If you remove the strut mount, can you remove the bearing? I don't want to have the strut removed since the alignment will be messed up.

 

Look at the photo below and see if you can find a way.



Personally, I don't think you can. If you can figure out a way to push down on the LCA far down enough to give you the clearance to slide the upper strut mount under and out, maybe. Still, getting the LCA to do that is a PITA. In addition, how far can you slide out the upper mount to get access to it? Remember the lower strut mount is still connected to the steering knuckle which is connected to the drive axles... you will hardly get any play from that because you have the axle to deal with. I think you will have to remove the strut entirely and just bite the bullet on another alignment.

 

Once the two strut bolts are removed and the hub is moved around, alignment is gone anyway. Might as well make the job as easy as possible.

 

The alignment won't be changed at all if you remove the strut. The only thing that's adjustable is the toe and since you don't have to even remove the tie-rod end to remove the strut it's a non-issue.

 

no deal, gonna have to remove the strut...

 

This is wrong. Camber is not adjustable so removing those bolts leaves the alignment unaffected. I don't know how this myth started.

 

Really? Then my what your saying, we wouldnt need an alignment after installed a new suspension, if we left the tie-rod end alone. I left my (subborn ***) tie-rod alone when doing suspension, but I know and alignment is needed, I can feel it.

 

You need an alignment when you lower the car because toe changes with ride height. The lower you go, the more there is some slight toe-out due to the geometry of our suspension. But once you've already been lowered and gotten the alignment done once, you don't need another one, even if you remove the strut for w/e reason. And also, removing the tie-rod end from the steering knuckle doesn't alter the alignment.

 

Loosen those two bolts. Loosen the three bolts at the top of the strut. All of these holes have significant clearance.

Move it all around. Push/pull at the top of the knuckle. I see camber change when I do this. All of the alignments I've had involved them working with this adjustment as well. Just because the factory didn't build in an adjustment, doesn't mean it shouldn't be well aligned.

IMO, it's sensible to get the car realigned completely. If that's disagreeable, then match-marking the parts before disassembly is still a worthwhile practice.

Dave

 

That's like saying a wheel that wobbles and shimmeys due to all the lug nuts being loose needs to be balanced.

Tightening things up removes the play and go back to their presets relative to the other suspension components. There is no play between the strut-to-steering knuckle bolts and the holes. There is no change possible there. As for the 3 bolts at the top of the strut, of course there's gonna be play there if they're loose. That's why you tighten them BEFORE attaching the strut to the steering knuckle. Cars that go in for an alignment with negative camber come out with, *gasp* negative camber. You need either pillow-ball mounts (coilovers) or camber bolts to change that. Toe is all the home mechanic could screw up on, but if you don't touch the adjusting nut that's a non-issue as well.

 

On my 97SE with Tokico Blues, I have a hex head bolt and flange nut holding the strut to the knuckle. I recall the stock struts were the same way. The diameter of the bolt is smaller than the hole, such that with the bolts in place you can still move the joint. Since that joint is almost in line with the strut, that small amount of play produces significant (not major, but measureable) adjustment in camber. These are not self-centering bolted joints; wherever it's positioned when you tighten it is where it stays. Next time I have the car lifted and disassembled, I will sure measure these pieces and record the camber adjustment that it creates.

If your car magically aligns the same way you bolt it together, then it's different from mine, and you know it's good. But there are a lot of Maximas out there, and I think it's foolish to assume everyone's car is just like yours. Match marking is the safe thing to do if you're not going to get it realigned.

Like I said, there is play in the bolt to hole joint on my car. I never told you your car had no play, but I assure you it's not zero. (You'd never get it assembled).

Dave

 

I've done suspension work on numerous cars and they didn't require alignments afterward. If they came to me with perfect alignments, they left with perfect alignments. No pulling to either side, no wandering or extra bump steer, no long-term uneven tire wear. From my own experience, our cars only require alignments if the car is lowered and inherit a slight toe-out configuration, or if the adjusting nut on the tie-rod end is tampered with. You guys just look for excuses to spend extra money.

 

If you're going by road test, and not before/after numbers from an alignment machine, I guess that says a lot. It is easier for you to convince yourself of your point and produce meaningless blanket statements. Your idea of a road test to determine if a car 'needs an alignment' is, well, subjective. It doesn't matter how many cars you work on, it's not supporting information if your basis for comparison isn't precise.

I challenge you to come here and take MY car, measure its specs, work with MY suspension and reassemble it without match marking, and put it on a machine and measure the same numbers. I made that clear - you have not worked on every Maxima, and a simple road test is not sufficient to prove anything. I know the camber on mine will change when worked on, and it will go out of spec. It's not as major as toe, but it's there and it's real.

Yes, of course those are reasons for needing an alignment. But they are not the only reasons. My point is that this is a possible point of adjustment - how great and on which cars, I can't say. So I described how to test for this assembly play, and I describe how to match mark it, so that a person can get a feel for themselves whether their car needs realigned.

But you're the one making the blanket statements, not me.

Has the price of gasoline killed the price of oil-based paint markers?

Dave

 

We'll have to agree to disagree on what is necessary and what is not. I wouldn't get an alignment after every time i messed with the suspension for the same reason that i wouldn't dyno tune after every modification. Possible, but of negligible benefit. I'm done with this one.

 

nismology of course the car will drive straight, but the fact of the matter is the wear on the tires is what would be affected, when u change the height its equal all around so the way the alignment was is unaffected its the way that the wheels are now, chamber, toe, etc. its not like you lowered one side and that was it, this was a equal thing all around so the car should still drive straight...

 

The only thing I disagree about is your insistence that you know every Maxima has zero camber adjustment in the strut-to-knuckle joint. You don't know that, and you never measured it, but you're telling everyone it's a plain fact.

I have no problems with disagreement, but ignorance of logic and common sense hurts everyone.

Dave

 

Notice when i said that a car would need an alignment after lowering? Probably not. Please read a thread thoroughly before posting.

 

i guess i missed when u posted this too "I've done suspension work on numerous cars and they didn't require alignments afterward" so in actuality u did contradict yourself, or did you?

 

Suspension work doesn't necessarily mean lowering a car. It could be replacing a strut mount/bearing, or replacing the strut itself.

 

oh ok, no prob, but no u can not replace the strut bearing without removing the strut. i did both of mine in about 40 minutes. really easy job simple in and out.

 

I tried to replace the strut bearing today because it's been making popping sound. The old strut bearing is completely shredded. Looks like the previous person installed the upper spring seat wrong.

Now I cannot tell if the flange/lip of the strut bearing should point up or down when I put it on top of the spring seat. In theory I can remove the other strut but I don't trust that side either because most likely that side was not installed correctly either.

Does anyone remember or have taken a picture that shows whether the flange/lip should point up or down during the installation?

Thank you!

 

iirc there's only one way it'll sit right and i think it's the lip up. looks like it in the pic too.

 

There's a newbie thread you should use rather than bump 4 year old threads.
Although it is interesting to see nismology get owned by dgeesaman (who was correct)

Also note that there's a writeup with pictures if you search:
http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/703

FWIW if you're looking for detail, the illustrations in FAST generally suck; the FSM is much better: