1997 HB 2WD Suspension Rebuild Advice

[Q451990]

My truck has somewhere around 133K on the odometer and I would guess nothing has ever been done to it suspension-wise. It was a Terminx fleet truck, so it was loaded down pretty well with a big chemical tank, etc.

It's starting to feel a little unstable on the interstate - which may be tire related too. At low speeds I get a little bit of steering wheel shimmy - also possibly tire related. I think I want to rebuild the suspension and replace the shocks before I get new tires. It has been bouncy and rocks side-to-side easily since I bought it with 105K on the odometer in 2003.

Any advice from you guys on what parts are common failure items that I should replace first?

Thanks!

Heath

[WWJD]

Inner and outter tie rods like to go out. I would say get some energy suspention control arm bushings, upper and lower ball joints if needed. I would probly say clean out the greas outta your hub and put in good fresh lub. Oh and repack your bearing as well. I'm getten ready to do that to my truck.

I bought KYB MonoMax shocks for my truck, I will be lowering it in the future

[Big-Bird]

Before you start changing everything you should first check the front end and steering linkage for wear and play.

Upper and Lower Control arms: Look for rotten rubber bushings at the frame and loose ball joints. The lower control arms should have a rod that runs back to the frame. Check the bushing for wear on this connection as well. ( Energy Suspension does carry a wide range of polyeurethane bushings for Nissan trucks). Also check the ride height. Look for broken leaf springs in the pack and cross member wear at the torsion bars. Uneven side to side ride height usually means the torsion bars need adjustment.

Steering: Inner and outer tie rods, idler arm, center link and the steering box.

The shocks: Well this is the easy part: Do a bounce test on the truck. Push each corner of the the truck down a couple of times by hand and if it bounces more than once after you stop pushing then the shocks are weak.

[Desert Rat]

Good advice given. Finish this off with getting a front end alignment.

If you don't feel comfortable doing any of this work yourself, a good alignment shop should be able to tell you what's worn and needs replacing, often via a free inspection.

[Q451990]

Also check the ride height. Look for broken leaf springs in the pack and cross member wear at the torsion bars. Uneven side to side ride height usually means the torsion bars need adjustment.

Interesting you mention this.... the truck has always leaned a little to the Left. Just thought it was because the driver was on that side, but it's noticeable when I'm following it with someone else driving.

Good advice given. Finish this off with getting a front end alignment.

If you don't feel comfortable doing any of this work yourself, a good alignment shop should be able to tell you what's worn and needs replacing, often via a free inspection.

Oh absolutely. To be honest, I got the truck with crappy tires, but they were fairly new and had good tread. So I decided that the best way to kill them was to never rotate the tires or align the front end. (My maintenence habits are vastly different on the truck vs. the cars)

Then I bought another set of wheels/tires out of the paper with more crappy yet new tires dirt cheap and tossed them on a couple of years ago. So it has never been aligned during my ownership. I think I will take it to my alignment guy and get his take on everything... if nothing else getting it on the rack and having two sets of eyes will make my life easier.

Thanks for all of the advice guys!

Heath

[Q451990]

Oh... one more question. Is there a general consensus on what shocks are best for the HB? I am fine going back with OEM, or aftermarket.

The truck is only used on-road... the most offroading it would see is backing up to the front door of the house over the yard to unload something.

I would really appreciate everyone's suggestion on tires too. I'm leaning toward the BFG Longtrail TA's at this point. I think Sam's has a Michelin 80K tire in that size too. Like I said - she's a road queen, so no off road tread needed...

Heath

[WWJD]

Oh... one more question. Is there a general consensus on what shocks are best for the HB? I am fine going back with OEM, or aftermarket.

I just put KYb MonoMax shocks on my D21 2wd. I had a hard time compressing them to get thm in the purch. really good shock and dont dent the pocket to bad. I paid $44 each with the shop disscount.

there are other cheap one's you could get... like monroe shock cheap with a life time warranty. there's a guy that hauls junk for a living and I've changed them twice lol all under warranty... well the shock that is

[Big-Bird]

The shock you want should first of all be in your budget but keep this in mind.

