My infiniti has just developed a really harsh ride. I know the I30T has a sport suspension, and it is usually awesome. But, the front end has recently become very harsh. Not sure if its one strut or both front struts. It feels like it has 1/2 in travel in the front. I think the front wheels have actually bounced off the pavement on some bumps.

Does this have an electronic suspension or something? Maybe it is stuck on super sport mode? Or are the shocks road sensing or something that got stuck on stiff?

 

It's Infiniti with an i in the end...face palm...

Your struts are probably blown, how many miles?

 

Oh, I can't believe I spelled that wrong. Oh well.

It has 136,000 miles. Usually, when a strut blows, it gets soft and bouncy. Also, you see oil on the strut. These struts are dry. Maybe the strut is binding up cause an internal failure?

It kinda feels like both front stuts. What's the chance both struts are binding at the same time?

Thats why I was thinking maybe its an electronic thing.

 

We don't have electronic suspension

Do you have the original OEM struts?

If you push down on your front fender (either side), and it takes more than one rise for the car to return to normal height your struts are blown.

 

Older maximas had electronic controlled struts. Or, maybe it was my RX-7. Whatever. U r right, I don't see any wires connecting to the strut heads.

Original struts. The car does not move when you push on the front fendors. .....on either fender. The only movement is in the front tires. It has front go cart suspension. When you go over a speed bump, it feels like the world is ending.

The rear suspension feels normal though, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

 

At that age and mileage I would say the following needs to be replaced (which is common)

- struts
- strut mounts
- front sway bay end links

 

Wondering if this has happened to other owners. There was one google hit on this with the same problem, but no solution was found in that thread. Struts don't usually fail like this. And both at the same time? It is weird. I just want to see if there are experiences in this area before I start buying parts.

 

Never happened to me but my guess is your:

Strut links
Suspension mounts

Does your car feel like a metal to metal smash?

 

No metal to metal. But, if you hit a bump, it sounds nasty. Very loud inside from impact rattles. Normaly, this car is still very tight.

In a hard corner the car will still sway. So, it feels like it has really stiff shocks, but suspension gives in long hard turns, just not for bumps. Very high damping. So, it must be a failed strut. I bet they are road sensing struts that failed on the highest damping ratio setting?

 

My struts were blown on my I30 and yet you didn't see any "symptons" but it sure felt it (like I was driving a slammed honda.) But when I took the struts off the shock inside didn't even come up it just sunk without any load on it. Keep in mind both went out at the "same time" around 150k miles.

 

That must be how they go out. They get stiff. Its actually kinda cool on smooth roads. It feels like you are driving a vette or something. Bumpy roads suck tho.

Thanks!