Lime

Please do not reply to this post. If you have questions, start a thread with your questions. Any posts to this thread that I deem unworthy will be deleted. - clee130

List of relevant information about replacing suspension, suspension noises, etc.

PLEASE CONSULT A FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL, CHILTON'S MANUAL, OR HAYNES MANUAL TO FIND OUT WHICH PARTS ARE WHAT AND HOW THEY GO TOGETHER!

Replacing the suspension:
Things you need:
TOOLS: Full metric socket set, wrenches, sledgehammer (just in case), spring compressor, screwdrivers (flat and phillips), etc. The usual stuff. If you have access to an air compressor with air tools, that’s fine as long as you do not overtorque and strip bolts. Also, a torque wrench and a Chiltons/Haynes manual is handy for the finishing bolt tightening.
PARTS: New shocks/struts/springs, OEM dust covers, OEM “spacers,” and any other parts you feel like replacing (bushings). SPECIAL noise reduction element: helical split electrical wire wrap and/or clear vinyl tubing (1/2” inside diameter) from Home Depot (Lowes does NOT HAVE the wire wrap).

The process:
This task isn’t too hard, but it is easier to have the use of a spring compressor for a quick and safe installation. You can rent these from auto stores such as Pep Boys, AutoZone, and Advanced Auto Parts. Jack up the car (front and back, leave on jackstands), remove the wheels. Unbolt the top/bottom bolts (on the front, depending on what year Maxima you have, you may have to get dicey with the socket size; for the front, get the metric equivalent of 7/8 for the top bolts if you have a 97+ with the rounded nut things). Remove the strut/shock assembly. Compress the springs to release the tension, then take the strut apart (make sure number the parts, and also label the orientation of top/bottom if you don't have a complete strut assembly to look at!!!). Wrap the whatever-you-use around the springs' tops and bottoms. Put the assembly back together. Bolt in struts/shocks. Put car on ground. Torque struts according to manual. Test drive.

Lime

Observed issues and fixes:

Njmaxseltd:
Spring noise update - found the source!!!! That famous crunch kind of grind noise that some of us on here including myself hear after we lower our cars has been driving me NUTS for about 2 weeks now. I told you guys I would figure out what it was for sure, and I did. This is kind of tough to explain so stick with me here. The OEM spring on our Max's have 3 sets of isolation sleeves. 2 which are grey in color which were on the top coil and bottom coil positioned right at either end of the spring and one black piece which was on a lower coil just about the lower grey sleeve. Follow me so far???? These covers (lets just call them that) isolate the spring coils from each other and prevent metal to metal contact when the spring compresses and the coils contact each other. The first and second coil do lay on top of each other slightly once preload (car weight) is put on them. (take a slinky or a spring from a pen and look how it sits compressed) Guys on this board are reporting 2 types of spring noise, one is a rattle over bumps and the other is the crunch grind clunk noise when the steering wheel is turned. The rattle noise is probably caused by not putting these isolation covers or sleeves back on the new springs when they are installed. As the spring compresses the coils come in contact with each other and if there is nothing there to protect them you have metal to metal contact. METAL HITTING METAL=NOISE Now the second type of noise we report on here is the crunch clunk when the steering wheel is turned. This is what I had for the past 2 weeks which drove me nuts. First off you must be absolutely sure it's not coming from the strut bearing, I highly recommend replacing this part when you do strut/spring work. It's good insurance and it's cheap. (40 bucks for ths set) OK so where is the noise coming from??? This was tricky but I've found the source. When we turn the steering wheel we turn the hub which is connected to the lower strut mount which in turn turns the strut. So the entire assembly turns, including the spring. The force to turn the spring comes from the strut it rests upon. (lower spring seat on the strut turns) A turning force pressure is applied to the lower coil of the spring, the spring must transmit a "TWIST" motion up to the upper strut mount thus causing the entire assembly to turn on the upper strut bearing. Now if you were to take a small spring in your hands like from a pen and twist it but hold one end still, the spring (depending on what direction you twist it) will either wind tight or try to unwind. Here's where our noise happens. I've noticed and felt this on my H&Rs. As you turn the wheel slightly back and forth you can actually feel the force on the spring winding and unwinding ever so slightly. This causes just a slight bit of movement as the coils want to slightly slip against each other. Keep in mind the lower coils are resting on top of each other for about 1/2 a coil turn. This slight movement and rubbing of the spring against these plastic sleeves is where the noise comes from. You can actually feel this in the spring as it happens. It's a slight jumpy jittery feel on the spring itself. I've removed the black sleeve and test drove my car, and the noise totally changed. Next I put it back but sprayed oil all over the area where the springs contact each other. NOISE IS GONE but not for long. So here's how to tell if this is happening with your car. Turn the steering wheel one full turn to the left. Go to the right front wheel, (most report this is the side we hear) have a buddy in the car ready to rotate the steering slightly to make the noise happen. (carefull he doenst turn to much catching your arm in the wheel well). Grab your spring with your hand, feel around the back of the strut, on the lower coils right where the two coils sit on top of each other, there's only about 1/2 a coil that actually sits on top of each other on the bottom facing inward so you cant see it, you can only feel it. Put your fingers right on that crack where the two springs are against each other and have your buddy turn the steering wheel about 1/4 turn or so back and forth. You can actually feel the spring moving against each other and at the same time feel the slight jump jitter what ever you want to call it and hear it as well. This is the noise we are hearing! It's spring noise! Keep in mind this may be happening on the top coils as well. NOW THE FIX: I'm going to play around a little, I'm headed to my local speed shop to see if he sells any rubber or heavy duty sleeves for springs. I may even try to make my own out of a piece of high pressure hose sliced down the middle. If you can get the spring to stop moving against each other or just isloate it really good with new sleeves or rubber covers, the noise will stop. Well thats all I have on this topic, sorry for the long post but I hope it helps you guys/girls out in tracking down the noises we hear when we install springs/struts and lower our cars. I'm confident with my findings and will have a silent car once again.

