Hello all, happy Turkey day! 🦃



Is it about time that mine were replaced? How hard is it to remove these? Please advise, thanks.

 

Very very easy. Just be just watch a couple videos on YouTube first like Chris fix or whoever you choose. And count how many turns it takes to get the old one off. I just replaced mine before writing this. Turned out they issue laid within my inner tie rod. If your inner has no tension to hold itself up isit probably shot. I don't recommend that one.. needed special tools and more space and the Nissan fsm wasnt helpful. A billion how to video if you look..

Rusty. Water infiltrated and washed away grease. No boot rip

I just replaced a ton of stuff. Axles, struts, couple motor mounts, end links, sway bar bushings front/rear shocks, I'm going pretty all out. Taken a long time tho. Good luck. And I replaced all hardware with everything I touched too.. Was nice having extra hardware on big project

 

Yes they're due
It's easy, but you'll need an alignment afterwards

I tried the "count the turns" method to try to keep it close, but my tires sounded like I was peeling out doing 30 on the way to the alignment rack

 

Most aftermarket stuff usually holds up well for these auxiliary suspension bits right?

 

Do a little research and don't go cheap on these. There are some junk ones out there. I've heard of cheap tie rod ends actually snapping. This is NOT a part you want breaking while you're driving. Even the good ones aren't too expensive and they'll probably outlive the rest of the car.

 

Detroit axle arms and rods for me. Nissan, Toyota, doesn't matter. Looks and feels just like OEM and I have crash evidence of their strength. Wait for 15% ebay codes and buy the whole front end kit for peanuts.

 

Thanks to everyone who replied. Derrick, good to hear from you again. I hear what you're saying about the quality.. good point. Korn, your point is valid too, since I'm always buying parts for 3 old cars these days. After doing some more research, I decided to go with A-M auto parts. These guys have a 10 year warranty on their suspension bits. Twice they've done refunds for me when I ordered the wrong parts for my Avalon, with no questions asked, and not even asked for the unneeded parts shipped back. Worth checking out IMO.

 

 

I concur with this fellow. Originally I bought the cheapest front end rebuild kit I can find off 1A... The parts were such crap I wouldn't even put them on my enemies car. Autzone O'Reily's, etc had equal quality for the same price as quality stuff on Amazon. Honestly oem **** isn't really expensive in retrospect. I ended up keeping one of the end links from the kit and that was all. Boots and ball joints on parts hours replacing we're still much much better quality than the new cheap Chinese hearts that I got from 1A.

FYI I've bought lots of parts from these guys 1a and not got Parks like this before. It just goes to show you sometimes you get what you pay for and other times you don't get a half bad deal. Good luck

 

I took this advice this summer and replaced my control arms after beck arnley bj boots split open just like the pics from the op within 12mos. And 2 yrs in a row. Warranty is cool but not replacing the same part annually.

Will see how these Detroit axle pan out. Oem boots never split in 14yrs. !!!

 

Wow, so there are some people on this forum MOOG makes great ball joints. BTW are we sure we want to shorten ball joint to bj? OP, don't count threads or turns. Measure from centerline of new tie rod end to any point on the inner tie rod. Install the new tie rod end in that position and you shouldn't need a front end alignment.

 

 

***I hope you bled off the fluid by opening the caliper bleed screw with you pressed that caliper piston back in!***

 

 

 

Hey guys! Finally getting around to doing all the work right now... on the agenda is brakes, the outer tie rods, sway bar links, and sway bar bushings. Hope I can get it all done this weekend.

two concerns I have for you guys...

1. The outer tie rod I got from A-M auto parts isn't the same length as the one coming off, it's about 3/4" shorter, but this doesn't mean I can't use it, right? What would be the correction factor for the job?

2. Do the bushings for the sway bar need to be cut along the edges to insert them? The ones I got are fused together.

thanks, hope everyone is keeping warm while working on their Max'es.

 

1. You can use them. I'm not sure what you mean by correction factor. Some people like counting threads. Others make a mark on the inner tie rod and measure from that mark to the centerline of the outer tie rod. Make the length from the mark to the centerline of your new part the same. That's the method I use.
2. If you mean the new bushings aren't split then yes, definitely make them split using a very sharp object

 

Thanks Mr. Mike!, hey, new problem.... the bolt hole on the control arm for the new sway bar links is smaller than required to accommodate it. I know previous owner got new control arms....obviously aftermarket. Can I use a titanium drill bit to widen the holes a tiny bit, or just bite the bullet and get new sway bar links?

 

I have a background in z31s and s30/130 where it was common and even necessary to do things like that so you may want to wait for a more seasoned Maxima member to answer that but I wouldn't have any problem doing it. I do know that a lot of times aftermarket links are a little beefier than OEM but I've never seen ones that require bigger holes. In case you didn't see why split bushings are easier, imagine sliding that bushing all the way up the sway bar as opposed to using the split to put it on right next to the bracket.
Heres a pic showing where the split usually is. If they're poly bushings use the grease or you'll regret it. I need to go finish putting my car back together. It's rainy and cold af here in Houston. Any temp below 59 w/o sun is cold to me. One of the 2 main reasons I still live here.

 

cool, I live in San Antone, one of these days I'll have to come to H- town and pick your brain about a miscelaneous Max issues.

 

You might want to take your time w/ that. I've only owned one Maxima and I just bought it about a month ago. The major thing I've found in common w/ my Z cars is 10mm bolts... that break ;0 I have cousins down there and I've been there a few times myself. That reminds me of the other reason I stay in Houston. No scorpions here

 

I checked on an old Porsche 928 forum, (that also have closed end swar bar bushings apparently) and those guys said to put the bushings in steaming hot water to get them pliable and soft. This way, they can be squeezed over the flat end of the bar. Coat the sway bar with silicone lube or water based stuff, and then just slowly work it down the shaft. Makes sense to me, so I'm trying it.