Every single time I go over a railroad x-ing or some rough roads (NJ and NYC are the best at it), the car just feels like it's going to fall apart in pieces. Everything rattles, all sorts of noises from the suspension, I get thrown into the air, etc. The suspension and the steering feel so loose that I hate the car sometimes! I recently got a alignment done, but that didn't seem to help anything. The steering also shakes at high speed. What do you guys think is making the car act in this manner? What remedies should I start looking at? I'm thinking of replacing the stabalizer/sway bar links, tie rods, stab./sway bar bracket bushings. Would this help? The car only has about 86k miles on it.

Also, when I go over a slight bump or a pothole at a normal speed, the struts seem to make this "swoosh" sound, which leads me to believe that I need new struts? Any help would be appreciated! Thank you guys!

 

Press the struts to see if they're blown.

 

suspension upgrade!

 

How many miles on it? Nissan had some TSBs about that kind of thing

 

Which ones?


.............

 

Co-driver upgrade!

 

Universtiy of Houston campus has some of the nastiest pot-hole, patches, unlevel surface infested streets in all of houston. when i was there last week my car felt exactly they way u're describing your car.. it drove like a total bag of ***....i hated my car too for a while.. have no idea wat the heck causes this... otherwise its pretty smooth riding on smooth surfaces..

 

are you lowered? try to drive slow when going over bumps and rail roads. you might need to balance your tires for the vibration.

 

Get some new suspension bushings, and SFCs (subframe connectors, look in the group deal forums). Also check to see if your struts are blown. My car rattles a little over big bumps which is a result of the weak chassis, but not terrible like you are describing. Also, not sure why your steering feels loose. That might have something to do with the steering rack as well. Mine is nice and tight at 73000 miles.

 

I will try that but I'm pretty sure they're blown.

It is about to reach the 86k mark.

I'm not lowered but I was thinking about it. Balancing was another remedy I was going to try soon.

Which specific bushings are you reffering to? MInd telling me so I know what to order? I have access to lifts, all kinds of tools so any work can be done on the vehicle. Also, concerning the SFCs, mind showing me a link to the exact one you're reffering to? There are several threads there but I don't know which one to look through.

 

You'll want to replace the rear trailing arm bushings, as well as the LCA and maybe even the FSB bushings. You can order them from Brian Catts of Cattman Performance. (www.cattman.com) or from here: http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/nis2.html

whoa, you better hurry up, the SFC deal ends quick: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=407129

The frame rails will do just fine for what you want, and it's well worth the $200 + whatever the welding will cost.

 

Have the front end checked for play. Replace the sway bar end links which is most likely the cause if they have not been changed in a while. If the front end is good and you replaced the sway bar end links then get a set of quality struts installed.

 

like posted above check for play in you tie rods, bushings and ball joints.

Are you on stock rims ?
what tire size are you runnin?


I just upgraded my sturts to kyb gr2, real good ride for the money

 

How hard are the rear trailing arm bushings to replace? I have to hold off onto the LCA for a while since they require alot of work. Are you referring to FSB as in Front Strut Bushing?

Also, I was going to get OEM rubber bushings to replace the worn ones but is it true that polyurethane makes vibration worse? Should I go rubber over poly? My sole goal is comfort.

As of right now, I'm thinking of replacing the Front Sway Bar Frame Bushings, replace Sway Bar Links, check tie rods, and check into the motor mounts.

I will check into the Sway Bar Links since they're not too difficult to replace. Struts are in order maybe early next year.

Are tie rods and ball joints difficult to replace on this car?

I'm running on stock SE 17" rims. The tire size is 225/50/17.

 

235/6517 ?? u sure about that boss

 

I forgot to mention always try and buy quality parts. If you buy the cheapest sway bar end links you will be replacing them all the time. I believe in buying suspension parts that have a brand name & lifetime warranty, since I do all my own work it is only the inconvenience of replacing parts but I don't want to be replacing them more then necessary. From experience lifetime warranty suspension parts are much better than white box parts that can have a very short life. Energy suspension bushings are excellent and will improve handling but sometimes it can be a trade off for a somewhat smother ride.

 

Oh man, sorry about that. I don't know what I was thinking. It's been a long day today. The size on there right now is 225/50/17.

