# Bad Shock(s)?



## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

I have a 2004 nissan frontier. My truck seems like it is leaning just a little more to the right side every couple of days. I have an appointment on Friday at the dealership. If it is just one shock, will it make the vehicle lean in the front and rear?( I assume so just by the fact that when I jack the front on the side up, the rear moves upward slightly too.) I think it would but am not sure. Any tips on how to check it myself before I get a chance to take it to the dealership. I suspect that it is the rear shock over the front. Mainly because the rear has the added support of the leaf springs and I think that the vehicle wouldn't lean as much as it is if it were a bad front shock. 
edit: also, the gap between the wheel and the fender is less in the rear on one side over the other side. The front gaps are not perfect either, but the difference is less.
I have always had a "squeaky" rear suspension, so this makes me think that this is were the problem could be. 

Just trying to get prepared to do "battle"  with the dealership when they try to say nothing is wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks


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## johnnyhammers (Oct 13, 2005)

The shocks dont hold up the vehicle, that job is for the springs. The springs carry the load and absorb the bumps, while the shocks control the bouncy action of the springs. a sagging corner will be the spring (torsion bar in the front, leaf in the back). 

The basic test for shocks is to jumpon the bumper and bounce the truck as hard as you can; when you hop off, it sould bounce 1 1/2 times. That's once down, once up, and back to normal resting position, without any other bobbing or motion. 

Go do this to a bunch of different cars and trucks; you will qickly learn the difference between good shocks and bad shocks. Try it at a local wal-mart parking lot, just ignore the people that give you funny looks, and act like you own every car you bounce on.


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## dvdswanson (Nov 6, 2005)

your squeak in the rear sus is just dirt/grime on the plastic spacer pads at the end of some of the leaves. anti-seize compound (small amt) will take care of that. your frt sus could be taken care of by an adjustment to the torsion bars and then an alignment. rear sus... have you carried heavy loads in it or prior owner (don't know if you bought it new), has the truck been in an accident? or has been in some serious 4 wheelin to twist the frame?


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

dvdswanson said:


> your squeak in the rear sus is just dirt/grime on the plastic spacer pads at the end of some of the leaves. anti-seize compound (small amt) will take care of that. your frt sus could be taken care of by an adjustment to the torsion bars and then an alignment. rear sus... have you carried heavy loads in it or prior owner (don't know if you bought it new), has the truck been in an accident? or has been in some serious 4 wheelin to twist the frame?


I'm the orginal owner, no accidents, no 4 wheelin, and the heaviest load I have carried would probably be my hockey equipment lol( I haven't had a chance yet to carry any heavy loads, kind of disappointing to me since I finally have a truck again. While I was in a car, I needed a truck to carry junk, now that I have the truck, I never need to carry anything. Go Figure)

As for what Johnny said about the shocks, it should have been common sense for me. Just looking at the leaf springs should tell the story. I recall seeing a jeep one day with a shock hanging on by one mount point. It didn't seem to be leaning at all. I have tried the bounce test earlier, it seems to bounce once then quit. I will try again in the morning. Seems stiff, but it probably should be that way because of the leaf springs.

Everything appears to look normal. 

I will also say that I hear a lot of body flex. Had the service manager in the truck with me one time and pointed the noise out to him. Said, no problem there, thats just body flex. Never heard it in any vehicles I have riden in. Mainly when backing out and turning while exiting a parking spot. I took his word for it.

I have been reading some American Truck forums, and they have fixed their problems by "arching" the suspension(not real sure what that means) and adjusting the torsion bars. They also said not to let the dealership put spacers in the leafs, but then some said that they were in favor of inserting wedges in the rear leafs. 

Does anyone think that maybe I just have a defective leaf spring? Hell, I had a defective rear diff cover, bad window mechinism, bad lower radiator hose, bad counter measure pulley, bad seal were the driveshaft enters the tranny, could go, all this within 12,000 miles of owning the truck off the lot. I still love my truck and I am not downing Nissan. I know that on the assembly line there are going to be some "bad apples". Just wondering if this might be another defective part that my truck got stuck with.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

also in the other forums, the idea was thrown in the air that a good sized pot hole could bend the torsion bar and cause the truck to lean. But, would it make the truck lean more in the rear than the front?
I don't have measurement yet, but will get them. 
A lot of these people that I read about mainly had the lean more towards the rear of the truck.


