Okay, when I drive, the rear illuminas w/stechs are acting strange, like they feel as if they're hopping around and that the rear of the car isn't planted on the ground very well. I looked at them and when I compress the car, the tops of the struts move into the trunk, and then they go back down when I release the car. I took some photos:





The tops of the strut are to have two nuts right? If you look closely you can see the rubber bushing under the nut washer has a good inch of freeplay. Can anyone give me a pointer as to what I did wrong during assembly? I had this same exact setup a while back and it worked great, but I didn't have the OEM struts this time to follow assembly example.
I put the flame suit on BTW...:
And I am really sorry for the big pictures, I can't figure out how to shrink them.

 

bump....anybody ?

 

theres around thing at the top that holds the whole assembly in, looks like its missing

 

thanks...if you are referring to the upper perch, it's on there...whats it look like?

 

Did you just install these struts?

S

 

about a month ago. Nice ride btw..

 

Lemme check the FSM when I get home. It's be a couple years since I last did a 4th gen suspension. It really looks like your missing something. It shouldn't move like that.

Thanks for the compliment.

S

 

You sure you didnt maybe leave out either item #6 or #7?

 

I'm pretty sure, but then again I might have to look...thanks.
Now that I think about it, maybe #7 wasn't there..

 

That looks horribly bad. Seems like you're missing a bushing somewhere in the mix. Take it apart anyways and double check. It doesn't hurt anything for rear suspension as nothing needs to be adjusted afterwards.

 

will do thanks.

 

will do thanks.

 

BTW...on part#8, there was already a bumpstop mounted to the boot...what does part#7 look like? You think that alone will cure this problem?

 

#7 should be a gold metal ring where the bumpstop/dustboot slide in i believe.

 

Part #7 is a metal ring that fits on top of base of the strut piston and sandwiches the bushing part#6 in between the base of the strut and the upper strut mount. Without it the bushing, part# 6 will go past that stop point on the strut piston and allow the upper portion to move up and down. Just like what your experiencing.

 

yeah... i just put rear illumina's in today and they definitely don't do that haha... i have an odd feeling that you forget part #7 (which actually comes new with some of the illumina's.. depends which packaging you get i guess)

 

Well I just got off the phone w nissan and he said that #7 isn't metal but rubber...maybe I oughtta bring it in and have a mechanic look at it?

 

Something definitely doesn't look right there, it should look something like this:

http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...68&postcount=6

 

i dunno man... that piece #7 is metal for sure.

 

hey thanks for the link.

 

ya i see it in that link above, it's like copper colored. wonder why the parts guy didnt know that!

 

No prob man. I went outside and took a couple pictures of mine for reference, don't know if it will help any. Not really sure why it looks so nasty back there

 

^ hey what kind of struts are those?

 

Those are tokico HP's with the red tokico springs.

 

Does part#7 sit or rest on that widened part of the piston?

 

I agree, i think u are missing piece #6 0r 7, check that before your piston bends, cause it will, especially with that much extra movement

 

when your assembling the rear struts, after you put the dust boot and bump stop on (usually in one piece) ... #7 is a yellowish metal ring that sits on top of the bump stop.. which is also where "the piston" gets larger... so to answer your question.. yes, it sits on top of that.. facing down... (it will go on like an umbrella over the bump stop) .. then that black rubber bushing will go on on top of #7 ... then the top strut cover, etc.

 

Yep Thanks for the info, just took those struts out after driving for a while on them, they're not bent thank goodness...but now I noticed that all the loose play on the top caused the threaded parts of the pistons to actually grind away in one area of the top perches...good thing I took them out. Only damage was on the top black gear-looking rubber bushings so I'll need to order two more.
I also noticed that I lost the red plastic adjusting devices on both struts, you think that Tokico has those for sale? If not then I guess no more adjusting the rears for me lol

 

Im about to replace my stock rear struts on my 98 max. What should i buy, besides the struts. I been reading the posts and stickies. Im not sure if i just need the strut mounts or if theres something else i should order ( the 2 busings ) before i attempt this project. Thanks in advance, sorry for posting in another thread but im not authorized yet to start my own threads.

 

Replace both bushings, upper and lower. Also replace the dust boots and bumpstomps (One piece).
Nice, new supsension afterwards.

 

flava, thanks for your help. When you say upper and lower bushings, are you refering to the strut mount as the upper or the 2 bushings in the diagram part 2 AND 6. Also where can i order these from. Thanks

 

Yes, I believe that 2 and 6 (in the pic above) are the two bushings he is referring to. I picked them up at my local Pep Boys; they stocked them regularly. I forget what they call it there... I think they call it a "rear strut mounting kit" or something of that sort. They only sell one thing for the rear struts on 4th gens anyways, so they'll know what you're talking about. It will come with #'s 6, 2, and 1 I believe. Just open up the box when he gives it to you to make sure that those two bushings are in there. I'm sure there are other places that you can find the same thing... online or maybe at another auto shop too. Good luck

 

Thanks for all your help, wheres the place place to order the rear KYB struts and mounts.

 

u can order them from the GD section or any Advanced auto or Autozone carries KYB stuff, u can have them order it for U if U dont want to go through the intarnetz

 

thanks for all your help. I will have advanced auto order the struts and mounts. I appreciate all your help guys.

 

question fellas, i just installed rear struts and eibachs and my piston is as high as the one in the first pic. Is this normal? Should i put another bushing in between the bolt and mount?

 

No, it's not normal Fawk man, I wish I had more time that day you were using the shop, or at least had double checked it all for you afterwards. It's possible #7 was eaten away enough that it slipped over the new strut. Either way, if you can see that big gap and the piston of the bottom when looking in the trunk (Like in the OP's post) Than something with #6 or #7 isn't right, my phone is down but if you need to use the shop any day this week just leave me a message and let me know.

 

thanks dude, should be able to do it at home. ill get 6 and 7 from stealership and do it this week. ill let u know if i mess something else up

 

Definately check item#7, it supposed to sit on the notched area on the strut that i placed an arrow next to. If the part is not there then the bushing has nothing to rest on and the piston will go straight through it. Same could happen if the center has wallowed out large enough for it to slide over the stopping point on the piston.