Exactly my thought. I only buy OEM parts for this car, just to save time and help the longevity of the car. I'll be buying all OEM links and rubber bushings.

 

Have a seasoned mechanic drive your car. He'll tell you wassup.

 

i don't know why but sometimes my car will rattle like crazy over even small bumps...like my drive to work sometimes it'll feel smooth and quiet and some days it'll be rattles and squeeks...it's weird cuz my dad's suv will feel smoother than my car haha

 

I call struts. My motherinlaws 99 SEL had a blown strut, and that car too rode like a "bag of ***" as mentioned earlier. I simply replaced the struts and it feels tight again. Same symptoms, steering felt loose and squirely, clunking and clacking of any bump, the car would sway at high speeds on the highway. Struts are cheap and easy to replace. I think it took me all of 45 minutes to do both on her car. And only cost about 185.00.

 

You did the fronts only?

 

yeah my 2k2 feels the same, but my mileage is at 154,000 haven't changed anything with my suspension think its time too tho, makes me want to kick my car and just get my TItan

 

5.0gen struts FTMFW! I never heard of ours blowing.

you 5.5 guys have booty struts.

 

Yea, and that was on a 99 SEL. I don't think the setup is any different for our cars. But I tell you, that made all the difference in the world.

 

My car does the same thing, im pretty sure the struts are shot. As for shaking going to down the highway, i think its the tires actually bouncing because there is no control from the struts to keep them planted on the road. I know dealerships are usually the highest in prices, but what does it usually cost to replace all the struts?

 

I would agree with the sway bar bushings/end links. When I had mine replaced the car handled better and the steering felt stiffer..........Try that first since its a cheap fix.

 

Should I replace all four or just the front two links? I'm about to head to the dealership!

 

UPDATE:

The Pats are whooping ***!lol.

Anyways, I replaced the front sway bar links on Saturday. It took fairly about an hour with me taking my time doing the job correctly. Replaced them with brand new OEM links. The ride is a little better and handling improved somewhat. I think it was worth the $80 I spent. When I took the old ones off and compared them to the new, the old ones seemed to moved around (in the joints) alot more freely compared to the stiff new links.

Next project I'm planning taking up is replacing the rear motor mount with OEM, new subframe bushings, maybe the LCA bushings. One question I have is, I know that the car will vibrate alot with polyurethane inserts as far as motor mounts are concerned (hence the fact I'm going with OEM rubber) but do poly bushings also vibrate alot when you use them in applications like subframe bushings, LCA bushings, sway bar bushings? Should I just go with OEM rubber all over? My main goal is to achieve comfort not performance. Thank yous go out to everyone who has contributed to the thread. I really appreciate everyone taking their time to help out.

 

I think I,m going to cry...

 

keep us updated if you find anything cool or worth telling

 

I just did.

 

lol

 

Good job on 8 useless posts.

 

Past week, I replaced the end links in the front and took care of the stabilizer bar bushings today. So far, only these two have been replaced and I can already feel the difference in handling, bump recovery, and vibration. Even though the vibration issue might of been taken cared of due to the fact that I re tightened the lug nuts using a criss-cross pattern with a air gun. However, it feels a lot better now and I will be swapping my rear mount along with the four subframe bushings soon to take care of the engine vibration. Will keep you guys updated.

 

where you get those two parts from and how much did they cost ya

 

They were about $100 with a PCV Valve included. I plan to order rest of the parts from Dave B though since he offers very comfortable prices.

Does anyone know which parts I need for replacing struts (Illuminas)? Such as strut mount, bearing, etc?

 

your struts are bad thats all. you need to get ceramic pads for your rotors and turn them all. Get some decent tires like Michelin or Goodyear. KYB struts/shocks is what I used to replace my factory ones at 55k miles. I now have 80k and I feel like I just put the struts on still But thats bc I keep new tread on my tires all the time! And I got factory rims right now on my car lol not those 20s atm. Selling them to a friend.

 

My 2003 I35 , with only 40,000k has had it's share of squeaks and rattles, I keep tracking them down and fixing them...i feel like it's a lost cause though.

 

time for suspension sway bars and mucho

 

Mind explaining?