I figured I would change out my struts since I've put close to 100,000 miles on my 2002 Maxima over the past 7 years and the suspension felt like it's been long over due for a new set of struts. Money has been kind of tight so i figured I would just get a cheap set of struts at Autozone. I figured anything would be better than a set of old worn out struts so I ended up going with Sensen. I wanted to get a set of Gabriel Ultra since it was a known brand but Autozone doesn't carry them anymore.

I'm sure people will reply with " you get what you pay for " or " get a set of KYB's " but I already know that I need to. I barely notice the difference between these new struts and the worn out KYB's that came with my car when I got it back in December of 2012.

 

That's because stock strut perf is stupid soft. Ever drive a stock max? There's more body roll than a ship in a cat 5 hurricane and you flop over bumps. There's not much you can do with the springs being so soft as well.
If they're not bouncing like blown struts, then I'm sure they're performing normally.

COs are the only way to go if you ask me.

 

soo new bottom shelf struts are just as good as 100k old Kyb struts....

 

the factory springs along with wheels were tossed out a month after I got the car..

 

You've got stiffer springs on the new struts? That makes complete sense. Worn out KYBs would probably perform the same as OE performance.

 

My 00 with 140k had a noticable improvement with new kyb struts. My 02 with 165k has very little change doing just the rear so far. Haven't done the front yet. Also kyb.

The 00 does ride quite a bit firmer than the 02. Especially in the rear. I'm going to try to find a set of 00 struts to swap in for a comparison. The 02 is too soft.

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interesting, i just looked up the parts numbers on 2000 maxima and they are different than the 02