DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

I just finished dropping the front of the car last night and was a bit worried. When I set the steering wheel to be straight one of my wheels is at an angle. I mean it looks something like this l / (that's the 2 front wheels, looking from the top). I know that I have to take the car to get it alligned and I will, but I always thought that the drop would change how the wheel sits on the ground, leaning in or out thus changing the contact path to either the inside or the outside of the wheel. The way it is right now it's like one of the wheels is driving sideways instead of straight and it seems to be dragging/sliding on the pavement while rolling. Only question is if the allignment will fix this or do I have another problem here. IF you don't know the answer or aren't sure, please don't ****ing reply.

optimus310

iTrader: (1)

hmm Im not sure........
Maybe you should take it to get aligned and they will tell you if they can fix it or not......

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

I still haven't done the back and won't drive the car for a few days til I do. I plan on taking it in as soon as it's finished. You know how some places are, they'll charge me for it just to find out they couldn't do anything after I find myself in the ditch a month later. I think I'll go to the dealer then. Thanks optimus.

optimus310

iTrader: (1)

ok well here is the thing. I was being little sarcastic in the post above for you last sentence you made.
But yeah there might be a slight chance you didn't put the outer top of the spring support in the right direction, or it could be just a visual thing since the rack, and pinion assembly won't let that happened unless you got some other issues with the tie rods or other component on the rack.
Is it very noticeable? like if you an accident and someone hit you on the side. or is it just a bit and most people can't really tell?
The reason I as is that when I changed one of my strut mounts, I remember the wheels looked just the way you said, but after I put the car down on the floor and drove it for a while it was just fine. Came back to the garage and the wheels looked fine. You still need to get it aligned and they will notice any issues. They should be able to fix it just fine unless there is a problem, in which case they should be able to tell you what that is.
I've had good experiences with the SEARS auto shop. They were able to determine that my rack bushings were bad and even took me underneath the car to show me the problem.
Any way good luck with it, and take it to the sop as soon as you can.

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

alignment shop should be able to fix that. Both camber and toe change when you drop.

gtr_rider

iTrader: (50)

When I changed my suspension, my toe and alignment were off severly. The alignment guy was suprised that I was able to drive the car the way it was.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

I don't think it's that bad, it's noticeable. When looking at it from the front of the car with one wheels parallel with the wheel well, the one that is off stick out maybe 1/4 inch to the outside. By the upper spring support, are you talking about the metal piece with the 3 bolts sticking out? That thing only goes in one way since the spacing is different between each bolt.

nick

iTrader: (10)

Just loosen that knuckle/strut bolts , pull the top portion of the rotor toward you while pushing with your knee on the botom portion of the rotor - then tighten up the bolts - it might take few tries - but i guarantee your wheel should come back to beeing straight !!!
I've done it with my Sprints and than with H&R's and i never brought it for alignment !!! - car drove straight and tires didn't wear unevenly.

But just to be safe take it for alignment and stay away from dealerships - my local Nissan wouldn't touch my car while on Sprints and KYB AGX - they said aligment could not be done - what a bunch of lazy morans !!!!

good luck !!!

Nick.

gtr_rider

iTrader: (50)

I did mine at the dealer, he had no problem with it, even with my camber kit installed in there

nick

iTrader: (10)

Well there are dealers out there that have no clue about the world that surrounds them ....
prime example - I've had some problems with my auto tranny lately ( shifting hard,1205 code,flashing OD) pulled the codes myself and than dropped it off to have it confirmed by them - sure they wanted to sell me solenoid valve assembly for nice price of $600 parts and labor - i told them to pack sand and i've changed it myself - but that didn't take care of the problem - i dropped it off again so they could do pressure and stall testing ... in mean time i've learned about dropping resistor causing same problem on fellow .org member car
I called the dealer and told them to check the dropping resistor - 1 hour later i get phone call - we have fixed the problem !!! - it was bad resistor.
service manager told me that they won't charge me for labor( wow just how much of labor is involved in changing dropping resistor) - i just need to pay for the part which was $60.

but the bastards still charged me $150 for stall and pressure testing which i know damn well they didn't do !!!

sorry for long post and beeing OT , but i wanted to let it out for long time.

"when things go wrong - don't always trust your ECU or believe what the dealer says, let things cool down and trust the .org"

Nick.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Toe and Camber change considerably when you lower a Maxima. Don't be fooled into thinking you don't need an alignment if your car drives straight. It's impossible to change the geometry of your cars suspension and not completely throw off the alignment settings.

If you pull positive camber by pulling the top of the rotor out twards you when you tighten up the two lower strut bolts you will wind up with a lot of toe out, (you can actually see it) yet very good camber readings. Have the toe set as soon as possible and you should be good to go.

A good suspension install should produce a car that drives relatively straight. It may wonder a bit because of the toe settings but the steering wheel should be close to if not exactly as it was prior to the install of new springs and struts.
If your steering wheel position drastically changed, something isn't installed correctly and I would suggest you go over your work.

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

I installed a Progress/GR-2 setup on Kevlo911's car yesterday. It still goes straight with the wheel centered after the install. That just means that the toe is messed up equally on both sides, but it also means that everything went together perfectly.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

I'm assuming you just let the car down off of the jack and didn't drive the car.

In this case, the wheels will sit awkwardly until you move the car. I'm on an H&R drop and I can't see any camber offset.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

I drove it for a few miles deezo and it straightened out a bit. Now it looks like both wheels are off a little, somwthing like this \ /. See the thing is the car didn't drive staright even with the stock suspension, it woulld always pull to either side. I still haven't done the rear cause the rear center bolts just spin the entire shaft along with them and I can't seem to get it loose. The center bolts are also VERY rusted even though they were under the carpeting which makes me think that the boots are torn and are letting it moisture. Thanks for your help and your time.

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

You cant get the rear center nut off while it is still on the car. You have to grip the tip of the shaft with vise grips while you loosen the nut.

The shock boot has nothing to do with moisture getting to the top bolts, FYI.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

Thanks man. Why would the center bolts be so rusted then? The 2 nuts on the side of it look brand new. Once again thanks to all you guys.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Being that the trunk area is not air tight, moisture can go where it wants to. I think the problem is that when moisture gets to that area on the strut, there is no real flow of air to dry it quickly.

Mine were rusted badly also and luckily my coworker's father has a shop, so we didn't have a problem getting those nuts loose.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

Another problem. I did the rear, the right side at least. Took very little time but it only lowered the car .5" if that. I know they are supposed to settle but the front is lower by almost 1.5" already. The write up for the rears is really lame too. Which parts from the stock shocks am I supposed to reuse? I reused the wrap for the lowest spring, the upper mount with the thick rubber seat. I used the upper bushing(I think that's what it is) and the washer. Am I supposed to re-use the rubber "adjuster ****" looking thing too? I'll take out the rear and take pics of everything so you guys can tell me which parts to use, ok?

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Take the pics and post.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

I'm on it sir.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

here


Do I re-use all those parts, without the bump-stop of course(the first thing on the left)?

Also I'm not really sure how all that stuff is suppose to fit since the KYB boots came with the stopper ring, and that leaves about 2-3" from the boot to the top bolt.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Reuse everything. I have Motivational Mounts in the rear so I had to replace the small bushing on the right with one that came with the new mounts.

Everything should fit but if you still have space left, you may have to improvise.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

The 4 parts from the right, am I correct? The left most is replaced with the new boots right?

deezo

iTrader: (3)

1. Use the 4 parts from the right and 2. Yeah, because that is also the bump stop.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

Thanks deezo. The rear is much easier than the front I think. It took maybe 10 minutes to take apart on each side.