Monroe who actually goes by the name Monroe Tenneco makes about 60% of all the aftermarket shocks out there today. This includes their own name brand, Rancho, Toxic and just about every base model shock out there you can buy. The difference between them all is in the materials and valves being used. Rancho is a good shock but even their base model 5000 series might be too stiff for a basic small pickup like yours. Good for the haulers and the 4x4's though because they have to deal with extra weight.

KYB's are nice. So are Bilstiens. I have used Monroe, Gabriel, stock Nissan, Rancho and now FOX racing Shox which are awesome!!! (The last one in that list is a $300+ shock so you pay....and hoo-boy did I pay$$$ for the awesome ride).

If you want a superior ride check out KYB's and Bilsteins. They are the best value for the buck.

[Q451990]

Well, I made it over to Goodyear today for the "free inspection" - basically a manuver in "could you put this up on the rack and let me look at it so I don't have to jack it up in my 110 degree garage?"

Nothing loose... they seemed to think just replace the tires and align it. I'm definitely going to replace the shocks and some of the easy bushings.

Big-Bird, you mentioned KYB shocks... would you go with the GR-2 twin tubes, or step up to the Gas-A-Just monotube version? The $12 price difference isn't that big of a deal, but the truck isn't exactly a sport application, so I'm leaning toward comfort in this case.

I'm sure anything will be better than my 133K OEM shocks! I was amazed they aren't leaking... maybe everything already leaked out and washed off .

I'm thinking about going with the BF Goodrich Long Trail T/As in terms of tires.

Heath

[Big-Bird]

The Gas-a-Just from KYB is very similar to Monroe's sensatrack shock which has been on the market since the 90's. There is a valve body inside that is vibration sensitive. This is how the shock can adjust for differing road conditions. These shocks are great for adjusting to different road conditions, not so much load conditions......

The GR-2 is going to be slightly stiffer shock than the Nissan OE units and that's how it can claim being able to compensate for worn suspensions.

If you want a car type ride go for the Gas-a-Just units. If you plan on doing any hauling of any kind then go for the GR-2 as this will better handle potential loads much better.

Does that help a brother out or what?

[Q451990]

Very helpful!

I do haul things from time to time... a load of wood here, some tile there. I also tow a trailer with a riding mower from time to time - so GR2's it is!

In years past this was my "run to Home Depot" truck... although lately it has been more of my daily driver while I have been dealing with multiple injector failures and painful gas prices with the Q.

Heath

[Q451990]

Well, I ordered a bunch of suspension parts from Infiniti of Scottsdale a/k/a http://www.everythingnissan.com, and ordered the tires TireRack.com. The bushings will take at least a week to arrive so I have some more time to make a decision on the shocks.

So just in case I haven't beat this horse completely to death, has anyone tried Tokico Trekmaster shocks? Any thoughts on them? http://www.hitachi-hap-la.com/.../trek/

I know Nissan sourced the shocks for the first gen. Q45 from Tokico, but I have no idea who made the OEM truck shocks - or even if that matters.

Thanks!

Heath

[Q451990]

Thanks for everyone's advice on this... it's finally done today! I replaced the leaf spring and shackle bushings, tension rod bushings, stabilizer bar bushings (u clamp and end link) and those nylon caps on the steering stops. Then put new KYB GR-2 shocks on. Most of what I took off wasn't in horrible condition, except for the right leaf spring bushings... they were absolutely trashed.

The old shocks were really shot... no spring left to them at all. There was some resistance but they just stayed wherever you put them. You could hear oil in them still, and no obvious signs of leaking, but maybe they leaked before I got the truck and the oil just got washed off by the rain? I finshed everthing off at Goodyear today with an alignment and BFG LongTrail's. One of the old tires had a "goose egg" so it was just a matter of time before the tread separated and caused a lot of damage.

Man what a difference!

If anyone is riding around on old shocks on one of these trucks... fork out the $130 for new GR-2's and put them on yourself. There are no special tools involved, and you don't even have to jack the truck up to do the rears. Take the tires off and the fronts aren't bad either. It really is nice to feel those bumps once instead of three or four times, and the lack of swaying around corners is a major improvment!

Heath