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Nissan Fanbois, need help with the tires on my nissan maxima.

C

coolred

Diamond Member
1997 Nissan maxima SE, what size tires does it use? I am getting conflicting reports. I was thinking it was 16's, but walmart and seasr say 15's. They are likely right, I just want to be sure. I don't have the ca here with me right now, so I casn't check whats on it, but I will later.
 
Alright I got the car back, the tires on it are P215/55R16's. But places like walmart and sears keep telling me a '97 Max SE uses P215/60R15. I don't know much about tires, is it possible that both of those size tires fit?
 
Originally posted by: coolred
Alright I got the car back, the tires on it are P215/55R16's. But places like walmart and sears keep telling me a '97 Max SE uses P215/60R15. I don't know much about tires, is it possible that both of those size tires fit?
Click to expand...

A 15" tire will not fit a 16" wheel. Maxima SEs had 16" wheels while GXEs and GLEs had 15" wheels. Many tire shops just go by 15" probably.
 
Thanks, although I would like to think they are smart enough to know what tire fits what car. Sears I can understand as they didn't ask about trim level, but walmart did and they state the Se uses a 15" tire.
 
Also do i have to replace the 215/55R16's with those exact same number tires. Or will something differant like a 225/55R16 or 215/65R16 or even 205/60R16 work?
 
The tire width can change with no side effects (205 vs 215 v 225), but if you change the sidewall heightt (55r verus 65r versus 60r) your tire's circumfrence changes and will cause your odometer to be ever so slightly off. I wouldn't worry about it as long as your keeping the wheel the same size (16"). Many people go from 15" stock wheels up to 20" or so and don't mind the odometer being fvcked.
 
You can usually have a bit of variation in tire size. Speedo won't be spot on but you can definitely gain some handling or ride quality. I went from a 204/45R17 to a 215/45R17 and the ride quality improved noticeably.
 
Go to a real tire store, e.g. Discount Tire, Just Tires, or even Sam's Club (good prices there too)... and you'll get the right size *which should be 16" unless you have non-factory wheels on there*. The Wal-mart guys are probably looking up GXE or the GLE trim (both of those trims came with 15" tires). All the 95-96 models came with 15" tires, the 97-99 SEs had 16" and GLE/GXEs had 15".
 
I got the tires figured out, but they found another problem. Apparently the passengers side fron strut was broken. What exactly does this do?
 
Replace it. Its a suspension component. By "broken" the shop meant blown so its not doing its job of providing you with a smooth ride.
 
Walmart = dumb! That maxima can have 15 or 16, although the SE comes stock with 16. But you've already sorted that out 😉

Be really careful about paying somebody to replace your strut, because quite often a "bad strut" doesn't actually need to be replaced (because it isn't bad!). Ask him what's wrong with it exactly? If the boot is torn, which it very probably is, then it doesn't really matter. The boots on my '97 struts were ripped to sh*t when I bought it 11k miles ago, and it's great. Some people on the maxima.org forums don't have any boots at all. A bad strut will reward you with a squishy ride or sounds. If you notice no driving problems I would either not bother getting it replaced, or get a second opinion.

What the strut does is it works in combination with the spring and helps the ride. If you look at a car with a bad strut, it will hit a bump and the car will go up and down all day.
 
A torn boot on its own isn't a problem. The problem comes from dirt ruining the seal on the shock. How on earth does a shock boot get torn up anyway?
 
95-96 SE 's have 15" rims( 7 spoke) , 97-99 SE's have 16" rim( five spokes )s.

id stick with the stokc tire size and shop at tirerack . I reccemend Sumitomo HTR+ tires, they are fantastic.
 
Originally posted by: NutBucket
A torn boot on its own isn't a problem. The problem comes from dirt ruining the seal on the shock. How on earth does a shock boot get torn up anyway?
Click to expand...

The boot rubber just disintegrates over time and exposure to the elements.... mine had completely disintegrated... I replaced them when I put on new struts last year. If you do end up having the struts replaced *you'll want to replace both fronts as a set* - make sure you replace the strut bearings (even if you decide not to replace the boots).

(njmodi from maxima.org)
 
Originally posted by: NutBucket
A torn boot on its own isn't a problem. The problem comes from dirt ruining the seal on the shock. How on earth does a shock boot get torn up anyway?
Click to expand...
Dunno, but mine were in a wrecked state. I guess the same way CV boots would - just a lot of action, and finally it opens up a bit and then crap happens. Yeah, they protect the strut from getting damaged, but at least in my case the struts have been doing pretty well without them ;0

 
Originally posted by: njmodi
Originally posted by: NutBucket
A torn boot on its own isn't a problem. The problem comes from dirt ruining the seal on the shock. How on earth does a shock boot get torn up anyway?
Click to expand...

The boot rubber just disintegrates over time and exposure to the elements.... mine had completely disintegrated... I replaced them when I put on new struts last year. If you do end up having the struts replaced *you'll want to replace both fronts as a set* - make sure you replace the strut bearings (even if you decide not to replace the boots).

(njmodi from maxima.org)
Click to expand...

I suppose it seems more likely with rubber boots. I have hard plastic sleeves.

And Skoorb, you and I both know CV joints are a totally different entity😉
 
Originally posted by: NutBucket
Originally posted by: njmodi
Originally posted by: NutBucket
A torn boot on its own isn't a problem. The problem comes from dirt ruining the seal on the shock. How on earth does a shock boot get torn up anyway?
Click to expand...

The boot rubber just disintegrates over time and exposure to the elements.... mine had completely disintegrated... I replaced them when I put on new struts last year. If you do end up having the struts replaced *you'll want to replace both fronts as a set* - make sure you replace the strut bearings (even if you decide not to replace the boots).

(njmodi from maxima.org)
Click to expand...

I suppose it seems more likely with rubber boots. I have hard plastic sleeves.

And Skoorb, you and I both know CV joints are a totally different entity😉
Click to expand...
Yeah but they're still rubber. I would gauge severity of breakdown and how big a deal it is in this order:

1) Broken "rubber"
2) Broken CV boot rubber
3) Broken Strut boot

 
Wow a lot of quick posts. The guy did recommend doing both struts, said its not the best idea to just replace one. I don't know about squishy, but the ride was a bit rougher then I would have liked. Had it looked at by a nissan dealership and they didn't see any problems, but that was a several months ago so who knows.
 
Originally posted by: njmodi
Originally posted by: NutBucket
A torn boot on its own isn't a problem. The problem comes from dirt ruining the seal on the shock. How on earth does a shock boot get torn up anyway?
Click to expand...

The boot rubber just disintegrates over time and exposure to the elements.... mine had completely disintegrated... I replaced them when I put on new struts last year. If you do end up having the struts replaced *you'll want to replace both fronts as a set* - make sure you replace the strut bearings (even if you decide not to replace the boots).

(njmodi from maxima.org)
Click to expand...

yes definately replace the strut bearings. did mine anyway when i changed the suspension b/c everything was opened up already.
 
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