Larrio

iTrader: (10)

Story:
I let my sister drive my car a couple of nights ago, which was a big mistake. Anyways, she claimed that she didn't see the HUGE dip while driving around 30-35 mph and promptly just ran the car through it without braking at all whatsoever (luckily the car isn't lowered) It was the loudest sound and jolt in my life and I grimaced all the way home. A couple of "sorries" later, I noticed that my car alarm doesn't work anymore. Apparently the dip jolted the car so bad that the negative cable popped off the battery. Then today, after a lot of clunking and groaning going in and out of dips, bumps, and driveways.. I noticed this below and was wondering if this is normal:

LEFT:


RIGHT:

99Maxima5sp

holy $hit, is that a bent spring?!?! doesnt look normal!!!


eric

Sin

That is NOT normal. I have NEVER EVER seen a spring bent like that before.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Looks like the spring is okay but the rubber cover came off. I would have it checked at a frame shop(not a generic alignment shop).

Especially if it makes odd noises or drives odd

PearlRalizinG2k

to me it looks like the rubber sleeves came off the springs. So without the rubber on, it's metal to metal grinding. This shouldn't be too hard to fix. First jack your car up, then slide the sleeves back on, I don't know actually if it's going to be this easy for you because you spring might need to be compressed (use a spring compressor) in order to have some play(on mine I dont have that problem because I have cut springs which is loose when I jack my car up hehehhe).
Hope this helps!! Good luck!

Sin

My springs don't curl up like that though guys. And I'm pretty sure unless you guys have had suspension damage, your's won't look like that either.

I'm just thinking, if the force was enough to do that to the spring, think about other components that could fail. Strut bearing plate/upper spring mount, ball joint, strut, etc.

PearlRalizinG2k

While I typed my reply 99maxima5sp, sin, and jeff92se beat me to it!!!

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

That isolation sleve slides off quite often. Nothing to worry about. Jack the car up, pry the spring open a bit more with a screwdriver if you have to and put the sleve back on it.

Use some rubber cement so it stays in place or it will come back off again.

Note: The dip didn't cause that to happen, take a look under a few other max's and you'll find the same thing on quite a few of them. My buddies I30 (stock setup) used to come off like that all the time. The rubber cement did the trick!

costcowholesale

iTrader: (12)

tell her she broke the stock springs & make her buy some h&rs

Larrio

iTrader: (10)

crud, i figured that didn't look right.

do you think that the dealer will fix it under ummm.. warranty if I take it in? if they don't, i'm going to try the rubber cement thing

costcowholesale: she already bought the h&r's (should have asked for agx's)

CBass69187

iTrader: (4)

Just take it in and tell them what the problem is and see what they say.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

The dealer will tell you there's nothing wrong or they'll just cut the thing off. Don't go to the dealer for that, your wasting your own time.

It's a 5 min fix, get out the jack and go get a bottle of glue.

New isolation sleves come with a small bead of glue already applied inside them to hold them securely on the spring. After a few years the glue dries out, the sleve moves a bit and the results are what your looking at. It's normal ware and tare.

Sin

The thing is, if it's just the spring, it shouldn't be a big deal. You'll have permanently affected their performance, but the car will still be more than drivable, barring the spring has not been stressed too much, and that it was built well, not like the new Ford Explorer springs which crack under normal use. What I would be wary of is the other suspension components which have probably failed if your spring was stressed to the point of it bending.

Larrio

iTrader: (10)

ok, thanks. imma give it a try right now