I just called Tire Rack about warranty for my GR2 struts because my ride became very soft recently and I think it's because of my struts. Now the car hasn't been lowered with these struts. It's only been 5 months since I got these. I do drive over bad roads alot but that shouldn't be a problem this soon. The tech at Tire Rack is telling me that my car is riding soft because of my worn out springs!?!? And that the struts have nothing to do with body lean control. Now I tell him that springs don't go bad or become weak on a 99 nissan maxima with 60k miles. He tells me that if I send them in and they test out ok then I don't get the credit and I'll have to pay shipping both ways. I tell him that if I send them in to be tested You're just gonna say that they're good anyway He tells me that they would never do something like that because they're an honest company He tells me I should have them checked out by a professional before I send them in.

So you think he's talking a bunch of BS??

Peace.

 

Springs don't generally wear out. They do however settle in though. They usually last longer the length of the car. Struts/Shocks go bad a lot faster.

 

A 99 Maxima with only 60K miles on it and a "tech" is telling you that your soft ride is because your springs are worn out?

Next time, end the conversation, call back and ask to speak to somebody who knows what there talking about.

On the other hand, I find it hard to believe that your GR2's have failed. You can very easily test them yourself. Remove them and depress the shock by hand. It should have very smooth firm rresistance throughout it's stroke. Perhaps your tires have a soft sidewall? That will definately cause a softer ride with less response and a feel of more body roll. Have you recently gone from a 17 inch Z rated 45 series up to a 16 inch wheel and tire? That would explain why your car is riding softer.

 

Also check out your front sway bar linkage, it's possible that something could have gotten disconnected. But it all depenends on what your meaning of "soft ride" is. How does it feel? Bouncy? Squishy? Leany? Give a good description and we can probably tell you what's wrong.

 

Sup guys,

The car has become softer mainly on the highway especially the back. The rear just bounces a few times more over large dips and such than it used to and it wobbles more too. A month ago I would press down on the car in the front and it wouldn't give much, now it gives in a lot more. The rear gives in more also. I think ever since the weather change my whole car just became softer. However, it does absorb bumps a lot better now. It's still a little harsh/bouncy over small imperfections and such though. It's hard to describe, it's like the car became softer overall, but harsher at the same time. I did retorque all the nuts and bolts in the front suspension and wow what a difference! No more vibrations at higher speeds and it's a lot smoother in general. The car leans a lot more on hard turns too. I'm thinking about cutting a coil off my stock springs and pairing them with the GR2s. I do drive alot on all kinds of roads, so maybe that could have weakend my GR2s. I hope not though, but that's what it feels like. Tom, I've always had the same tires 225/50/16ZR so that shouldn't make a difference and I keep them at around 38psi front/40psi rear. I put more in the rear to compensate for the soft a$$.

Thanks for you time ppl!

 

I'd suggest not cutting any coils on the stock springs, it'll probably make your handling even worse.

 

A bunch of it might just be the change in weather, AGX (and GR2 since they are based on the same shock) do seem to vary a lot due to temperature.

Definately recommend against cutting a coil, especially on stock springs. Stock springs do not have a high enough spring rate to support such little shock travel, and you will constantly be hitting bumpstops.

 

Don't know where you live but if you comparing your suspension from cold winter performance to hot summer performance, you might have identified a good part of your problem ?

I would stay away from cutting your stock coils.

Bob

 

First off you have way to much air pressure in your tires. Nissan recommends 32 Front and 29 in the rear. You really shouldn't go more then a few pounds over. The front should be slightly higher then the rear due to the weight distribution of a Front Wheel Drive Car. 40 PSI in the rear could be the cause of your harshness and floaty feel. To much pressure reduces the tire's contact patch on the road. Less rubber on the road = less traction. Also the impacts from bumps are harder then the rear shock is designed to absorb and can toss your rear beam around quite a bit.

Next - DO NOT CUT YOUR STOCK SPRINGS! 'nuf said...

Are all your dust boots in good shape or were they replaced when you installed the GR2's? If not, there is a chance your struts and rear shocks are starting to fail because of contamination. The rear is the easier to inspect. You don't need a spring compressor to take them apart and get them back together. A friend can help you with the assembly, pushing down and catching the top nut is hard to do yourself.

I think you might want to take the rear GR2's out and inspect them. Make sure they still have smooth resistance throughout the entire stroke of the piston. If you really want to, do the same for the fronts, but you need a good spring compressor to get them apart. The fronts are preloaded quite a bit.

Lower your tire pressure and see how it rides, then, if needed, pull the suspension apart and inspect it yourself before you send anything back to TireRack.

If the struts and rear shocks feel good, you might consider changing over to the Tokico Lllumina's for a better ride.

 

Thanks again guys! I'll do all the suggested things.

Good day.