I've got a quote for $700 labor from a family own garage shop to do the following
1. Install Lower Control Arm Energy Suspension (ES) Bushings
2. Install Moog Ball joints.
3. Install Moog Steering rack bushings.
4. install Front Stabilizer bar ES bushings
5. Install Moog Front Stabilizer End links.
6. Install ES Motor Mounts ( all around).
7. Install ES Rear Trailing Arm bushings.
8. Install ES Shifter bushing.
9.Install Moog Outer Tie Rods.

Not sure if this is a fair quote, what do you guys think?

I don't know...I'm tempted to take a few days off and work on it my self.

 

I think it sounds fair. That's quite a bit of work right there.

And ES only makes the lower motor mounts. If you want the poly upper mounts get a hold of knight_yyz.

 

The rear trailing arm bushings are what's killer. The rest can be done in an afternoon in a garage. Possible with a second vehicle to get those pesky LCA bushings in.

A few write-ups exist on here for all of those items.

 

Price sound right. DIY and save money.

 

Since some of those bushings being replaced can be a serious pain if they dont want to come out that sounds about right.

The shop will most likely use a hydro press but for most of those parts like the control arm you still have to remove the part to press out the old bushings so $700 sounds right.

 

Before you DIY, go find a machine shop that will press everything. Then you just need to get there and back while the car is down.

Also, if you haven't had any of the front suspension pieces off before, I will warn you that the job can be a major pain in the ***. Particularly, getting the tie rods free.

And if you are going to take all that apart and do the outer tie rods, I would also do the inner tie rods. Another pia.

 

Thanks for heads up. I did my lowering springs, struts, and axles last time, so I think I'm familiar but defenetly not an expert for sure.

I think out of those, the engine mounts and trailing arms are the the ones that get me a little nervous. Everytime I need to go underneath the car even with the car being on the ramp, it always makes me nervous...

 

Engine mounts aren't that big a deal. But if you aren't comfortable doing the work, you're probably better off paying someone to do it. Might try to knock out some of it on your own, cut down on your labor costs. Just do what you're comfortable with and let someone else do the rest.

 

On the engine mount what do you guys use for the passenger and tranny mount, regular OEM style? The ES only offers on the lower front and rear

 

I bought a set from knight_yyz on this forum. He designed them and frequently does batches for a group sale. Check his thread in the General Classifieds section or just shoot him a PM.

 

I was browsing Ebay and found this...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRA-RACING-4POINT-FRONT-LOWER-ARM-BAR-MEMBER-BRACE-98-03-NISSAN-MAXIMA-A33/321003541075?rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D261%26meid%3D8990950395521723781%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D1088%26rk%3D3%26sd%3D171070755906%26
Anyone has any experience with this?

 

I've thought about it. Doubt it would fit with my headers and exhaust.

 

If you've done those, then getting everything apart shouldn't be too bad, aside from the tie rods. And I absolutely would not do outer tie rods without doing inner.

Make sure you read some of the how to's. The best tips I can give you are:
- use a hammer on the spots on the steering knuckle where the tie rod end and ball joint attach. Basically you loosen the nuts and smack the knuckle where they attach hard a few times, they will pop out. I always leave the nuts on to protect the threads. You don't have to do that since you are replacing.

- don't worry about pulling the retaining pin out of the ball joint - just put the socket over and hit it with the air gun. That will break it and save you 10 minutes of hassle.

- hit everything really good with pb blaster as far in advance as possible and let soak.

- on the outer tie rods, you will need two wrenches. One goes on the innner tie rod and the other on the outer. You will need to wedge the one on the inner against some part of the body and hit the one on the outer with a hammer to get it free. The outer tie rods turn the way you expect - right tight.

- on the inner tie rods, make sure you get the tie rod tool from somewhere other than auto zone. Theirs doesn't work. I got mine from O'reilly. And, a breaker bar on that works much better than an impact wrench because it is loose. (And I have a very good impact wrench).

Another problem you may run into is that the lca bushing may be frozen into place. If that happens - and it did on my 96 - you need to torch the bushing and cut the sleeve with a dremel to get the piece that attaches to the body of the car off the lca.

The job can be easy or it can be a real pain.

I wouldn't worry much about getting under the car as long as you take proper precautions. If using a ramp make sure you put the ebrake on, chock the rear wheels and put it in park.

