rokris8079 Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 Hello I have been browsing the forum for a while and finally registered. I have a 97 Pathfinder that was a third/winter vehicle for my wife. We are expecting our first child so in order to save money we sold her 240sx and made the Pathfinder her primary vehicle. Now that she drives it every day I decided it was time to start fixing her up. It definately needs struts in the front. The boots are all torn and I am pretty sure the struts are leaking. Not to mention when you hit a bump it bounces alot. I am going to buy KYB's, new mounts and bearings as well as the dust boots. My question is should I replace the sway bar endlinks at the same time. I am getting a clunk and through my research many people say its the endlinks. I did a visual inspection and there wasn't any play. I mean I couldn't shake them around by hand or anything and the bushings looked ok to me at least. Obviously you have to disconnect them to do the struts so in theory there shouldn't be any labor charge, right? Can I just replace the bushings or do I have to buy the whole links? I know pressing in bushings can be a real pain but I found bushings for around $5 for all of them and the links with the bushings go for about $20 a piece. Any help is appreciated Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 To see if the links are bad, rock the truck side to side while you observe the links. Obviously any looseness there indicates that they are worn. If you replace them, get the whole link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 (edited) welcome i am not familiar with the newer generation tks but I'd say yes.. might as well since you're there.. also, try using a long pry bar when checking the front end if hand shaking didn't do it and you do still have a clunk. up and down.. left and right.. shake the links and other components by hand back and forth etc.. Edited May 16, 2005 by mzxtreme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokris8079 Posted May 16, 2005 Author Share Posted May 16, 2005 When I rock the truck from the passenger side I can hear the clunk. I haven't had anyone around so that I could rock it while I'm holding the link though. Well this strut job is turning into a pretty big task. I originally just planned on replacing the struts. Then it turned into struts, strut mounts, and bearings. Then I had to add the dust boots becasue I realized they are shredded. And now I have to get the sway bar links too. Anyone have any suggestions on where is the cheapest place to get these items. I am planning on getting the struts from advanced auto. They have them for 59.99 each. 4x4parts has the mounts and bearings for $43.99 per side. They also have the dust boots for $14.95 each. Then I would have to pay for shipping which is another $20. Is there anywhere cheaper I can get these parts? Maybe somewhere where I can get the links, boots, bearings and mounts all at the same place for a good deal. Any info is apprecaited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowOSU Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 If you want to just take it out of your hands completely, last spring I had a AAA Auto Care Plus (which is now my favorite chain automotive replair facility) do my struts. When I would go over a bump the steering wheel actually turned itself from side to side. Turns out it was the links, so they did struts and links for around 600. This included new mounts, bearings and the like. They got me Monroe struts, which I know nothing about... However they have held up for at least one year of abuse. You could just order the struts and let a shop take care of all the other little parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 buy best quality.. i know, it'll cost more up front but in the long run you'll be glad you made that decision.. personally, i wouldn't put monroe anything on my truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowOSU Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 yea I botched that one... I didn't have any idea what was good at the time and I really needed it fixed before I moved home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokris8079 Posted May 16, 2005 Author Share Posted May 16, 2005 (edited) buy best quality Are the kyb gr-2's good? I have had them on my cars and loved them. They wanted like an extra $40 for a set of monroe's. I was really surprised to see that the kybs are the cheapest. I am going to get all Nissan oem parts for everything else. Unless someone can suggest something better. How are moog products? Are they better than OEM or should I just stick with the Nissan stuff. Edited May 17, 2005 by rokris8079 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herm Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 you definately want the KYBs over Nissan - even my dealer suggested those over Nissan when my struts went. The dealer didn't want to order the part, so I used Trirerack.com to order struts. You should also do the strut bearings (these sit between the strut top and the uni-body). Opinions vary, but it seems the Nissan strut bearings are the better choice, and you should replace these with the struts. KYB also sells bearings, but some folks had trouble with them - if you use Nissan, and the dealer does the work, you should be well protected if they don't work out. My dealer installed the KYB struts I provided from tirerack. The dust boots for the struts aren't really needed, although I added them, from 4x4parts.com. You should get the sway bar links from Nissan too, they are cheap You won't believe the difference new, firm struts make - the way struts wear out is so slow, over time, we forget how tight the front end should feel on these pathys. m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 buy best quality Are the kyb gr-2's good? I have had them on my cars and loved them. They wanted like an extra $40 for a set of monroe's. I was really surprised to see that the kybs are the cheapest. I am going to get all Nissan oem parts for everything else. Unless someone can suggest something better. How are moog products? Are they better than OEM or should I just stick with the Nissan stuff. anything but monroe.. look into bilsteins but $$$ and i have no idea if they make them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowOSU Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 they aren't THAT bad.. better than Nissan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 (edited) they aren't THAT bad.. better than Nissan well, maybe.. the first thing i did to my truck after i bought it was taking off the monroe gas shocks.. it's really what you can afford and live with... if you can't afford bilsteins (i can't) then you go with what you can... new monroes are better then whatever you have that's old and worn out... Edited May 17, 2005 by mzxtreme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 For OEM parts, I find the best prices at www.nissanparts.cc, unless the part I need is so cheap that shipping ends up costing more than a locally-purchased part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokris8079 Posted May 18, 2005 Author Share Posted May 18, 2005 Thanks for all the replies. I am going to go with the kyb's. I was thinking of getting the gabriels only because I get a discount and can get them dirt cheap. I will get the strut mounts and bearings from Nissan as well as the sway links. I am probably going to skip the boots only because several people and my mechanic friend said they aren't necassary. I know they are cheap but I am really struggling for cash. Has anyone used www.partznet.com? They have really good prices and the shipping is free for the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokris8079 Posted May 20, 2005 Author Share Posted May 20, 2005 Well I ordered the parts! Advanced doesn't carry the kyb's anymore so I had to buy them online. I got struts (kyb), mounts and bearings (moog), and sway links (moog). Total came up to $270 shipped from www.rockauto.com. I hope the moogs are ok. I had them on my 240 for over 100k miles with never a problem. Can't wait till everything comes in! It's gonna be a nice ride when she's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmgar99 Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Usually the "clunking" is from worn out or broken Strut Bearings or loose strut mounting nuts (located under the hood,"bonnet" for y'all down under) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokris8079 Posted May 25, 2005 Author Share Posted May 25, 2005 Yeah if the new mounts, bearings, links and struts don't fix the clunk I am going to get a new sway bushing. They are only like $5 and I can put it in myself. Does anyone know if ES sells a sway bushing for the Pathfinder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now