Driving through the parking garage today I noticed that when I turned the wheel hard to the right there was an odd noise coming from the front driver's side wheel. It sounded kind of like a rubbing noise, but it wasn't metal on metal. One thing I know it didn't sound like was the clicking of a bad CV joint. I did a quick visual inspection and everything looked good. Any ideas on possible sources of this noise?

 

check plastic bump stops...

 

Where are they located? I have a rough idea but I can't say I know exactly what I'd be looking for. Also would replacing them be a DIY job or something best left to the dealer? My car has 72xxx on it so I'm wondering if I'm not due for some new suspension components due to wear....

 

It is a $7 plastic bowl shaped thing that is infamous for breaking, it clips on pretty much. Search and you'll find a pic of it somewhere.

 

Unfortunately three pages of results for "bump stop" didn't yield anything definitive...I got something about suspension bump stops and steering bump stops with regards to an aftermarket suspension but that was the closest I came. Nothing about them breaking on A33s No real pics that I could find either. I also went out to my car and couldn't figure out where it was. Is this issue more of just an annoyance or is it something I need to have dealt with sooner rather than later?

Is the part illustrated in this diagram?:

 

I remember irish44j posted a pic of it, and to clarify it is the steering bump stops, not the ones for the shocks.

 

I found this thread: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=212586 , but it seems to be talking about strut bump stops.

 

Eh...if you look under the car near the front wheels you can see something that looks like a bolt sticking out. It's on the steering knuckle and strikes the control arm IIRC. Anyway, they prevent you from turning the wheels too far in one direction. There are supposed to be plastic caps on the ends of those "bolts" to prevent metal-to-metal contact. They break and fall off pretty easily.

Found a pic: http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...8&postcount=13

 

Thanks for the pic. How hard are they to change out?