I am finally getting off my a$$ to get rid of the 4X4 look. I just ordered my KYB AGXs and now I need to find a decent price on H&Rs and order the other parts I need from a dealer. Since my car has close to 100k miles I want to replace all the suspention parts that normally wear out.

I have done a lot of searching and reading of old threads but I am still unsure about a few things. Many parts seem to have more than 1 name which is confusing. Are 'Urethane isolators' the same thing as 'isolation sleves'? This thread says you need 6 urethane isolators for the front and 2 for the rear. Does the wire wrap replace the isolators (or some of them) or do you use it in addition to the isolators?

 

Yes4 will be just fine for the front. One goes on the bottom coil each side, the other goes on the 2nd coil down from the top, each side. Wire wrap works fine but tends to ware out sometimes. The OEM urethane sleves will last longer.

Make sure you replace the strut bearings. There cheap @ 20 bucks each and they allow the strut to turn freely. It's kind of cheap insurance against good ol spring noises.

 

I only use the oem iscolator wraps because I never had and noise issues. try using only the oem wraps at the end of the coils and drive it around for a few days. if you have noise problems then just jack up the car and use the wire wraps on the first couple coils until the noise is gone. using too much wire wrap on teh dead coils will slightly raise the car if you over do it.

 

Thanks for the reply. In this thread Lime says that she thinks that a spring isolator over the end of the spring may have been causing a noise problem when turning the wheel. Has anyone else had this problem? Could I put the isolators on the second coil from the bottom so it does not rub against the mount (perch?).

If I understand you guys correctly I should use the OEM spring isolators only, and if I have noise problems then jack up the car and add wire wrap, right?

I am definatly going to replace the strut bearings while everthing is apart, I only want to do this once. I plan on using the OEM bearings.

 

No, you need to isolate the spring from the strut. The lower coil must have the sleve on it. Your trying to avoid metal to metal contact, thats the purpose of isolation.
Yes, thats the best approach. If you do get a slight clunk or pop at full wheel turns, give it a month of so before you start to futz with it. Usually things settle down. My car always makes some noise when I change the springs, but it always clears up shortly after.
Wise choise!

Good luck with your suspension, it's really quite easy to do. If you have any questions, feel free to PM or email me.

Tom

 

The isolation sleeves are isolators They are these little crappy sleeve things from the factory. I replaced mine with the coil wrap froom Radio Shack, and my springs were uber quiet.

 

So in your opinion wire wrap is superior to the OEM isolators (AND ~$50 cheaper) and you would use that only?

 

Do I have to dismantle the spring/shock assembly to install the wraps. I assume the answer is yes since the wrap installs on the spring perch

 

NO! The wrap should not be installed on the perch! Wrap, and isolators, goes on the next coils up!!! The bottom/top coils are already up against the perch/rubber of the mount. Most turning/grinding noises (aside from replacement of strut bearings)come from the bottom (up against the perch) having an isolator too close to the perch.

I guess it MIGHT be feasible to put the wrap on if the car is up and the wheels are off...I've never tried to do it that way though. I do think it's better; it also lasts longer if you get the approproate kind (not too-soft material).

 

I just did the same thing you are going to do. I have a '98 GXE w/5sp going on 91K miles. Here is what I did.

For both the front and rear springs:
I reused the factory isolator sleeves that are placed on the bottom coils of each spring. I put them on the new springs exactly how they came off the OEM strings. They look like thin-wall, semi-flexible plastic tubing that is slit down the long axis.

The top spring mounts do not need anything special.

Some people think that you need to wrap the bottom coils to prevent metal-to-metal contact (i.e. adjacent coils touching) to prevent suspension noise. However, I do not think the coils of the front spring will ever come into contact with each other. So I feel that anything more than just the factory isolator sleeves would be unnecessary.

The reason the front suspension will pop and creak is because the spindle assembly forces the springs to "windup" which in turn, forces the top spring cup (pearch, mount, or whatever ya wanna call it) to turn. If the strut bearing is sticking or begining to fail, it will not allow the top spring cup to rotate freely -- causing the most common creaking or poping noises. My car would creak from the driver side strut when turning hard left...

The rear springs coils WILL come into contact with each other, but I feel that this is not a major noise problem because the spring assembly does not turn or "windup" but maintains a fixed position.

Anyway that's my true-life experience.... Your experiences may vary.

Paul W.

I have NO spring noise

 

I've been researching what springs to get for some time and I have decided to get H&R also. What will I need to buy other than the springs, AGX struts, isolation sleeves. I don't mind spending a little more and do a complete job and change out some old parts while I'm at it. Thanks.

 

This thread has a pretty good list -- http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=106476 It is also recommended to replace the strut bearings in the front.

 

I am in the same shoes
I have my H&Rs and AGXs sitting right here
looking to purchase all the needed hardware, I have more miles than you though..

I am confused because of the names for the parts..

everyone calls each thing a different way..

so i'm not sure whether there is more parts that i need or it's the same exact thing but named differently

that's what i was able to draw from searching...

 

Everyone uses the same words. Recommended for replacement are the following items:

dust boots
round rubber bushings

front strut bearings

 

The bottom coil of the front springs rests on the metal base of the strut . There's no rubber there, so you have to put the OEM isolation sleeve or wire wrap on the very bottom of the spring, right?

 

My H&Rs and KYBs are on the way. Do most dealers stock these parts or should I plan on ordering them ahead of time?