Piece of rubber hanging off driver's side coil

[Towncivilian]

This piece of rubber is hanging from the top of the driver's side coil:

What is it? It's barely hanging on, can I just rip it off? I've been hearing an occasional clunk from the driver's side wheel area, could this possibly be the cause? If somebody wants a better picture I can provide one.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Towncivilian

[Howie]

That's the protective sleeve that surrounds the top part of your coil. They wear through after a while. Both of mine were like that when I replaced my coils. Also looks like your strut boot is completely worn through. How many miles on those struts? Judging by the wear I see there, maybe 50-100,000 miles? Time to replace the struts. Coils are okay even without the sleeve thing though. Unless you want to lift it...

[nunya]

rip it off... weight reduction!

[Towncivilian]

That's the protective sleeve that surrounds the top part of your coil. They wear through after a while. Both of mine were like that when I replaced my coils. Also looks like your strut boot is completely worn through. How many miles on those struts? Judging by the wear I see there, maybe 50-100,000 miles? Time to replace the struts. Coils are okay even without the sleeve thing though. Unless you want to lift it...

123k on original suspension, as far as I know. I have no desire to lift it since I have little money, plus it's a 2WD with an open diff and highway tires - can't go far offroad with all of that I think without spending a ton.

 

I'll rip that piece of hanging rubber off.

 

So what do you suggest I do? Would replacing the struts alone (all four, perhaps?) be fine for a while, or should I save up and just replace everything eventually?

[Howie]

You should replace your shocks and struts at 100,000 miles, sooner if you can. So yeah, do that. The clunk, however, is probaby not from that. It's most likely a CV joint, LCA, or some other suspension issue.

[Towncivilian]

So I can get by with replacing the struts (these are also known as shocks, correct?) by themselves? Since someone is selling a pair of lightly used pair of KYB GR-2 rear shocks for $30 + shipping and a pair for the front is also relatively inexpensive then it's quite viable.

[Rick13]

If your clunk is while turning the wheel, it could be your strut mounts/bearings, which should truly be replaced when you replace your struts. Just a thought.

Edited March 27, 2011 by Rick13

[Towncivilian]

Sometimes it's just when accelerating from a stop. Can't narrow it down to any specific condition. How much do strut mounts and bearings go for? I'm assuming OEM Nissan would be the best choice as I've read horror stories of aftermarket ones (or am I thinking of something else?).

[Howie]

Struts are shocks with a coil over them. You can replace the strut and keep the old coil without any problems. Definitely get new mounts and bearings OEM from Nissan when you replace the struts. $28 each for the bearings, and $22 each for the mounts.

 

How much do you trust the source of your "lightly used" shocks/struts? I'd go new for piece of mind, but that's just me.

[Towncivilian]

Struts are shocks with a coil over them. You can replace the strut and keep the old coil without any problems. Definitely get new mounts and bearings OEM from Nissan when you replace the struts. $28 each for the bearings, and $22 each for the mounts.

 

How much do you trust the source of your "lightly used" shocks/struts? I'd go new for piece of mind, but that's just me.

Sounds good, I will indeed get new bearings and mounts. How many of each are there?

 

The "lightly used" KYB GR-2s are being sold by fusion here on NPORA, in this thread. $30 + shipping for both rear shocks with a couple thousand miles vs. $76 for two new on Amazon almost seems like a no-brainer. How long do these struts generally last?

 

EDIT: Found this post detailing all of the mounting hardware part numbers. piste says that all the mounting hardware is $300 for both sides from Courtesy; that seems quite steep to me. Courtesy recommended to him to get mounts, bearings, and upper spacers, which would be $160 for both sides, significantly more reasonable. Nobody confirmed that's all he needed yet in that thread. Would those three items be all I need for both sides?

Edited March 27, 2011 by Towncivilian

[Zibi]

So I can get by with replacing the struts (these are also known as shocks, correct?) by themselves? Since someone is selling a pair of lightly used pair of KYB GR-2 rear shocks for $30 + shipping and a pair for the front is also relatively inexpensive then it's quite viable.

 

What you have in the front are called MacPherson Struts, and in the rear you have regular shocks. Like the other guy said, the MacPherson struts run through and are attached to the coil spring, whereas the shocks in your rear run somewhat beside the coil springs.

 

You'll want to replace your struts and shocks at the same time, especially if they're all worn out.

 

If something is knocking in the suspension it's probably either a ball joint or one of the bushings in your suspension. I had both my ball joints start to go. When I replaced the first one my friend mechanic told me not to bother with the other until it wore out, which ended up being only a few months afterwards. All of the control arms in the suspension have rubber bushings in them at the pivot points. You have six control arms on your truck; in the front each side has one "y" shaped one, and in the back they are there are four straight bars that run from the body to the axle, two long ones on the bottom and two short ones on the top.

 

If the rubber bushings have worn out, which I'd bet they have if you have 120,000 miles on them, they can cause a bunch of problems. They can cause a knocking sound, they will cause your suspension to be sloppy, and they can cause wobbles and other worse things.

 

If the knock isn't coming from your suspension it may be one of the sway bar end links. The sway bars stiffen up your ride and have rubber bushings in the end as well. My front ones are worn out so I get a nice knocking sound as well when I go over bumps, and sometimes if the engine is at just the right RPM (usually at a high idle) they vibrate and make a funny sound.

 

 

You generally wouldn't want the GR-2's unless you were doing a suspension lift, although as far as I know they aren't any longer than the stock ones. If it's just a road truck I'd probably go to NAPA and Lordco and get quotes for OEM struts and shocks and only buy the GR-2s if they were cheaper and in near knew condition. As for mounting hardware, I'm not sure exactly what that refers to but my struts came with their own top nuts and then I just reused all the other hardware...in other words, I didn't order any hardware.

 

Just forewarning though, if your suspension is getting near the end of its life and is all original, then more than just the struts are going to need replacing. Check to see if the bushings are worn out, ball joints, springs etc, because if they're somehow not now, they will be soon, and it may be cheaper in terms of labour to just replace everything at once.