maxud

Well, I thought I would never see the day when this one would be admitted officially. Nissan finally came up with a service bulletin for the creaking rear suspension. As was discovered long ago in this forum, the noise is caused by rear stabilizer bar bushings. The service bulletin calls for bushing replacement and not just greasing them up.

Here is the link http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowl...id=536&id=3102

Reference number NTB11-007, Classification RA11-001, Date Feb 3, 2011

One small victory for Maxima owners
Max

bigear82

This replaces the factory bushings what if I have the racingline polyurethane bushings ? I'm still having this problem

maxud

Get them replaced by new Nissan bushings. Ask for old parts back. See if that fixes your problem. Could it be possible you are experiencing a different issue all together? Like your shock is shot?

My issue was as following. During cold weather, go over road speed bump at low speed. The front axles pass over the speed bump with no noise. The rear axle makes a creaking noise.
Max

djdavebse

i have that problem. when i go what do i tell them

bigear82

Theres no way no shocks are shot . I'm fairly positive it's the racingline bushings needing to be greased . Not sure if I should put back the stock bushings . My Nissan service guy is pretty cool but not sure he'll replace the bushings especially with the racinglines in.

STARR

iTrader: (1)

Mine does it, only in the cold and only over speed bumps, usually just reminds me to go slower over speed bumps

Kmoney

Put ur OEM back or else they Will put the blame on the aftermarket sway bar. It happened to me before and I had to put my OEM before I took it back. And yes this is cause due to cold weather so the bushings needs to be grease

STARR

iTrader: (1)

Bushing will be replaced, no grease

Kmoney

Luck you then. When I had that problem last year, the bushings was grease n solve the problem. Well I guess if it happens again, They will change it

lake985

iTrader: (7)

I had my bushings changed last week after I complained to the technician. It helped the noise for a few days, but I'm having the same creaking noise in the rear again. Guess it's back to the dealership.

trix_05

For those having the problem with the RacingLine Polyurathane bushings, try sliding over the bushings and applying a synthetic grease. Mine were making all kinds of squeaking noises, even after getting greased by the dealer. After applying the grease myself, I have not heard a sound (going on 2 months now).

This is what I used: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

STARR

iTrader: (1)

I was just going by what the tsb said

Colnajoe

Anyone have a pic or something to help us non-mechanic types locate these bushings?

maxud

I don't have my own picture, but here is one from Stillen web site.
http://www.stillen.com/product_files/304401~photo.2.jpg
The red bar is the rear stabilizer bar. You can see black straps that are held by 2 bolts each, that hold the bar to bottom of the car. The bushings are either part of the strap or inside it.
Max

draconas

I had to go back twice to the dealership to get this fixed (under warranty) as this squeaking got worse over bumps as the weather got colder (for Atlanta anyways).

Turned out they had to replace the rear sway-bar bushings as mentioned before. Haven't had any noise for several weeks now, even in cold weather.

GM_Traitor3.5VQ

I put my Stillen RSB on my new 2011 SV Sport and was shocked that there was ZERO grease on the bushings from the factory. When installing the new Stillen RSB, put a healthy coating of Valvoline synthetic black grease all over the bushings as a precaution. Did this same procedure for my 2010 SV and never had a squeaking or creaking issue... even when temps were in the teens.

JakeOfAllTrades

iTrader: (1)

I've been having the squeaking noise since I got the car. I'm finally doing the research to get it fixed. I found this info stating that Nissan has replaced the old bushings with a new version:

http://www.nissanpartszone.com/parts...243-9n10a.html

I ordered two of the bushings from my local dealer (was cheaper since I don't have to pay shipping through them) and I ordered a Stillen RSB. I'm going to follow GM_Traitor3's lead and use some Valvoline synthetic black grease when I install the new RSB and bushings.

I'll post back after to let you know how it goes.

migonzo02

So let me get this correct, there is a way to change the bushings without having to pay for anything. Cause I heard some creeping sounds and it sounds like something is bouncing around even with the smallest cracks on the street.

I feel that it's the bushing also, as long it's covered, I'll replace it. Even though the part itself is really cheap. It's only coming from rear. How much mileage can they do the repair without charging me ? Cause I have over 60,000 miles. Plus, I do have extended warranty with the car. What do you guys think.

JakeOfAllTrades

iTrader: (1)

It got up into the 50s today for the first time in months, so I went out and installed my Stillen RSB and changed out my old bushings with the new version.

All squeaks and creaks are totally gone. The car feels brand new again. I'm amazed how much tighter the suspension feels/sounds.

The new bushing is on the left, old one on the right. The new one had a noticeably smaller hole, and was taller and narrower.



I greased it up really good with this stuff:



All in all, it took about an hour and a half... mostly because my end links were super rusted and a huge pain to get off, if you're only replacing the bushings, you could probably do it in about 15 min, they have a slit in them and you can just loosen the two bolts for the metal U shaped brackets that hold the bushings, pop the old bushings off, grease up the new ones, and pop them on. I used a flat head screw driver to pry them open a little so I could get them around the bar. worked like a charm.

maxmax123

Had this same exact issue coming from the rear. I took my maxima twice to my nissan dealer and they said if they don't hear the noise they cant fix it. My next step was doing my own research on the forum. I found out that other members had the same issue and had the solution to fix it. I ended up ordering the two bushings online for less $20 and had my mechanic install them for me. PROBLEM SOLVED!!!