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How to replace the front struts and springs

67K views 37 replies 21 participants last post by  Dewstain 
#1 ·
Just in case someone wants to know how to do it here are the steps of what i did. the total time is ~5 hrs. This includes my trip to and from the shop and waiting for them to remove the strut assembly and replacing it with the Bilsteins shocks.

Tools: Power tool if you have them. The 3 bolt on top of the struts are 14mm and the big one on the bottom is 3/4 (thats what i have to use for my power tool)

- jack up the car on both sides using jack stands
- remove tires
-put a small jack under the control arm (a trick i learned a long time ago lowering cars :D) see pictures. I use the jack to hold the control arm so it wouldnt drop when i remove the big bolt and the 3 nut on top. The jack also help push up the top wishbone so i can loosen the nut with a socket wrench. when i remove the big bolt and the 3 nut i lower the jack until the strut is fully extended.



-push down on the rotor so you can squeeze the strut out.
-once out take it the shop and have them replace it with the new Bilstein shock. :D



-to install push the rotor down and insert the strut assembly top in first. I put the two top nuts on so I dont have to keep on holding it. I tap the bottom in. Once in I use the jack to raise the control arm up so the strut are flush on top and the bottom hole wouldnt be crooked. Put in the big bolt,tighten it and tighten the 3 nut on top
-put tire back on and lower.

Hope this help at least 1 person. :D
 
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#5 · (Edited)
OK so dumb question since I am really not good at this stuff. You only do the fronts and that doesn't cause any issues?

I called my Nissan dealer and they wanted $300-$400 + $125 for realignment to do it so I am going to call around a little bit. Not sure this is in my skill sets, but it doesn't look to hard.

What did the shop charge for replacing the shocks?

Thanks!

EDIT: Meinek wants $129 or something (can't remember exact number) so that is a no-brainer for me. Now he looked it up in the book and said it is only shocks and not the struts - does that make sense to you? Honestly this is greek to me - just trying to figure it out :)
 
#7 · (Edited)
Definitely disconnect the swaybar!!!! :) You'll never drop the UCA low enough with the sway bar still connected unless both sides are jacked up (dangerous!!)... Just disconnect one or both sides of the end links before jacking it up then reconnect them after lowering it back down...
 
#8 ·
I have a few questions... How long until the oem shocks have worn? My Armada has over 60k miles and wanders all over and the tires are worn like it needs aligning. I am trying to decide if I need shocks too.

Also, I have the tow package so I am assuming that I have the auto leveling rear suspension, correct?

When I was pricing replacement front shocks, most of the fronts had notes that indicated they were only for use with on 'madas with the standard rear suspension.

What's the best shock for these trucks?
Thanks.
 
#11 · (Edited)
FWIW, I still have my original Load-Leveling shocks in the rear and am approaching 85k miles... Lately there's been some excessive sway coming from the rear (keep in mind I also have a 2nd pair of ProComp shocks too) so I think those might be worn as well.... When it gets bad enough, I'm seriously thinking about getting a pair of Radflo w/ some Eibach replacement coil springs from PRG and just connecting the OEM air hoses to a pair of Air-Lift Helper Springs...
 
#12 ·
I looked up shocks on Bilstein's site. They only show the Titan. So I looked up Titan shocks but there's nothing that indicates load leveling. http://www.bilsteinus.com/cart/ymm.php?year=2006&make=NISSAN&model=TITAN&zenid=

Does anyone have a link or list of part numbers of the front shocks that are okay with the load leveling? Or does the fact that I have load leveling on the rear even matter regarding front shocks?
 
#15 ·
When doing new front and rear shocks/struts, whatever they are....should you repalce the springs too? With OEM ones, or elsewhere? My auto guy said to buy what I want and bring it down, and they'd install. I'm going with Ranchos.
 
#19 ·
Bilsteins 5100s installed

So I put in the new Bilstein 5100s at stock level with the ring in the lowest position. The project went as smooth as I could have hoped. I did a lot of research on this forum and was a little nervous after seeing threads about missing washer and Bilstein not supply what was needed. read where people were using 2x4s to pry the suspension to get the struts out. No problem here, I have a really nice set of jack stands and chocked the rear wheels while lifting both sides of the front end. After removing the three upper nuts and the large lower bolt the struts came right out. I used the loner spring compressors from AutoZone to compress my spring and remove them from the old strut. This did take some serious cranking, it was a good workout with my cross force ratchet wrench. After I pulled the old strut out i slid the new Bilsteins in, removed the nut at the top and took everything from the original setup and slid it on to the new Bilstein. My Bilsteins came with the large washer on them and I never took it off only removed the nut to slide on the top works from the old setup. I Didn't mess with the old washer that was fixed to the boot of the old shock, just took everything else and put it on the new strut. After tightening up the retaining nut on top of the new shock, I released the the spring compressors. The new setup slid back into the truck. I then put the 3 top nuts in place and with some minor persuasion got the large lower bolt in. The whole thing took me about 3.5 hours alone. My Armada has over 99,000 on it and this was overdo. It rides a hell of a lot better. I also had some steering wheel shake when braking to a stop and that is gone. No more hitting dips and feeling like we are in a boat.

