Help! After Strut replacement Smooth ride on normal roads but bottoms out unusual
 

Help Suspension experts and experienced dyers
So I diy my 2010 maxima front strut replacement with original springs, the ride ended up unusually rough with loud bottoming out over bigger bumps and pot holes to the point that i feel that it got to be something wrong with my installation or parts.(was not like this with oem worn out struts 129k).
I went with New Monroe OE Spectrums from Rock Auto and new Monroe Strut mounts and Monroe Bellow and bumper kit as well, i was very careful to document the removal and disassembly as to make sure and put back everything as oem, (took pictures and marked things). there is one caveat, the lower retainer, i believe is called (circled red in the picture below ) which holds the rubber bumper I had to leave out because it would not fit the new rubber bumper of the bellow kit and it would sit loose and make noise (pictured below). by carefully looking at the assembled strut assembly i do not think that not having this lower retainer is crucial or causing the loud banging, (bottoming out) but i may be wrong.
Does someone have any idea or experience with this situation?
is there such a thing as worn out springs? 129k on them.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....c2b729863b.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....79c4925843.jpg





https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....2abe19ef5d.jpg

Do you have sport suspension?

I dont know, how can i find out? can you tell from the pics?

It is probably the new struts and not an installation issue. Compare the size and travel of your old struts to the new ones. Probably best to put the old struts back on and get another brand. FWIW I recently replaced my rear shocks with Monroe OE Spectrums because of the good price. They also bottomed out. I contacted Monroe and they insisted that they were the correct size shocks but I disagree. I put my old shocks back on and they worked fine. I have done a number of shock/strut installs and believe many of the manufacturers do not size these items well. Best to get OEM or from the same manufacturer that made the OEM struts/shocks. If you want to return those to Rockauto do not indicate on the website that they were installed as soon as you do that they will not allow a return for any reason. Even if it was their error.

The sport model uses different shocks/struts than Maximas with the standard suspension so that could be your problem also.
I believe if you have 19 inch OEM wheels that is sport model and 18 inch means standard suspension.

I suppose some of your other new parts could be an issue. Compare all your old parts with the new parts.

our car came with 18" oem wheels,so im guessing i have the regular suspension, rockauto does not have options for the sports suspension while partsgeek.com does. I'm leaning with you Nopike that it must be the struts themselves as I spent quite a bit of time looking and trying to figure things out during installation, and the new mounts looks like a match, but now i'm second guessing myself. I guess I'll have to go back to the OE components and see if things change.
Thanks for the help

I believe I read on this forum that Sachs is the manufacturer of the OEM Nissan struts. You may consider going with them. You may also want to check the part number of your original struts and make sure your new struts cross reference that number.
I don't think your springs could wear out so much that they would bottom out. You are probably fine keeping them.

If you plan to keep the car for a while you may consider purchasing an entire strut, spring and mount assembly. Saves some work. Just do a through visual inspection comparing the new assembly to the old one before installation.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...assembly,15174

Good luck. let us know how things turn out.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....742a478f0.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....129ae70a9.jpeg
Yes. I can confirm that Sachs is the OE for my 2010 Maxima SV

This may help you out also. Download a copy if you plan on keeping the car a while.

https://ownersmanuals2.com/make/nissan/maxima-2010-411

Thanks for the link, I had previously downloaded this manual preparing for this repair and others i got lined up

Just to add to jmontoya21s shock/strut problem. I also had my shocks and struts replaced by a shop with Monroe OE Spectrum a few weeks ago and am experiencing the exact same issue with a very loud noise going over sharp bumps.

I wonder what changed, I have around 50K mile on my oespectrum suspension. I did use Sachs for the strut bearing and other ancillary bits on the front. Rears are just shocks.

Although the Monroe 5659 OESpectrum shocks I changed in the rear appeared to be the same size as the OEM. The travel of the piston seemed less on the Monroe. I contacted Monroe and they said they would investigate. They got back to me and said that they should be fine for my 2014 sport. I disagree. They sent me another pair of new 5659 OESpectrum shocks but I just put my old ones back on the vehicle. When it comes time to replace them I will go with Sachs. Don't want to waste any more time. Although the rear shocks are very easy to change.

Hi Nopike, I saw your trials and tribulations and I gave it to different suspensions sport vs non sport. This is a little different with non sports. Bummer, when they work they are nice dampers.
This bothers me.
Info on the OEspectrum 5659 rear shocks from rock auto:CHEVROLETASTRA2000-2008NISSANMAXIMA2009-2014

From my experience over the years installing shocks/struts I do not have a lot of confidence in shock/strut sizing by 3rd party companies. I would very closely inspect and compare any replacement shocks/struts with the originals before installation. This goes for all replacement parts. This can save a lot of time and frustration.

Anyone in the Miami area? I need a bit of help replacing my rear struts. There appears to be some fluid leaking from the left rear. I thought that they are gas based so not sure what is leaking from it. I noticed on a turn on a highway of I hit a bump, the car fishtails slightly. I would want to replace both rears together. (Should I replace struts and springs or just the struts). Not sure what will be easier and quicker.

Or does anyone know of a good shop? Not a stealership and someone that actually knows what they are doing. I had a great shop in Maryland that I would go to where they would work only on Nissans and tune them as well. They had plenty of GTRs and Zs there, so I could trust them. So far in Miami, I have been surprised by the shops here, had one "mechanic" almost drop the Maxima off the lift for an oil change (I nearly had a heart attack).

Guys Saturday i had the radiator start leaking, so the suspension problem took the back seat, i was planing on replacing the struts with the sach brand but now it wont be until a few weeks later.
will report once i figure it out.

the rear shocks are real easy to change as they do not come as complete assembly with the springs.you would be just changing just the shocks only, i would imagine, i don't think the springs are the issue, it took me about and hour or two to change them.
got mine from rock auto but i would go with oems since aftermarket seam to give problems on these cars. GL

Guys having had so many issues with this car including the suspension, I decided to stop wasting time on these Monroe struts and purchased complete assembles instead, I wanted to get to the bottom of this but I just don't have time to waste on these any more.

What do I torque the 3 screws to? There are 2 on top, and 1 on the bottom...

Thanks in advance.

http://nicoclub.com/archives/nissan-...e-manuals.html

Thanks! I was using a different manual that was missing the torques.

Alex

You will get a lot of noise over bumps if the nut on top of that rod isn't tight.

What brand
 

What brand of complete strut did you use and did it work out these monroe are terrible

from Amazon and not recommended at all. mushy. Try something else

If you have a sport model.