2001 QX4 - how bad is this suspension rust?

[Escar]

Hi all,

I just bought a 2001 QX4. Am very excited to be joining the pathfinder/qx4 club. I am in West Africa (right on the coast) and the car has been here for 3 years, though it was originally in Michigan, USA. It is generally showing limited amounts of rust given the time it has been close to the sea air and in a hostile car environment (compared to other cars I have seen), but I'm worried about the suspension. I'm relatively new to car maintenance but I just gave the car another close look over and read a bit about the front suspension rust recall issue. I've got two questions I was hoping to get some help with:

(a) How can I check the state of my front suspension to make sure I'm not at risk from the problem that led to the recall? I've looked at both front coils and what I can see of the surrounding body and there appears to be limited rust. However some of the casing is concealed by plastic protective sheets. Is there a guide for what I should be looking for and where?

(b) There appears to be some serious rust in the rear, on what I think is the shock absorber casing? I've included some pictures below. Can anyone give me an indication as to how severe this might is: i.e. Do I need to get this fixed asap even to drive on tarmac roads? What about if I want to drive it off-road (hard, very bumpy), will it survive?

If the rear suspension does need work, can anyone give me a rough idea of what the mechanics would need to do and how much it would cost (wherever you are in the world).

Many thanks,
E

https://www.dropbox.com/s/44tceixaj6v6d ... 130134.jpg


https://www.dropbox.com/s/qpnjzw4qtkb0p ... 130210.jpg


https://www.dropbox.com/s/3lgxe8mp89gue ... 130158.jpg

[Slumpert]

Yea those shocks if not usless already, are on thier last legs.

The real body rust out issue is the inner fender for the front wheels. Really look at the metal past the struts.

That area can rust out so bad the strut towers break loose.

[Escar]

The trouble is that parts are expensive here and the quality of mechanics/ repairs is very low. So is it risky to drive with the shocks in that state, or could they happily survive another 6 months? If they did fail, how would I know and would it be catastrophic damage (i.e. damages other parts of the car) or would it just mean they would need instant replacement?

I also don't really know what the inner fender or strut is... are there any annotated diagrams or photos?!

Thanks again!
E

[Slumpert]

If the rear of your truck bounces and bounces and bounces then your shocks are just for show.

To check the front, get a bright light and shine it on the inside of your front wheel wells. Basically you have wheel then strut then inner fender. That inner fender is the concern espically if this was a Michigan truck before you

[Escar]

Okay - I will have a good look at the inner fender.

After some further reading up I realize that not replacing the shocks and generally investing in the suspension is a very bad idea, especially if I want to take the car off-road; so I will be taking it to a garage this week. Fingers crossed they add more value than they take away...

Thanks again for the assistance.

[Buzzman]

If you need more info on the strut housing recall, check the sticky at the top of this forum list.
There are 18 pages worth of info and pics. Take the time to scan through it.
97-04-pathfinder-qx4-strut-housing-corr ... 34872.html

Also, if your front wheel well looks like this, you're in trouble:


As for your shocks, they are rusting out as you indicated.
However, there doesn't seem to be any signs of a leak (at least they look dry in your pics), so they may be serviceable for a while yet.

[Escar]

Thanks Buzzman, Slumpert. I've had a good look through the thread and then had another look at my front inner fenders: the passenger side is fine, but the driver side has two rust spots, the first to the right of the base of the strut, the second - more serious looking one - directly behind the base of the strut. Is there much point in trying to get a mechanic to do any precautionary work on this?

1- right- view 1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i1zwl97t2vg8c ... 5B1%5D.jpg
1- right- view 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mbc7i2zx3syde ... 5B1%5D.jpg
2- base: https://www.dropbox.com/s/46e4cze6obimx ... 5B1%5D.jpg

The rear shocks don't have any oil leaking out, but are streaked where it may have leaked before. All in all, given that it's 13 years old, with 155,000 miles and what appears to be the original - and now rusted - shocks, replacing them seems the sensible thing to do.

The bottom of the rubber under the rear right coil is torn on one side, so that also seems like a sensible replacement.

I will also ask them to look at the ball joints and bushings front and rear (after some back and forth comparison with diagrams I think I figured out what these are..) and to see what the coils are like.

I sat two large men in the trunk and bounced the car up and down - it didn't seem to be overly bouncy, but one of the guys said he thought it wasn't springing back with much force, so perhaps the rear coils also need to be replaced.

[Slumpert]

Actually that looks pretty good. Maybe knock off the little rust and hit with some self etching primer.

[Escar]

Thanks Slumpert. I'll see if I can get hold of some self etching primer here. Failing that, would anti-rust paint do? A friend has a small amount of that.

Driving yesterday I did a bit of heavy braking and noticed that as the car comes to a sudden stop the nose dips quite a lot and there's a squeaky / clunking sound from the front. I imagine this indicates that the front struts/shocks need replacing? I will see how much that will set me back and whether I can afford it.

[Buzzman]

The first place to look for a clunking sound in the front end is your stabilizer links.
They are a common wear item and can be replaced fairly easily.
I've gone through 3 sets so far, and will be replacing them again this spring, (if it ever warms up around here that is).