Daniel B. Martin:
Homemade coil isolator Quoted Message: Originally posted by njmaxseltd ... I may even try to make my own out of a piece of high pressure hose sliced down the middle. ... This is a good idea. A suggestion... instead of slicing the hose down the middle, use a sharp utility knife to make a careful helix cut from one end of the hose to the other. Install this homemade coil isolator by twisting it on. This "barbershop pole" shape is more likely to stay in place than a simple sliced hose.

Njmaxseltd:
UPDATE .... I just tried the rubber hose isolator mod. Here's what happened: I used 1/2 inch ID shop air hose. It's reinforced so I figured it would take the pressure of the spring on it. I cut a piece about 4 - 5 inches long. Sliced it down barber pole style, you have to cut it that way or it will want to slip right off. Thanks again Daniel for that little bit of info. I wrapped it around the lower coil starting where the last coil rests in the strut. So only where the spring coils would touch is where the hose is applied. I did both sides and took the car for a ride. Results - MUCH MUCH better. Only a slight bit of noise when you parallel park the car or really turn the wheels hard left or right. No noise at all under normal driving conditions, left or right hand turns. I also called H&R (888)827-8881 and spoke with a rep there. I told him what my symptoms were as far as noise goes. He stated that there were no complaints regarding noise with our model cars. I pointed him to the .org and said a few of us on here have the same exact problems. The conclusion was that you do need isolators on the springs where coils contact each other. H&R does not sell any isolators for their springs. He also suggested going to the dealer (Nissan) and asking their technicians if they have encountered cars which make noises after spring/strut work and what they do to eliminate it. Well the post goes on, I hope this info. is helpful. I'm almost 100% satisified with the elimination of the spring noise. If anybody else gives this mod a shot, please post your results on here.

Njmaxseltd:
Go to Home Deeepoooo and get 1/2 ID (inside diameter) clear vinyl tubing. Cut it into small sections approx. 2 inches in length. Make about 8 or 10 pcs. Then slice the top so you have the hose split open. If you use small pcs. it will bend around the spring easier and you don't need to do the barber poll cut. Jack the car up so most of the tension is off the springs. Now place the vinyl pcs. on your springs everywhere there is or will be coil touching coil when the spring is loaded (car on the ground). Space them out nice and evenly. You may even want to losen up the shock mount to get the spring free and place the vinyl between the spring and lower strut spring seat. Once you have the spring completely isolated from touching itself AND the strut seat, your noises will completely stop. Worked for me, should work for the rest of us as well. I'll try to get a diagram up on this thread or a picture to show the install.

Lime:
FIXED!!!! SUSPENSION IS FIXED!!!! Okay, first of all, my specific problem was I guess we had some total retarded moment when putting together the right rear shock (rear = shocks, not struts, technically), because we put it together wrong, and missed a piece (the metal cup that attaches to the top of the "dust cover," to use layman’s terms. I would use the official terms, but those are lame and not useful). Fortunately my friend works at a car yard, so we grabbed a '99 rear shock assembly and double checked. So once we got that settled, we went to Home Depot (Lowes does NOT HAVE THIS) and didn't get that vinyl stuff. Instead, we got WIRE WRAP material, which is probably in the electrical section, but I forgot to look. It's PRE-HELIX-CUT, slightly harder than the vinyl tubing, and has a much smaller than 1/2" ID. However, it is PERFECT, trust me. I wrapped the top and bottom of each spring for the closest coils (about 3.5 coils), starting about 3-4" up the bottom (the very ends do not need to be wrapped because they go up against rubber). Threw the shock assembly back in, tightened (then I changed my rear rotors/pads), put car back on the ground, retightened, and tested. At 1:30 am this morning, I was the happiest person on this whole planet, I swear. NO NOISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a picture of the top of the rear shock in my car:

