Ok guys I have a 99 Nissan Maxima. Ive been hearing a noise that sounds like when I go over a big bump, there sounds like play on the front right and if Im at highway speeds it does it, the steering wheel shakes a little. So I have jacked it up on both sides. I shake wheel at 12 and 6 then at 9 and 3 no play at all. So I take the tires off both sides and all the boots look good and recently greased. I put the tire back on and put the car back on the ground shake the wheel and notice I can hear something hit when I push at 12 o clock position, and what it looks like is the center rod for the strut moves toward the engine some. I think that's the hitting noise. But my question is that, is this normal? And why would my tire move when its on the ground and not in the air? Do I have a bad strut?

 

No, that is not normal. The nut on the strut rod should not at all, it should always be dead center in the opening. What you have is a bad strut bearing. The rod from the strut is bolted in the strut bearing. Replacing the strut bearing is like replacing the strut. You have to remove the coil spring.

That happened to me on my 97. Replaced it and about 6 months later the bearing on the other side of the car went out.

 

Thanks Dennis I appreciate it bud. Thats what I was thinking was maybe that strut bearing inside there is junk and causing play in that strut rod. Thanks again!!

 

Thanks again dennismik I put new struts on and the front end is tight again and no noise.

 

I'm having this same issue.. The car squeaks at low speeds/bumps and makes crackling noises mostly at 40-50mph. It's the strut bearings.. I lowered my car on H&R springs with KYB struts about 3 years ago, and it's already gone!.. It's so annoying to drive it with this noise. I need to do a suspension overhaul to be honest.. did very little suspension work on this car for 5 years I have owned it.. I have done almost anything else, but most of the issues I have with this car is suspension/power steering issues currently.. CV boots are torn as well.. If I fix this, It could last a very long time. It's only at 153k -_-

 

Yea mine had started making noise like 6 months ago, mostly a creaking/squeaking over bumps from front drivers side and I kind of ignored it for a while thinking it was just my cheap ebay struts. And sure enoughit was. The passenger side front started making a hitting noise. The strut rod was moving around inside it and was pinging around. Damn things.

 

I say this and I know at least one other guy here that will back me up 100%.........

No matter what Springs and Struts you use, always use OEM everything else for the rest of the strut assembly. Don't let price, or anything else cloud your judgement! EVER!

And if you want to take the assembly to an even higher place, look up what CS_AR and I used on our springs as insulators to insure no spring clacking ever.

 

Good thinking, I used the cheap Ebay struts and I got what I paid for. They didnt last all that long. I think around 4 years. But yes OEM is a good idea for the susension components. And I must say I installed MOOG Problem Solver balljoint and control arms on my 99 Maxima and they have worked great just a tip for anyone considering them.

 

+1 to MOOG PS line. Though we are finding the supply for MOOG PS LCAs are drying up.

As KP pointed out, for strut bearings, boots, top hats, and related components, use OEM. I make it a practice to use the SE (thicker) top hats on my GLE.

KP is running Koni orange STR.T struts on his 99 with stock springs. I'm running Koni orange SRT.T on my 99 and 98 model with H & R lowering springs. So far so good with Koni.

 

Nice setup it sounds like. Yea the MOOG PS are the way to go. And OEM is way to go for the struts and thanks for the tip about the SE top hats, I didnt know that.