I am very impressed with the way it went and how the truck feels now. I would like to thank everyone on the forum for the info that helped me get this done.

Special thanks to Pops. Your posts have helped me several times with question about my Armada.
 

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#20 ·
Finally got my new Bilsteins HD installed. Thanks to all posts explaining on how to install and what not to use... it was a lot of help. It was rather uneventful until I tried to remove old shocks, since the 8mm stud on top of the shock rod post was corroded but after a lot of cursing and determination we got the nut off. I purchased the Single Action Spring Compressor, from Harbor Freight, what a piece of junk. If any one considers doing this job your self don't even waste time and money on this tool, just rent a spring compressor from Auto Zone, so much easier, quicker and cheaper. That's what I should have done, but I figured I could use it on other cars or have friends and family use it as well. Again, thanks for all the input.
 
#21 ·
Cool… post some pics of your truck
 
#22 ·
very nice right up & responses. looking to do this as well very very soon. sooo if i understand right then i just order the new shocks (struts?) & re-use the springs from the original factory shocks? i have replaced struts/shocks before but they came with everything new, did not re-use anything... just want to make sure that i am uinderstanding it all? LOL!!!

THANKS!
 
#23 ·
Yes you can reuse your existing springs. They don't fatigue that fast under normal use and if your ride hight is still okay you are good. The strut packages I have seen that include the spring are not as good as stock springs (this seems to be consensus from what I have read here).
 
#25 ·
Pretty much any front coil-over for a Titan will work for the Armada. It all depends on what your needs/wants are... stock height? couple inch lift (couple options on how to achieve)? looking to go bigger than a couple inches in near future?

If you are looking to maintain stock height then the Bilstien HDs are one of your best bangs for your buck buys. You can also combine with PRG front and rear pucks to gain a couples of lift.

Another best bang for buck is the bilstein 5100s (adjustable) and may be combined with rear pucks for a couple inches of lift (IMHO PRG makes best quality pucks, both front and rear).

Greg/PRG knows Titans inside and out and may be able to offer you some more options of a complete front coil-over swap if you do not want to mess around, or pay someone to mess around, with a spring compressor.
 
#26 ·
Tools: Power tool if you have them. The 3 bolt on top of the struts are 14mm and the big one on the bottom is 3/4 (thats what i have to use for my power tool)
:D
I could be wrong, but i'm pretty sure I used a 19mm wrench for that bolt.
 
#35 ·
Don't know if you need to wait for the new springs to settle to match the factory spring height. I just change my mada's front struts with bilstein 5100 set to the lowest setting and re-used the factory springs. It is all good now, same height and handles better. Has an appointment for alignment tomorrow.
 
#32 ·
Im thinking of lifting my 2004 QX56 2-4 inches! Can anyone help with the most economical and right way to go?
Check out PRG mini lift... or do 5100s (on top perch) with Raybestos/Napa/moog HD rear springs and 2 inch rear pucks/spacers. I'd suggest PRG rear pucks.
 
#36 · (Edited)
my install info:

Thanks ntrddragn for your input on this thread.
Thanks Pops for your addition as well here - http://www.clubarmada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8988

I used info from pops thread and this is what i did to get mine done:


Three top bolts are 14mm:


From there, i think removed the sway bar at the end link connection and the bottom bolt:


I flat black spray painted the rotors using high temp paint.....hate looking at rusty hats...so i hand scuffed them down a bit, wiped them really good and then sprayed them.

Rotors painted:



The shock just came right out with little to no effort, lots of room and easy to do.

I had the entire front of the armada on jack stands and the rear chocked at the tires.

Was a easy job really. front took me about 30 minutes total to get them off. on the way to work that day i stopped by a local shop and they swapped the springs to the bilstein shocks for $30 bucks cash.

BIG HINT! - Make sure to take a silver sharpie or a paint marker with you and mark the bolt and spring perch orientation. this is crucial!

I marked mine and one side was 100 percent perfect but the other side was a hair off and took some persuasion.

next day installling them back on took at most an hour because before installing the bilstiens back on i changed out all the alignment bolts with the moog camber bolts.

to do that i put a jack under the lower control arm and simply supported the lower control arm minus the shock installed and took one bolt out at a time. very very easy.

oem bolts are 19mm nuts paired with 22mm head on the bolt side.

When reinstalling i put the head side of the moog bolts facing each other - i did this because alignment techs wont be having to push one way, then switch to the next bolt and push the other way. with the head of the bolt on the aft side of the lower arm on the fwd side, this helps a bit.

The entire front minus the driving to the shop time, took about 1.5 total. I think what really made everything very quick is a few things, 1. I have done this all before on my titan, and 2. i had all the tools i needed.

Tools used:
Long handle wrenchs - make the job easier.
breaker bars - have small one with ratcheting feature.
electric impact gun
impact extenstion - 6 inch
deep and short sockets.
PB blasted everything nut and bolt head location the night before.

Job went very very smooth up front.

Rear I slapped in a 1.5 inch prg lift spacer in the coil bucket under the factory spring, paired with airrite red airbags for towing. also painted rear hats on rotors too.
The rear install was easy as well minus my drivers side toe bolt issue at alignment shop, Discussed here - http://www.clubarmada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49034

Hope this helps others as this thread helped me.

-J
 

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