My wifes back problems are getting worse and she would rather ride in our Murano than our SV Sport. I am thinking of changing out the springs and struts to the premium variety and was wondering if anyone has made this change. It is either soften the ride or replace the car which I do not want to do. If anyone has modified their suspension to soften their ride please let me know what you did and if you are pleased with the results.

 

I would think that back issues are more related to seats than suspension. I have the SV with the sport package and do not find the ride harsh and the seats are very comfortable, more so than in my BMW 535i. Start by checking your air pressure compared to the plaque on the driver side door area. When the tires are overinflated the car has a firmer ride.

 

Chiro would be cheaper than all of that! The seats ok this car are very comfortable and are pretty much close to what the murano has. Maybe the car is too low for her.

 

Replace your wheels with 18s instead of 19s.
The sport has lower profile tires, and a harsher ride.

You could put in premium springs (a small difference) and put the 18s on and you will have a slightly softer ride.
I'm sure someone would do a straight trade, or give you some money as well, for your wheels and you take their factory wheels.

 

I'd be happy to trade my 18s for 19s

 

Zero gravity seats!

 

Simply using different tires can really help. I have put Michelin's on other cars to soften the ride and it made a tremendous difference.

 

I would probably swap the 19" wheels and 40 profile tires of the Sport package for the 18" wheels and 45 profile tires of the non-sport Maxima. There will be many posters here on Maxima.ORG who would make that swap with you.

Then, when tire replacement time came, I would switch to a 50 profile tire. A 245/50-R18 tire will ride noticably softer than the 245/40-R19 tire of the Sport package.

As others here suggested, if you keep the tire pressure down around 31 or 32 or so, that will definitely ride softer than the 37/36 psi I keep in my tires.

If you take the psi below 31, then the tires will begin to wear out on the shoulders befoer they wear out in the middle part of the tread, and you will also be more likely to trigger the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) light on your dash.

 

For my '10 it seems anything below 33 PSI would trigger the TPMS light. All these recommendation are great only thing I have to add is your probably better off going after market instead of switching to the Premium package suspension. I dont have the glass roof but I think im on that same suspension its not really a soft ride like the heavier american cars ive been in. I know she would probably love a Buick ride.

 

Tpms is usually triggered by a difference in air pressure between the tires, not all of them being lower than factory inflation. They aren't that smart.