 

Thanks for the tips guys, I'm going to do it my self. I just need to clear my schedule and take Friday or Monday off so that I have 3 day weekend to get these done.

I'll break this down into 3 stages

Stage 1
Sub frame connectors and sub frame bushings.

Stage 2
LCA bushings, End link, Sway Bar Bushing, Ball joints, and tie rods.

Stage 3
Motor mounts, steering rack and shifter bushings

I really thing that I can take a full advantage of stage 2 and 3 when I do the sub frame connector and bushings first. Having said this, I didn't have any luck calling warpspeed for their SFC. I thought about DIY them since I have a coworkers who have a lift, welder, skills to fab them.

 

Definately make sure you have another vehicle, you'll need it. Get motivated and start early and end late.....otherwise time and opportunity will get away from you.

Make sure you find a shop that confirms the ability (and knowedge) to press out your engine mounts. Having a press itself means nothing. I had to run around last minute to find a shop to remove them as the local guys with presses couldn't get my mounts to fit right in the press. Last shop I pleaded with and the guy (who could not get them to fit his press either) just hacked and beat them out by hand.

 

I was able to get my upper mounts out by cutting the metal sleeve with a hack saw and then using a cold chisel and hammer to bend it up and out...the rubber will follow. You'll still need someone to press those ES mounts in though. I was doing the uppers that I got from knight, they are in two pieces so it's possible to do those yourself.

 

There are just some things I will absolutely pay someone else to do. It was worth $20 for dude to pound those mounts out. I did everything else. Guess I should clarify, it was the auto tranny mount and engine torque mount that was too awkward to fit the presses. I was doing it for knights Wrayth mounts.

Rear trailing arms I did myself. Fun, first time in my 35 years I've played with a torch.

Had so much fun, couple days later I played with the torches only to melt a good header i had laying around. FYI, torches get hot. Thought you guys should know.

 

Fire Fire!

Sent from my iPhone using MaximaOrg

 

Red Lion Racing might be able to do the tranny and passenger mounts.....
I don't think this is a $700 labor job....more like $400.....IMO!

 

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...sp?prod=DIYMMI

Sent from my iPhone using MaximaOrg

 

Saw them a year or so back, when they were being sold in the phillipines(or around those parts) for the cefiro. I was wondering when someone would take the risk and transport them here to sell. Don't have any experience with this brand, but they look nicely made.

 

Yes correct it's been about a year since I posted all that Nissan 4th-5th gen suspension/chassis parts from Ultra Racing....

 

So this is more like the lower control arm brace / LTB that Matt Blehm produced. For the same price it looks like Blehm's design has the advantage. I tried to contact him to see if be still makes it . I also contacted Warpspeed to see if they have long the SFC in stock.
http://www.mattblehm.com/suspension.htm

So if this works as good as the sleeve, what would be the reason(s) to do the sleeve with all that extra work to press the old out and new one in, as long as the center hole is still good. This DIY method seems to be easier and cheaper with a little longer cure time.

Thanks for the link. I looked at my motor mounts tonight and i think they are still in good shape. I pulled the parking brake, dumped the cluth and revved to 2000 rpm and the engine didn't move/rock too much at all at all.

 

There is no risk? they ship/sell to US directly. I am close to buying the side bars.

I am pretty sure he has stopped making them for a few years now.

If you want the real deal just get The SFC Subframe Connectors you will not regret it. Once you do that see what else you really need.


Also the $700 seems like a good price by the way. At least in my neck of the woods. That is alot of work.

 

I thought SFC is stand for Sub Frame Connector. Where do I get this SFC brand from???

 

$700 is a fair price for that amount of work. Depending on how valuable your time is and how willing/unwilling you are to DIY, I think it's worth paying someone to do it. The motor mount inserts are a pain to press out AND press in. As someone already said, just saw out the stock ones, or torch/burn them and remove the metal sleeve.

 

You are correct, SFC = Subframe Connectors there no brand name SFC, i just wanted to make sure u didnt get confused with Subframe Collars. But no one has yet to abbreviate the Collars with SFC so excuse my extra clarity.

Yeah I agree with PM its a huge list and you will loose a good weekend or two trying to do all this.

 

I just need to find SFC first which is a long lead time. I could spend that $700 labor fee for doing suspension upgrade on the wife Sienna. When I looked at the list, I got scared, but when I found out that the motor mounts can wait and I broke the list down to stages, I feel much better.