Car runs great and has no significant problems. Have had since approximately 122k and only had regular maintenance items. No rust on the body. The first sign is barely starting to occur on the rocker crimp welds. I started noticing a jerking upon taking off and stopping. It was also causing a slight torque steer problem.
With my mechanical experience I initially diagnosed it as a left front control arm rear bushing. However, this car has a non-replaceable bushing on the back of the front control arms. So, the entire control arm needs to be replaced. I purchased the control arm and disassembled to replace. The rear bushing on this control arm is basically installed by "trapping" it between a plate bolted to the bottom to press it tightly up into an upside down U shaped pocket in the subframe. This is when I found that the pocket had rotted out completely allowing the bushing to move back and forth. The only way to properly repair this was to replace the entire front sub-frame (K-frame/suspension cross member). This would normally be replaced with a good used one costing anywhere from $100 to $300 plus labor of anywhere from $250, if your very lucky, to $900. While I expect rust this is a key place that should be the last place to rot out like this. Apparently, Nissan though so too as they change the bushing and way of mounting after this year.
Car runs great and has no significant problems. Have had since approximately 122k and only had regular maintenance items. No rust on the body. The first sign is barely starting to occur on the rocker crimp welds. I started noticing a jerking upon taking off and stopping. It was also causing a slight torque steer problem.
With my mechanical experience I initially diagnosed it as a left front control arm rear bushing. However, this car has a non-replaceable bushing on the back of the front control arms. So, the entire control arm needs to be replaced. I purchased the control arm and disassembled to replace. The rear bushing on this control arm is basically installed by "trapping" it between a plate bolted to the bottom to press it tightly up into an upside down U shaped pocket in the subframe. This is when I found that the pocket had rotted out completely allowing the bushing to move back and forth. The only way to properly repair this was to replace the entire front sub-frame (K-frame/suspension cross member). This would normally be replaced with a good used one costing anywhere from $100 to $300 plus labor of anywhere from $250, if your very lucky, to $900. While I expect rust this is a key place that should be the last place to rot out like this. Apparently, Nissan though so too as they change the bushing and way of mounting after this year.
- crashtek, Conneaut, OH, US