Hey guys....

I will soon be crossing the 150K mark, probably sometime this week

The car has been ok and i have been thinking of some services:
- regular oil change
- trans fluid refill

Now, i'm also thinking about two preventive maintenance services-
1. changing my drive axles to raxles: I am still on my originals.
2. changing wheel bearings: I did considerable work on my front end earlier this year and this is the only one component remaining.

While I am budgeting some amount, I would like some opinions as which one i should do first as I think I will be able to get one of those 2 done.

Any thoughts?

 

Consider this: if you decide to do the axles first, you will have to remove the axle at the hub end again when you change the wheel bearings.

Personally I would do them both at the same time, since much of the removal of parts is repetitive.

 

IMO, if it aint b broke, don't fix it.

 

i was just gonna say that.

those items arent maintenance items in my opinion

 

yeah. Best policy is to leave'em alone if you're not currently having issues. the RAXLES are great, but yanking them and popping in new ones could potentially open yourself up to other issues. unless you're confident or getting worried that something might be up, just do relatively minor stuff like checking belts & hoses, or an A/C recharge.

 

Thanks for the response guys.

I did replace the belts last year so have just about 12K on the new belts yet.

I also had done plugs when i bought the car so the new plugs have about 28K on them now.

The AC on this car has been amazing. Combined with the Lumar tint the previous owner got installed the AC manages to cool more than effective even on a 95 degree day.

This labor day weekend, I just got done with a small project to apply secondskin spectrum sludge in all my wheel wells.

The only reason i was thinking about the bearings and drive shaft is a noise i hear while turning left. It sounds like a real loud "woo woo woo woo", is not very apparent while driving straight and appears to come from the right front. While I had the car jacked up for the spectrum, i noticed there was little play in both front wheels when pulled-pushed at the 12-6 position. The right front had more play than the left.

I also have minor vibration only from the right front over speeds of say 75. I will be getting a balancing job today or tomorrow but i was just thinking that if it is a bearing maybe i get those done first followed by axles.

Regarding the axles, any idea as to how much play should be in the axles when you radially turn the wheel front to back?
The boots on the axles are still good but I was reading on the RAxles website how overtime the joint wears out and develops some play resulting in vibration at higher speeds.

Thanks again for your input folks. I appreciate it

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Maybe do a coolant and thermostat change?

 

I did coolant as part of doing fluids when i bought it... did thermostat at same time )

heheheh... basically everything maintenance wise is upto date... just saving about 750 to try and get these two items done

 

this is the right answer to your question

 

I am in a similar situation (155K on original axles) and both boots are split wide open. I hear a similar noise when turning right, but I think there might be a covering piece below that is loose. change the axles?

 

This is going to sound so funny.

After spending almost 3 hours on the internet trying to find out more about the vibration I get and how it may be linked to bearing or axle, I finally concluded my problem was my tires.

The bearings are still fine. The nissan tech looked at the car and said no problems there. All boots are also fine, but he did say that under heavy acceleration there is some vibration so i have limited time on the axles.

My next steps are:
- save money for raxles. I already have to do a trans flush so can do axles at same time.
- save money for new tires. I have now sworn not to buy directional tires for the maxima again.

The tires basically cupped due to driving about 200 miles on blown rear illuminas. I guess i'll let these run for some more and then buy 4 news ones together.