I hit a big pothole going about 5 mph on the right front side of the car and I heard the strut bottoming out with metal hitting metal. Can struts handle one occasional abuses? I hate the Northeast! Dang rust and poholes!

 

I would have thought that your bumpstop would have prevented that from happening. Do you still have your original suspension on your car? What year and how many miles are on your car?

I personally have hit some pretty nasty potholes here in San Diego, and in Tijuana. Have not encountered any noises from my suspension, just from my internal organs moving about my body . My aligment was way off due to these roads, and now I need new front tires after only 8K miles .

 

I didn't realize there was a bumpstop. If it is there, what should it sound like if I hit a pothole? Is the bumpstop a piece of rubber?

 

The bumpstop for our car is integrated into the dustboot. The bumpstop is the upper most part of the dustboot. It is made of some sort of rubberized foam material. I actually have not heard anything when I have hit potholes. The bumpstops are there to prevent metal to metal contact between the struts and the car. Did you recently do some work on your suspension and did not put in the bumpstops?

 

Last March I had both CV shafts and 4 struts replaced with monroes sensa-tracs. The dustboots and strut mounts were not replaced. I will check to see if it looks damaged. Thanks for the reply!

 

Your welcome . Here is a site that has some of the suspension parts for our cars. The first two items are the front and rear dustboots/bumpstops.

http://staff.jccc.net/dlee/maxima/suspension/