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## johnnyhammers (Oct 13, 2005)

I've got a slight lean to one side that I think is on the front passenger corner. I wander I the clamp mechanism for my torsion bar has slipped, or if it's always been like this and I just never noticed it before. Either way, I should measure the difference on flat level ground, then adjust the bars to fit. 

I thing that "re-arching" the springs refers to either replacing the springs with new ones with a higher arch, or just pulling off the old ones and re-bending them with some sort of machine. But I don't really know for sure, so go back to those sites and just ask them. Maybe we will all learn something new.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

*Rough Measurements Taken*

I took some measurements with a tape measurement. These are only rough measurements since I measured the gaps with the tape measure at a angle. Just wanted to see what the differences were. Will do a better measurement when I have more time.

Gap between fender and wheel:
LF= ~3 6/8"
RF= ~4 2/8"
LR= ~4 2/8"
RR= ~4 7/8" 



Looks are decieving. I now know that the gap is in fact smaller on the LF.
Looking under the truck, the lower A-arm on the left side does not have close to the same angle/slant as does the right side. I now believe that the problem is in the front. I plan on taking a jack out there and jacking the front up to make the front gaps even to make sure the back evens out. 

What exactly does the front torsion bars look like. I have an idea, but when I looked at what I thought was the T-bar, I did not see any place on it where it could be adjusted. The believed to be T-bar also does not look bent just by visual inspection. 

Are you sure that the shocks in the front won't make a difference in the vehicle leaning? I realize that wouldn't be the case for the rear, but the front has me wondering. When I had a guy from the dealership ride with me (not the service manager) he said that the noise pointed out from above was comeing from the front. I swear it was the rear. But they lubed the front components anyways and it took care of a different noise that he must have heard. But anyways, he kept saying when his shocks went bad this and that and this and that. Really laid back guy that argued on my behalf for a another problem that I had. So, when I look back on it, I NOW wonder if he might have been on to something. 

Any ideas?

edit: I now know what the T bars look like. But I still did not see the place that they can be adjusted at.


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## johnnyhammers (Oct 13, 2005)

Just pop one of the front shocks off from one of their mounts, check it out. Maybe he's right, the shocks do have a little lift to them. One sure way to find out is to just pull the shock.
Good Luck, I'm curious to see your results.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

johnnyhammers said:


> Just pop one of the front shocks off from one of their mounts, check it out. Maybe he's right, the shocks do have a little lift to them. One sure way to find out is to just pull the shock.
> Good Luck, I'm curious to see your results.


Well, I just jacked the left front up to even the front end and the rear end seems like it evened out too, taking into consideration that the opposite corner will be affected when jacking up the vehicle. 

As far as taking stuff off the truck, I am just going to let nissan do it since it is still under warranty. But I am positive it is the left front now. Either the T bar of the shock, I'll find out for sure in the morning. 

Any other ideas, let me know. I have a feeling that I will be raising hell tomorrow to get it fixed correctly.


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## dvdswanson (Nov 6, 2005)

t-bar adjustments are in the area of the t-case, obviously one on each side.


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

dvdswanson said:


> t-bar adjustments are in the area of the t-case, obviously one on each side.


I have a 2wd. I see where they go, both ends of them. For the rear of the t-bar, it looks like it goes into a metal bracket, then on the other side of that, I see a nut(if I remember correctly). But that dosen't look like it would be for adjusting the t-bars. 

Any how, it is going to the dealership tomorrow for its 8am appointment. I will let them take it from there. 
Thanks


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## mitchell35758 (Oct 21, 2005)

*Problem Resloved, or at least I hope*

The dealer still maintains nothing was wrong with the shocks. They told me my alignment was bad, and needed a realignment. With that they could do a "vehilce ride hieght adjustment". They did the alignment and fixed the problem with the vehilce leaning. 

How is the "ride height" adjustment performed. Isn't just an adjustment to the T-bar?

Anyways, it sits level now. :thumbup:


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## johnnyhammers (Oct 13, 2005)

Well, if the shocks are good, and the ride is level, then you should be doing all right.


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