I have noticed since I bought my I30 that when I have people in the back seat, the rear end sits really low. I know there will be some lowering but it seems excessive for the normal 4 people the car is designed for. Also there is the rear end bounce/bottom-out present too when I go over a bump in the road or speed bump. Does this mean I need new struts or springs?

 

Stock drop?

 

Bottoming out sounds like excessively worn struts to me. Even before I replaced mine, I couldn't "bottom out" with people in my backseat. And one of my struts eventually completely wore out. It wouldn't rebound at any decent rate, and could easily be pushed in by hand.

I replaced my rears with Tokico Illumina adjustables, and have been impressed. I would definitely recommend Tokico Illuminas to anyone who needs new struts (price can be a "shock"er, though). Struts typically wear out slowly (until they "blow"). When you install new ones, the difference can be like night and day. You may not even realize how bad your struts are until you put new ones on and feel the difference.

I don't know what springs you've got, or how many miles. But for comparison sakes, I have a '97 Maxima SE with 120,000 miles on it, riding on stock springs. 3 adults in my backseat will make it squat somewhat, but I haven't bottomed out.

Tomorrow morning, I pick up my new KYB GR-2's for the front (Illuminas don't fit my budget right now, and AGX's supposedly become harsh in cold weather. I may be moving back to Ohio shortly, so at my age, the harshness in winter could be a factor). I have to replace the strut mount on the passenger side, so I'll do everything at one time. I'm sticking with stock SE springs, though. With out roads, I don't want to go any lower than what I'm at.

Hope this helps.

Dave

 

Yeah I am almost sure I am running stock. I figured thats what it was, but just wanted to make sure. The car has 110k on it so it is probably time to replace them.