Dumb Question - Does 01' QX4 Need Struts at all 4 corners or just Front?

[bradesp]

Does my 01' QX4 use struts at the front only with shocks in the rear, or does it use struts at all four corners?

If it makes a difference, my QX4 is a 4WD.

I want to replace in hopes of restoring the like new ride.

Thanks!
Modified by bradesp at 4:18 PM 2/14/2009

[Chuck Tribolet]

Struts in the front, shocks in the back.

What are you thinking of replacing? What's wrong with the ride now?

Chuck

[screwinitupagain]

Stuts front, shocks in the rear.Replace the front with KYB GR-2's if you are goning to & the rear with like a Rancho SX9000 (actually you could go with the SX5000) or a nice Bilstien shock if your concern is ride quality

And remember there are no stupid questions, only stupid people...

[bradesp]

Which Blistein shock would you recommend? Yes, ride quality is important to me... I unfortunately put more highway miles on my ride than anything else.

Thanks!

[screwinitupagain]

These would work well:https://www.4x4parts.com/catal...=2049

And I ran these until I destoryed one of them on the trails a while back:https://www.4x4parts.com/catal...=1906

Since you are not concerned about offroad perfmance you won't need any kind of heavy duty shocks or struts. And you don't have to buy from the websites I sent you to; get them wherever you find them cheapest, I'm just tryin' to give you a starting point.

Also you will want to replace the strut tower mount (get the Nissan OEM) & you'll probably want to replace the rear lower arm busshings (they are cheap, will outlast you R50 & make the ride quality sooo much better). You can get the strut tower mount from the dealer & you can get the poly bushings from here:https://www.4x4parts.com/catal...=4998

[bradesp]

Thanks!

Curious why you suggest OEM Strut Tower Mount vs an aftermarket? Are they that different?

[screwinitupagain]

Curious why you suggest OEM Strut Tower Mount vs an aftermarket? Are they that different?

Yup. The aftermarket ones aren't made worth a f*ck. The KYB strut mount tower falls apart, literally.

[bradesp]

Wow, thanks for the insight!

[screwinitupagain]

Welcome.

I noticed you aren't too far away from me (I'm in High Point), you ever go wheelin?

[rhd itr]

Thanks!

Curious why you suggest OEM Strut Tower Mount vs an aftermarket? Are they that different?

not much of a difference, just dont use the ones from your old suspension

[larryt]

Any ideas about the quality of the Spicer strut mount kit? It appears to be made by Raybestos. Thanks.

[bradesp]

Welcome.

I noticed you aren't too far away from me (I'm in High Point), you ever go wheelin?

You know, I'm a complete 4WD virgin, so no, in my two years owning my QX4 I've NEVER taken her off road! To be honest, I'd be too chicken to do it without adult supervision :-)

[Fisherdude]

You can go to Rockyroad.com and get some sweet OME shocks and struts or 4x4parts.com and get the rancho/blistein combo like i have on my ride. its rough and loud but its better than having worn out shocks . most people don't know that you should replace your suspension around every 50k miles for the best ride.

[sobiloff]

I have a 2002 QX4 and the rear end sags pretty badly if I hook up a trailer, or load it with three friends and luggage for a weekend trip. In this condition it's quick to bottom-out over big bumps in the road and it pogos a bit as well before recovering. However, the ride when I'm alone is fine.

I know there's a TSB for the 2000-2002 QX4s that's supposed to address this by replacing the rear shock stop bumps and seats. (TSB ITB02-046.) Has anyone had this done? Is it worth it? Otherwise, I guess it's Ranchos/Bilsteins and air bags?

[nheitz]

I had the TSB done you're referring to but it's not to fix the sagging. It fixes the hard slam when you're fully loaded and go over a bump from bottoming out. They just replace the bump stop with a different one. The sagging is a side effect of the soft ride.

[longhornsqx4]

Whats the difference between shocks n struts? I thought they weere the exact some thing!

[Chuck Tribolet]

S

Whats the difference between shocks n struts? I thought they weere the exact some thing!

