MrTrace

Good afternoon. I posted a post in another area of this board before realizing that I needed to post it here. We are having suspension problems with our 02 Max GLE and wanted to get a few opinions (alot actually if we could) of how to make the situation improve.

The front passenger side strut is making a pinging noise and the dealer has said that it is blown and that we should just replace all 4 struts (well the back two are shocks?) at the same time. The car's ride has been choppy since buying it used with 21,000 miles and we are figuring now would be the time to pick struts that would rid us of this problem. We are looking to keep the stock springs, as I have found out from many reviews, they will be the softest but am unsure which struts we should use that would match the stock springs. We have got opinions from a few other guys on this board stating the GR-2s and Illuminas would be a fine choice. What we are looking for is a soft smooth highway ride and would even be willing to give up some "sport" (if there is any on the gle model) for a better ride.

Which struts would you guys recommend? Should we remain stock or would the GR-s's or Illuminas be your choice? Several mechanics we've gone to have set keep the stock struts because everything else will be too stiff and we will not like them. These mechanics also were not too knowledgful on the Illuminas (and their adjustability - would the lowest setting be plush or too floaty? and/or would it lose handling) as I find out that not too many mechanics in our area are. Granted that the Maxima is not a Cadillac or a Lexus and this is not what we are seeking (actually if we could have the soft ride with some handling why not??? - I know tires also affect this and our Coopers (Mastercrafts) do not help) but we would favor a set-up more geared towards the highway cruiser family sedan that is not too boaty/floaty (plush would be okay), as this is what we use it for primarily. Thank you for your responses.