I bought a 2003 6spd with 165k miles. The previous owner hit a curb. I thought, no big deal. I will replace suspension parts and fender and be done. (The fender/headlight were damaged side swiping a car)

Well, its turning out to have more damage than that and I am now trying to decide if its worth it to attempt to continue fixing it. It now looks like there is damage to the passenger side suspension because when I turn left or right I am rubbing the back of the fender area and the wheel looks awful close to the back side of it. The driver side rear wheel looks like it has a good bit of negative camber and is pushed in.

I have already replaced:

Driver side LCA
Drive side front rotor
Both valve covers and gaskets (2004 model)
Spark plugs
Fender
Driver Rocker panel (side skirt or whatev its called)
Driver Headlight


How would I tell if the subframe got messed up? It wasnt obvious that the LCA was bent on the passenger side. So not sure yet how to figure out what caused the wheel to be pushed back.

What could be causing the rear driver side wheel to have a bit of negative camber?

Pics:





I am thinking ill try to drive it to an alignment shop and see what they say.


Thanks for the help,
Matt

 

Both sides probably hit the curb.

Grab the whole front end and rear beam out of a junkyard?

Front strut is bent, I'm sure.

It's a fair amount of work, but swapping out all of the suspension would fix it, I'm sure. It's only bolts. You'd be done in a couple days.

 

DUMP it...

How do you know the structural integrity hasn't been comprised? Plus that's a crap load of hours and money

 

George; He has allready vested a lot into it since the initial post.... As to my best guess Id imagine the rear side hit the curb as well. I would do as suggested; change out the rear beam and struts as well.

 

Yeah I have already spent time and money and just didnt want to spend too much before finding out it'll cost me a lot more than anticipated. Ill look at getting both front struts and the passenger side LCA, then try to locate a rear beam. There's not really a rush to get it done, its kind of like my winter project.

I presume a local alignment shop can give me a good idea on the everything too? Making sure the subframe/frame is straight?

Ill have to take a pic of the top of the driver strut tower. It looks like a weld broke.

 

Now, that's bad news.

 

Did you replace the pins on the LCA with new they are most likely bent also

 

If you mean the thick metal pin/stud that has the 4 big bolts through it, no. I didnt replace them.. yet.

 

Here is what the drivers side LCA looked like compared to the new one.

 

that took some hit!

Keep at it the finish line is near

I hope everything is well at the alingment shop then after you finish,you'll end up with a nice maxi...

 

Dont stop now, the finish line is close. Get it to the alignment shop and get there opinion as long as the frame isnt bent. You"ll be able to fix it pretty easily. Good luck! Keep us posted! Love the colour!

 

You need to take the car to a place that does collision alignments. The average Firestone type of shop doesn't have the equipment (or the knowledge) to work on what could possibly be frame damage.

Start reading on page 65 for the body alignment points and dimensions.

http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/2003/BT.pdf

When you are done, see if the car matches page 15 in this section:

http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/2003/SU.pdf

 

DennisMik, thanks for that. Ill check it out this evening.

 

Here is the passenger side front wheel. Ive already looked under the car and there is no noticeable damage (compared to the driver side). So I presume I need to replace the LCA. Any thoughts of how to figure out exactly what needs to be replaced?

By the way, thats the actual wheel gap from the top of the tire to bottom of fender. Theres no jack under it. Is that normal? Looks enormous.

 

Either that pin that arrow is pointed at is bent or check the gaps in the circle compared to the new lca...

 

This is the driver side strut tower mount with the broken weld.



And here is a close up.



Any thoughts on the severity or what it could negatively effect?

 

Like the progress pics. I dont think the little ripple and crack in above pic would cause a suspension issue. I was expecting it far closer to the 3 bolts. Weld it again tho for strength. Just for kicks are you going to mention any costs..purchase and on going expense.

 

Yeah sure. I spent $1,000 on the car.

Total Repairs: about $350
(Price of parts only, I am doing all the work)

Driver side LCA - $62
Driver side rotor - $38
Spark Plugs - $35
Battery terminal - $3
Both valve covers and gaskets (2004+) - $102
Driver fender - $40 (not painted yet)
Driver rocker panel - $15
Driver wheel well plastics - $10
1 Wheel - $25
Driver headlight - $10 (temporary use, not in good shape, but better than the busted one)

 

The crack by the driver strut tower is probably due to the fender getting crunched. I don't think it is causing any alignment issues.

As for the passenger wheel, the fender to tire top looks excessive. My car (2000 with stock 16" tires) has about 2 1/2 inches from the tire to the arch in the fender opening. It looks like it is perfectly centered in the opening front to rear. You probably need the LCA or the mounting arm like nestorlugo said.

 

Yeah, next on the list is a passenger side LCA and both of those pins.

Also, I dont think the previous owner ever changed the spark plugs.

 

Damn that's sad !

Are you using ngk platinum plugs ?

If not i would ,atleast on bank one....and cheap coppers on bank 2 if i had an 02-03...

 

Well I thought I was getting the platinums, but after putting them in, I think they were NGK coppers. And I already put everything back together. So I'll see how they work.

I have a guy local that has a 2003 parts car. Should I get the front end suspension parts from him or buy new? Im leaning towards buying most things new because I dont really want to put on parts that have 150k miles on them that will have to be replaced again in the near future.

 

Ok don't worry about the plugs just note that you might have to change them around 35k mi. from now...


Just get the pins holders from him and a new lca....imo

 

Ok. I was also thinking about replacing the struts/springs/mounts in case they are bent/messed up?

But I might just do the pins and the other LCA to start with and see how that aligns.

 

Can't say i would do different