Shocks are just shocks. They are not part of the suspension systems other than damping out thebumps. You could drive a car with no shocks but it would bounce a lot (I remembera Car and Drive shock test ca. 1975 on (IIRC) a 'vette. One shock brand wasNONE. The 'vette was almost undriveable with NONE. You can usually change out a shockby removing two bolts.

Struts are part of the suspention, and generally have the spring seat integrated into the strut. You generally need a spring compressor and waymore than two bolts to change them out. There are often inserts that use thefactory strut, but you take out the guts and replace them. My '72 240Z wasthat way on all four corners. Koni and Bilstein were the hot tip on cartidges back then.

[Chuck Tribolet]

I have a 2002 QX4 and the rear end sags pretty badly if I hook up a trailer, or load it with three friends and luggage for a weekend trip. In this condition it's quick to bottom-out over big bumps in the road and it pogos a bit as well before recovering. However, the ride when I'm alone is fine.

I know there's a TSB for the 2000-2002 QX4s that's supposed to address this by replacing the rear shock stop bumps and seats. (TSB ITB02-046.) Has anyone had this done? Is it worth it? Otherwise, I guess it's Ranchos/Bilsteins and air bags?

What's the tongue weight of the trailer? It should be5-10% of the weight of the trailer, and tend towards 5% I tow a 2100ishpound trailer 200 miles a weekend, tongue weight is about 120 pounds. ThePF squats a little (and there's also two sets of SCUBA gear and two tanksin the back) but only a little. It squatted a lot more when the tongue weightwas about 160.

The pogo IS shocks.

[sobiloff]

It was a rental, so I'm not sure of the weight, but it was an eight-foot open box design. Apparently the 2001-2002 QX4s have significantly softer springs in the rear than later years, or than Pathfinders. The rear sank a good 3" with just the empty trailer, which was kinda embarrassing.

I opted to go ahead and have the TSB done, but it looks like a new set of shocks and maybe even airbags are in the future.

Thanks for the replies!

[Chuck Tribolet]

That's what you get for having the luxury version. ;-)

[nheitz]

These would work well:https://www.4x4parts.com/catal...=2049

And I ran these until I destoryed one of them on the trails a while back:https://www.4x4parts.com/catal...=1906

Since you are not concerned about offroad perfmance you won't need any kind of heavy duty shocks or struts. And you don't have to buy from the websites I sent you to; get them wherever you find them cheapest, I'm just tryin' to give you a starting point.

Also you will want to replace the strut tower mount (get the Nissan OEM) & you'll probably want to replace the rear lower arm busshings (they are cheap, will outlast you R50 & make the ride quality sooo much better). You can get the strut tower mount from the dealer & you can get the poly bushings from here:https://www.4x4parts.com/catal...=4998

I'm about to replace my struts & shocks also. The strut tower mount sold here https://www.4x4parts.com/catal...d=776 seems to include the strut insulator, the strut bearing, & some type of metal washer or nut. At Nissan everything seems to be sold seperately... so which parts should I get from them to replace when I'm changing the struts?

Also, I've never done this before & everybody keeps telling me not to do the struts myself because of the danger of compressing the springs. I was going to buy the spring compressor that Autozone sells which has 2 seperate pieces that clamp on either side of the spring. They also have the safety pins to keep them from sliding off of the spring. Is there any precautions I should take? I was trying to think of something to use as a safety as the spring is compressed... like put a ratchet strap around it or something & keep tension on it. Although I don't think that would hold the shock load if the compressors broke.

[hospitalbuilder]

I have done both the shocks and struts on my 99Q. The shocks are pretty easy, but the struts are a bit of a wrestling match. Why would you buy a spring compressor? I got a loner from the local Pep Boys for no cost (I had to pay for it, but got refunded when I returned it). Nothing to complex, but the struts with the springs on it are heavy, so if you can have a second set of hands to help move them in and out, that would be helpful. Also, the biggest problem I had was loosening the nut on the top of the strut. I took the first one out, compressed the spring, and tried to loosen the nut once it was out. I could not get enough leverage to get it loose. So, I had to decompress the spring, put it back in and secure the top, crack the nut, take it back out and compress the spring again. The second strut probably took me all of 30 minutes once I employed the lessons learned on the first one.

Definately a doable DIY, but it does take some effort. Good luck.

[nheitz]

Good info... thanks.