I put new S rated Cooper Tires on our 93 Maxima with 110k miles back in the Spring. I took it in last week for rotating and balancing. After inspecting the car, the tire store rep said that the front struts were weak and that the driver's side front axle was bad. I told him to go ahead and do the balancing and rotation and I'd take it to our regular brake and shocks guy to check into axle.

They completed the balancing/rotation and I drove about 3 or 4 miles to the brake shop and the car seemed to handle fine on this trip. They confirmed that the axle needed replacing and did the work. When I left the shop the car was handling really odd-- sort of "wallowy" (for lack of better term) and small dips or pavement seams just seemed to sort of take the steering wheel out of my hand. I turned around, went back to the brake shop and when I got out I noticed that the rear passenger tire was almost flat.

I told the brake guy about the odd handling and said that I assumed it related to the tire (since I hadn't notice a problem on the way from the tire store to the brake shop). He offered to put it up on the lift anyway just to verify that the axle and other components were o.k. He did so and also said that the way they installed the axle would not have impacted the alignment.

They pumped up the tire and I headed back to the tire store. The handling wasn't as bad, but it was still sort of hard to keep straight and it just felt like you just weren't in good control. They fixed the flat. I mentioned the odd handling and asked them to check the brake shop's work just to make sure. They did so and said that the work was done properly and confirmed that they didn't notice any alignment problems or anything that the brake shop did wrong or messed up installing the axle.

However, the car still handles oddly as I described above so my question is, would weak front struts contribute to the symptoms I described and therefore be the culprit? It seems odd that I wouldn't notice it until after the axle was installed. It is kind of hard to figure out the cause and effect here since so many things were going on at once (rotation and balancing, axle repair, flat tire repair etc.) Would these things just make the strut problem more pronounced, maybe?

If it's time for new struts I'll be glad to do so. It's been a little soft and bouncy and at 110K I'm assume it's a reasonable maintenance item. But the way the symptoms apppeared somewhat suddenly with all the other changes involved has me wondering a bit. I just want to try to make sure I'm addressing the real problem. Any help or insight would be appreciated.

Ken

 

Interesting.... Someone correct me if I am wrong, but don't the tie-rods need to come off to take out the front axles? If that is the case it is very possible that the front-end alignment may be out of spec. If all that it's doing now is not tracking straight - I would start off with the alignment.

But before jumping to that conclusion, jack up each front wheel and check for any movement "play" on the wheel. Once the wheel is up - just shake it by grabbing the top and bottom of the tire and check for any movement. Also have someone hold the steering wheel steady and check for any side-to-side movement. I've had a axle nut come loose on my Mazda that caused similar symptoms.

I doubt the struts could cause those symptoms to appear so suddenly. However the tires do cause significant changes in handling characteristics. If nothing else is out of whack, I would rotate the tires again and see if the symptoms go away. I know you said it only started after you got to the brake guy, but it's still worth a shot.

 

In order for them to remove your axel, your front strut had to be disconnected from the hub. The tie rod end does not need to come off. Even if it did, that would not effect the alignment. The shop was sort of correct when they told you they didn't mess with your alignment. The only way to visably see if your alignment is off is to put the car up on the alignment rack. You cannot see visably a slight change in your toe. So nobody can just inspect your car and say the alignment is fine.

What does effect your alignment is the removal of the front strut from the hub. Don't let the shop tell you otherwise. There is a small amount of play in the bolt holes which in turn will throw off your alignment slightly. There is almost no way that your strut were placed EXACTLY how they were prior to their removal.

Your toe is probably slighly off now, and combine that with worn struts, you now have a recipe for a poor handling vehicle.

My suggestion is to have the struts replaced and then have the car aligned. I'd also suggest you replace all 4 corners, not just the fronts. Your car has some mileage on it. You may not feel that the rear is soft now, but as soon as you replace your front struts, the soft rear shocks will be felt.

If you want that new car ride again, do the job correctly and do the whole car at once. You'll be much happier with the ride.

Tom
aka - The suspension guru.

 

Thanks for the input. As suggested by a couple of people, I just took the car in and had them rotate the tires back. The problem seems to be corrected. So I guess the next step is to take it back to the original tire dealer and have him look at the tires. Thanks again for the help.

Ken