1991 Nissan Maxima SE suspension issue......

[1991SE240SX]

well, my sisters friend has a 92 maxima and she said that when shes goin up off ramps and stuff like that the car shakes/vibrates. She took it in to get an alignment and they told her she has a bent lower control arm?? does this sound right?? im supposed to put another one on for her tomorrow and i just wanted to know what type of job im in for?? approx how long should it take? i consider myself to be fairly skilled with cars and know when to apply common sense to certain problems. Anyone know the exact procedure for me to do this?? id appriciate it if anyone could supply a step by step process so to say to help me as much as possible.....any major things i have to do for this?? I appriciate any and all feedback that can help me with this....thanks for your time guys

[1991SE240SX]

anything guys? i was pointed to this website from my buddies at s-chassis.com. I was told this is the best forum for anything nissan (especially maximas)..............i dont wanna go to the j-yard and teach myself from trial and error but if thats what i gotta do....ill post up later and let yall know how it went. Thanx

[MinisterofDOOM]

I've never done a control arm myself so I can't say what you're in for exactly, but you can find good diagrams here. It's referred to as the transverse link. Should give you a good idea of what to expect and what tools to have on hand.

[1991SE240SX]

well....went up to the yard and was wrenching on it and got the entire transverse link off EXCEPT for this one huge bolt that holds it on in the front. The biggest wrench i had on hand was a 1" and it was to small for it. Didnt seem like it was that much bigger than my wrench but none the less didnt get to get because the lack of tools. My sisters friend had the chiltons manual and the description for removal is what i did but it had nothin for that bolt size. Gonna try to go to my grandpas and raid his sockets and wreches for anything slightly bigger than a 1".....any idea how big the bolt is im talking about?? thanx for the help also.......

[canucklehead]

sounds like you have a chilton's manual to help. Someone posted a link for me from this website, to a Nissan repair manual for the 89-94 Maxima. There is a section in there about suspension. PM me with your email and I can probably email the one section of the manual (the entire manual is too big to email).

ALSO, if lower control arm is bent, I'd be wondering about ball joints and the rest of the suspension components.

[green93GXE]

I just recently did this on my 93 maxima. The front bolt is a 27mm, and I had to buy a socket just for this job, about $6. The hard part is getting the bushing off. It has a metal inner sleeve that gets stuck on the gussett. You either have to cut it off or use some PB Blaster and a good pair of channel locks.

[1991SE240SX]

well.....went up there and got it off from the jyard finally. I ended up using a 1 1/16" socket and got the big bolt off with a ratchet and a breaker bar......only thing i gan into was the bushing part you was talking about. Ended up jus twisting it back and forth while pushing forward and it came off pretty damn easily. I know the bushing inside of it is pretty much shot....and im gonna deff need to replace it. Besides looking at the ball joints, what else should i look at down there? any idea how much the bushing will be? is it a dealership only part or can i find it at NAPA or auto zone, etc.??? thanks a ton for your guys' time and advice/inputs.

[green93GXE]

Before you go tearing into your friend's car I would get a second opinion, or you should at least drive it yourself. Like canucklehead said, if the control arm is bent there may be other damage down there. Besides the ball joint, there's the tie rod end and end link for the sway bar. You'll have to get the bushing from the dealer and I think it has to be installed with a hydraulic press. I bought new controls arms with bushings already installed.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah, as far as I know new control arms only come as a whole unit with new bushings and ball joint. I don't even know if you can buy just the bushings new.

[Rex]

I think this is going to be on my list of things to do soon.

I've got what sounds like a bad tension rod, but given the Maxima's front suspension, I'm betting the LCA needs to be replaced. Looks like loaded LCA's can be found on ebay for $120 a pair.

Any reason not to use these on a simple daily driver?

[MinisterofDOOM]

I don't see why not. Certainly worth a try.

[Chris92SE]

Check on maxima.org

there is a member there nameed Internetautomar -- he sells LCAs. I think he might be one of the ebay sellers, too.

It is usually less of a hassle to just replace the whole thing. It is a fairly common replacement part for these cars, along with window regulators and crapped out Bose stereos.

[1991SE240SX]

im gonna test drive it myself and try and narrow this down because she took it to the local NTB and they told her the LCA was jus loose??? one place said it was bent....another said it was loose?? im jus thinkin the ball joints are shot bein almost 18 years old and all. What should i look for or pay attention to while test driving it? what should i do? as in....what type of driving or tests should i put it through to figur out or narrow down to whats wrong with it exactly. I was lookin at the LCA i got from the j-yard and it looks bent...but it jus looks that way i guess. I dunno....any help or feedback is deff needed on this one. Thanx guys

[green93GXE]

My bet would be on bad bushings and not bent. Just do what Chris92 says and get some news controls arms with new bushings and balljoints already installed, it'll make your life so much easier.

[canucklehead]

if you jack up the front and block it, you can then play around to see if balljoints are worn. just get the front tire lifted a little and then put a small block under it (but not touching). THEN, get a longer piece of 2x4 and lay it on top of the block. pry up and down with the leverage you'll now have with the long 2x4. look at the balljoints for slop and clunking. look for any play on the tie rods if you grasp the wheel hard and try wiggling side to side (with your hands holding wheel at 3'oclock and 9 '0clock. ALSO, try the wheel shake holding wheel at 12 & 6 o'clock.