Is there any kind of half-decent way to accomplish this by simply replacing or adding a few parts without having to weld anything?? I can do the drilling, grinding etc but I don't have the welding expertise or equipment to do something like that. Just tired of my rear end bottoming out over the slightest bumps. Funny thing is the 99 Maxima I had had pretty much the same cheapo solid beam rear suspension but it didn't do this. I DID recently replace those rear struts with some cheap Chinese aftermarkets so I don't mind spending the extra $$ and moving up to something else if that will fix it. Thx

What you are describing sounds like blown struts to me. Chinese crap is exactly that - crap. They have copied many things for reproduction but quality control is certainly not among them. You should be able to fix your issue by replacing your suspension with quality parts. You dont need coilovers, just oem spec struts.

It seems like I remember reading about a TSB on this issue, but can't find anything about it now. Anyway, since I can't find OEM Tokico struts anywhere for a halfway decent price, any recommendations on aftermarket brands that would be closer to OE quality?

KYB are the next best thing.

The problem with KYB is that they don't make a quick-strut set for our cars, which is what I'd prefer for ease of installation. They do make a quick strut for many other cars so it isn't a "high end name brand" thing.
If I'm going to go through all the trouble of having to swap over coil springs, mounting plates etc then I'll just grab these Tokicos off ebay, OEM and better priced:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TOKICO-HP-2...frcectupt=true

What are thoughts on Moog? They do make a quick-strut for our cars.

If you didn't mind coilovers I would hook you up with Tokico rears and H&R Spings. They were installed but have less than 2000 miles on them. I just switched to Tien's.

how much?

Whatever shipping cost.

I'd take you up on that, thanks! And they come with everything needed to install? (Upper mounting plates, dust boot etc)
My zip is 72713 (Bentonville Arkansas) if you want to PM me with a shipping cost.

They come with what's in the box. You reuse the mounting hardware. I actually started a for free thread on the springs a while ago and no one claimed them. I just looked at them the other day and told myself I was throwing them out next time I cleaned/organized. They were a comfortable ride just not sporty-ness I wanted. I'll get you a shipping price probably tomorrow. The Tokico's look way older than they are. I was quite disappointed in how they aged. They were only on the car months, it's garage kept most of the time, and I really put less than 2000 on them. They not terrible by any means but they should still look brand under the circumstances I used them. The H&R's are perfect.

A couple other forums I frequent have "For Free" threads so people don't have to throw away perfectly good stuff like I was about to. I just got an extra set of dual piston calipers and I'll they'll likely end up in the trash because it's hard to give away Maxima parts.

Well I threw away the old original Tokicos-- mounts and all-- that were on the car when I put these Chinese cheapos on, so I don't have the original mounting hardware anymore but I can always either use the hardware off the ones that are on the car now, or just buy the stuff. I don't have any problem whatsoever with the way your Tokicos might look, as long as they still function properly- even so they're free so I sure won't complain if they don't work out for whatever reason- I can always just grab the ones off that ebay auction I linked above.

Time for coilovers

Still don't understand why people keep referencing coilovers as if they are different than what came stock on the car- stock rear suspension is a strut with a coil spring. How is that different from a coilover?

COs are just a name for what they are. Sure, they have the two basic parts, but that's where the similarities end. COs can use perches, adjust height, adjust dampening, adjust preload, and all of the parts are just an easy swap. Stock strut/spring can't do anything. It's there, it sucks and sucks even more to rebuild.

OK, so would I still be able to swap over the upper mounts for these coilovers from the struts that are on the car now? Or would I have to buy a set of mounts specifically designed for these coilovers?

If you take what I'm giving you all the stock stuff is reusable.

So... I knew I wasn't crazy- there WAS in fact a technical service bulletin issued for this problem. After much digging online I finally found the pdf of this:

http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/NTB02-056.pdf

Considering their solution was replacing the rear springs with heavier duty ones, hopefully the coilovers will fix the issue.

The SEs sag at high miles (obviously worn out). It mentions GLE and GXE only, b/c they use even softer springs.

OK. Do you have a shipping quote for me yet?

Still waiting for that shipping quote...

Looks like $46 bucks from FedEx. If you want to find cheaper 14075 is the from zip.

Thanks I think I''ll hold off for the time being.

See what I mean. Impossible to give away a few hundred dollars of free near brand new stuff.

Not impossible, I probably would have taken it last week. But over a weeks time my front wheel bearings have gone from just slightly droning to rendering the car almost undrivable, along with warped rotors and needing to replace brake pads. All that has to come first.

Speaking of which, I came across what seems to be a great deal on Nakamoto brake pads and rotors on ebay- $95 for everything (full set of front and rear rotors and brake pads.):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nakamoto-Fr...gAAOSwsrlcSXsk

Anyone ever have any experience with this brand?

P.S. I DID order the good Timken wheel bearings since I don't want to be doing that job again for a long time. $56 with free shipping for a pair off ebay--not too shabby. I used to order from Rockauto but they've changed their return policy to where you have to pay for return shipping-- and possibly a restocking fee-- even if they send you the wrong part. F*** that nonsense.

If you have suspension for the front and rear I will gladly relieve you of the immense trouble it is causing you.

I only have front springs.

I have a set of 4 H&R springs 2 front, 2 rear and two Tokico rear struts.

Shoot me a pm, ill take those springs. Unfortunately I do not really have any use for the rear struts as it doesnt seem possible to buy only the fronts.

Not sure about Tokicos but you can most certainly buy KYB front struts:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/KYB-2-FRONT...MAAOSwNSxVLFvu

KYB are good, but not from eBay - you can get them a lot cheaper from here: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ion,strut,7584

wow usually after you factor in shipping from rockauto ebay is cheaper, but you'r right those KYB's are about $40 cheaper off rockauto even with shipping, plus I bet there's a coupon code out there somewhere you can use.

So, about this....

According to some sources, the correct Tokico part number for the blue front strut for the 5.5 gen (02-03) Maxima is HB3188 (right side) and HB3189 (left side). :



But then some other places say that those are NOT correct for the 5.5 gen only for the 5.0 gen:

https://www.andysautosport.com/produ...o__HB3189.html

so which is correct??

3188 +3189 are front left and right struts

You'll need bu2943 (Illuminas I'm looking at ) and errrr 2942? Maybe 44. One is definitely 2943 it's in my hand. Lol I don't know where the other is

Ummm- That's exactly what I was asking about, FRONT struts. Read my post like directly above.

There is no other for the rear they are the same left and right.

B3188+3188 for Illuminas. A Google search would've told you the same but you probably figured it out. Hitachi has a tokico shocks catalogue via PDF, located here :
http://www.hitachi-automotive.co.jp/...ock/catalogue/

I used it to search compatible PN and found some other cars that share parts but nothing unheard of. Use search by keyword to fly thru it.

Kinda worthless since all their workers who made tokico suspension components died in the Japan nuclear accident after. No not Hiroshima... ****-yew-sheemah how it sounds the closest one to the main Nissan plant too. So expect any new parts to be contaminated with highly radioactive material if coming from J Ahpan

Can't believe how much better the car handles with a new set of rear shocks. The dive and lean I was having is all but gone. Used Monroe complete strut assemblies.

Are you stock ride height?

complete strut i believe implies it has a spring on it

Yeah, I found these for a crazy good price before I realized they were for 4th gen

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