain in the ***.

First, half the crap is going to be frozen on more than likely.

Second, the tie rod ends will be a major pain to get off because the lock bolts are frozen and it is hard to get leverage.

Third, once you finally get the LCAs off, you will need to take off the 27mm bolt on the end (which I'm guessing you don't have a socket for) and take out that piece to be reused. I will give you a 50% chance that IT is frozen on and that you will have to torch the bushing off, and then dremel off the sleeve.

If you don't have tools and decent experience this will be a bad job.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Well said. One of the very few things that are different when comparing to a 4th gen is the LCA's. I did mine on my 4th gen with a sorry set of tools and a Haynes. Car had 220k and was 10 years old, no problems.

Saw a few write-ups on here about the 5.5 gens, and thank you, took it in to get done since there are a lot more bolts, and the entire process is different.

Did the shocks/struts/OTR's/end links on my own, but the LCA's, I'm too old for that.

I too would suggest any reputable shop.

geissv

Weird my post went away. I Had no issue putting on the Sensen strut. The product was good quality. In fact the part was better than the apparent OEM one it replaced. Nice plastic bear had good chuckle about that. I used Garbriel strut mounts for front have new ones for rear as well. Not sure if I will get it all done tonight, but will at least have one side on. I found the quick struts to be way over priced and the other brands out there seemed on the cheap side. APX I had a pal use and I feel like I can trust them at least to try them out. I used all hand tools and it was very easy to do. Take your time and you can do it. Now you will need some breaker bar pipes for some of those nuts and bolts but I do just fine with craftmen hand tools.

Update all of the struts are now on. No body roll at all now this is a much stiffer strut than the OEM ones. So ride is a bit on the more rigid side. It handles great though huge improvement even manage to force the car side ways in the wet stuff and it was a completely different car with new tires and struts. I will still do the other stuff that needs to be done. My lca bushings look good but Im still going to do tierod and the swaybar ones.