This is a General Maxima question

.. I swapped my suspension out.. then had an alignment done a few weeks later.
Car handled a bit sloppy before the alignment but there weren't any noticeable noises...



Now I have a new problem

Going over bumps and potholes, my steering wheel shakes and I can feel a dull knock when holding the wheel. You can also hear it clunking a bit.. On top of that, steering is not very responsive, has too much play in it.. despite the recent alignment.


I am suspecting the tie rod ends are screwed up?

Anything else that has similar symptoms?

also, i find it weird that the problem became really noticeable not so long after i had the alignment done. Could the tech have left something loose?



thanks for the feedback.

 

what's ur suspension setup?

 

ya i changed my heel bearing this weekend and i am now getting a ding/clunk noise as if a bolt was loose or something, is this what your getting?? i have no idea what it could be, i checked every bolt!!!!

could it be a balljoint or the knuckle?? someone help!

 

i'm currently running KYB AGX struts with Maxspeed springs..
everything was put together well and tight..

there is no way my strut/spring setup would be responsible for these noises


and Maxspeed96CT, this sounds very much like what i am getting

it's really annoying, i'm hoping it's not dangerous, i don't want to mess around...

 

Control arm bushings?

 

Im on progress / Tokicos & have the same problem. I had it previously with my H&Rs as well. Dealership said that its normal, but its obvious that a problem does exist

 

dealer obviously doesn't know or doesn't care or want to bother to look.


It should not be this way. It's possible the aftermarket suspension is contributing to the problem but i don't see how?

I used to have AGX and Ground Controls and it did not do that, until i blew a strut and everything would wobble.


I also made sure to check all suspension components when swapping out the ground controls for Maxspeeds and replaced what was needed to be. Plus my old maxima was on H&Rs and AGX and drove fine, none of these issues.


How does one check the control arm bushings? or tie rod ends? or ball joints?

thanks

 

You got that right. To check your ball joints you can do one of two things. Jack up your car and try to move your tire around. If you have excessive play on the wheel, your ball joint is shot. You can also take the wheel off and try it with just the rotor. You can also unbolt the ball joint off the spindle and see how it is. If its dead (meaning its just sitting there and has no tension), dried up, or the boot is cut up its bad.

To check our control arm bushings is a little more difficult. You can look at the bushing inside of the plate while under the car and see if it has any play. I replaced mine with Energy Suspension ones after I had taken the control arm out and saw I had literally no bushing left in there. I would get clunking and vibrations when it was like that. I hope that helps.

 

thanks,

i already did the shaking the wheel test, didn't seem out of the ordinary to me.

I will check the bushings though..
i remember back when i had my 3rd gen, i took it to a shop for an alignment and the alignment guy told me that he notices that most of cars driven in New York that are 4-5 years old all have shot control arm bushings

is it a hassle to replace yourself? you have to bang them out and stick the new ones in there or something?

thanks

 

Check your FSB endlinks as well. When mine were shot, the ball-socket joint had a ton of freeplay (effectively not doing anything on that side) and would make a dull knocking down low on the affected side over speedbumps. Cornering definitely had a very untamed quality to it--in one instant loose, another sporadic tugging. It may be difficult to inspect--mine looked fine but the joint failure didn't become obvious to me until after I separated the endlink from the sway bar and moved it around.