Lime

REPLACING PARTS
You should probably replace the DUST COVERS, which are the rubber boots that fit over the shock/strut cylinder, you can also replace the orange teflon “spacers” that sit at the very top of the strut/shock assembly. Your new suspension should come with new “bushings,” the smallish rubber tubes that go above the metal “hat” that the dust covers fit into. As for the thick rubber cups at the top of the assembly—as long as it isn’t in bad shape, don’t bother…they are EXPENSIVE.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

After completing your installation be sure to torque the upper strut mounts and shock mounts properly. Do this with the car on level ground. The correct values are as follows:

Strut mounts (3 top nuts) 30 - 40 Ft/Lbs
Piston nut (center nut) 50 Ft/Lbs
Strut lower mounting bolts 100 - 120 Ft/Lbs (with car still jacked up)

The upper strut mounting nuts and shock piston nut are the most important to get correct here. They are easily damaged. The lower mounts need to be pretty snug. You can probably get away with using an impact driver to tighten these up, but don't go to crazy or you may have a real hard time if you need to get them back off at a later date.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Your car will need a wheel alignment after your suspension work is complete. Make sure your happy with the install and all noise issues have been corrected before you bring it in for the alignment. You don't want to take apart the front suspension after it's been aligned. Also keep in mind you should wait at leat a week to 10 days to allow your springs to settle.

Note: Camber bolt kits are not usually needed with drops up to about 2 inches. Around 2 inches and lower, you may need a camber bolt kit to get the car back to spec. These kits can be purchased on the internet for about $20 - $30, depending on the source.

As there are no adjustments for the rear suspension, there are specs and a good alignment shop always shoots all 4 wheels. This ensures proper thrust angle of the vehicle and verifies your rear suspension has no bent or damaged parts. Adjustments, Toe and Camber, can only be made on front end components. Expect to pay somewhere around $50 for the alignment.

clee130

Description Nissan Part # Cost

1. Front Strut Spacer -- 54329-39U00 --$6.61/ea

2. Front Strut Bearing -- 54325-5V000 --$13.73/ea

3. Front Strut Dust Cover -- 54050-31U01 --$10.69/ea
(Boots)

4. Rubber seats -- 54034-85E10 -- $6.00/ea
(Polyurethane sleeves -- 54034-31U01 -- $8.40/ea
for the top/bottom of the coil springs)

Prices are from www.nissanparts.cc

clee130

dashingMax:
The size you want to use is 19mm.

Lime

Radio Shack sells this product in their stores and through their website. It is called "spiral wrap."

This link is bound to change, but here it is as of 10/24/01:

http://www.radioshack.com/category.a...6%5F000&Page=1

ay5800

iTrader: (2)

I was hearing squeaking also. I redid my suspension this week and did figure out that the upper mount on the shock absorber (Rubber) was rubbing against the OEM iso sleeve (plastic).

Lime

Don't forget that these part numbers vary according to which model you have, and what year. The '95/'96 4th gens may be different from the '97+ as well.

TurDz

iTrader: (3)

With the help of nissanautoparts.com and nissanparts.cc, I compiled a pretty good list of parts that may need to be replaced. Please note, there are alternate 2nd set digits. On an exploded diagram, only the first 5 digits appear. I tried my best to find the 2nd set of numbers, and the actual correct part.

- Front -

Strut Spacer 54329-39U00

Strut Bearing 54325-5V000

Strut Dust Cover (Boot) 54050-31U01

Rubber seat 54034-0W000

Polyurethane sleeve 54034-85E10

- Rear -

Strut Spacer 56218-61L10

Dust Cover (Boot) 55240-01A00

Rubber Seat 55034-31U00

Polyurethane sleeve 55031-33P10

Cover Washer 55248-01U00

Isolation Bushing 56218-61L10

clee130

Front Suspension Exploded View diagram:


Rear Suspension Exploded View diagram:




Thanks to: Albertt

neverend96max

Was it making a squeaking noise everytime you hit a good bump?

mevjen

Here is the updated link: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2062665&cp

neverend96max

Excuise me for being dumb but where does it go exactly.

XxValDeexX

I'll be trying this out once my shocks/struts come in!!! Thanks for the insight. I've been getting that same noise from the rear and I had thought it was the exhaust I put on it but this makes so much more sense after reading this!