Are my rear coils no good?

[floridazj]

Thanks in advance to any help.

I've got an 01' Infiniti QX4 w/120k. I've noticed how hard of a jolt/bump the vehicle makes when traveling over a hump or dip in the road. Put new tires on it today and I got under it on the lift to do some inspecting... My rear bumpstops have been HAMMERING the axle. At ride height I only have ~3" clearance between bumpstop and axle. Before I was thinking it was shocks right? Rear is bottoming out when hitting a large bump...but with no weight in the back? I'm 250lbs and I can stand on the bumper and it bottoms out without me jumping up and down. It doesn't keep bouncing after I do jump though...making me think the shocks are good.

Have the coils lost their strength? how? I build jeeps and have never blown a coil. (broken them, but not blown them).

2nd question: are the pathfinder and qx4 rear coils the same? same length? spring rate? I was looking at these for replacements: (https://www.4x4parts.com/catalog/produc ... cts_id=723). I tow a 6k lb boat sometimes to the gas station and figure these would be good replacements? How is ride quality compared to oem?

I'll do shocks at the same time.

sorry so long.

[miamiheat3332]

your at 120k miles, its time for a new suspension, i have 106k and i just got all my parts from 4x4parts.com and waiting on other parts from courtesy till i install, but i got the whole thing, 2" lowering coils, kyb gr-2 struts, and kyb gas-a-just rear shocks. And yes the problem you are experiencing is your bottoming out, i have it all the time when i go over train tracks etc. but yeah you should be looking into getting new struts, coils, and shocks, its defiantly time at 120k. and also you need new strut mounts, bolts, washers, and nuts, for the rear shocks because its recommended you switch out the old hardware as its most likely rusted etc and worn anyways from having 120k miles,

so all in all you should be looking at around 1k if you do it yourself and buy the main things like coils, struts, and shocks from 4x4parts, and the strut mounts/bearings/nuts etc, and rear shock bolts/nuts from courtesyparts.com,

and if you would buy all OEM from the dealer, i went to my local one to see how much and it probably would have cost me like 1.5k just for parts. but yeah around 1k if you do it yourself, if you get a shop to do it, then more$.

also i just saw you said your towing a 6k lbs boat, you should defiantly look into getting these when you put in your new suspension

https://www.4x4parts.com/catal...=1243

once you install those, you will virtually keep the rear coils like if the car was empty. im probably going to get them for my car even though i dont tow stuff much at all anymore.

[floridazj]

i'm going to do the rear coils/shocks. Don't think I'm going to fool with the struts yet. They are at about 70-80% good. My sister's went out and it's not even close to hers. Braking/handling/steering is still stiff. Vehicle has been babied. I think the rear went out cause of the boat.

[hospitalbuilder]

I have a 99Q with 180K miles on it. I have replaced the shocks in the rear and the struts in the front, but have stuck with the original springs. From what you describe, I would guess it's not the shocks, but with 120K unless they have already been replaced then it might be a good idea to go ahead with that anyway. But, damn, for the springs to loose their, well... spring in eight years seems odd. The only time I have had to replace worn out springs was on a '67 Mustang, but they were over 25 years old. Is anything broken? For those to wear out so quickly someone must have been hauling a heavy load, consistently.

[miamiheat3332]

floridazj, its recommended you do everything at the same time, instead of only doing the rear or front, and the struts aren't hard either, i will post a how to when i get my other parts and do the install.

[fueler]

yeah those coils tend to sag over time and its especially noticeable if you have any weight in the back my rear end was hitting the bumpstops at 120k miles too

[Empty V]

floridazj, its recommended you do everything at the same time, instead of only doing the rear or front, and the struts aren't hard either, i will post a how to when i get my other parts and do the install.

The struts aren't hard but they're a hell of a lot harder then the shocks. The shocks take about 5min a side if you're already jacked up, the struts are much more involving. Your mileage might have some affect on the springs but I had 180K+ on my old ones and they're still in good shape. Your boat is what trashed them for sure.

Billy