(EASY WAY) DIY Nissan altima 2002 to 2012 Rear Coil Spring (Common problem)

[@LeeKobe1]

Thanks for sharing how you did this without a coil compressor. We have a Nissan 2013 Altima, and the rear lower control arms, after just 8 yrs have rusted out and the right side broke while the car was being driven. Unbelievable. And Nissan says that our VIN doesn't qualify for them to repair/replace. Very frustrating. Thousands of other owners have had same issue. We're done with Nissan. Looks like your lower control arms are fairly rusted too, but they do appear to be slightly heavier material. Hopefully they hold up for you...I'd definitely keep an eye on them.

[@MTLJack]

Main problems on the Nissan Maxima and Altima are also the front subframe, they tend to rot. I did not need spring compressor because the control arm went low even for me to slip the spring in. After that, i just jacked it up as shown in the video.

[@HypocriticYT]

stamped out sheet steel, not made for winters with snow and salt. I had the oil pan rust out (almost). I replaced it with a new pan from the dealer $120, the parts guy knew the price without looking it up. I took off the old pan and a small screwdriver easily punctured the pan. It would have been only a matter of another winter and the pan would have dumped all the oil and likely burned up the engine before the problem was realised. I've seen the A/C on some vehicles have the condensation drip down and rust out the subframe.

[@Mophead520]

FWIW, all these videos on the rear coil spring change on the Altima recommend too much disassembly. I placed the car on jack stands. removed the wheel, put a floor jack under the lower swing arm and added a small amount of pressure on it. Removed the lower swing arm bolt, removed the jack, removed the old spring and pieces, positioned the new spring on the cups and by pushing down on the swing arm with my foot, put it in place, jacked it up to compress the spring and reinstall the lower attach bolt. Put the wheel back on I was done. 20 min./ side. Do not attempt to remove the sway bar, those are steel bolts torqued into an aluminum frame. Serves no purpose to remove. Due to dissimilar metal corrosion they may be a permanent fixture. They'll prob shear unless you apply heat and kroil. But like I said before it's totally unnecessary. Same with the shock absorber. I watched one of these videos that recommended that. It's not even attached to the lower swing arm. I also DID NOT loosen the eccentric cam for camber adj. nut. It's designed to pivot at that point. Local shop wanted over $400 parts and labor. Did both springs myself in under an hour and under $75.00.

[@berry_fam686]

I take it as using this method I should be able to do the same to remove the lower control arm? By removing the spring first I should be able to take the rest of the bolts and assemble it this way?

[@MacAutoDiag]

Make a video or stop talking

[@andrewpotter2553]

First thing first no jack stands so the car could fall on you and the second thing is you only have to remove the one bolt for the lower spring saddle. Time to R + R both springs is 1.8 hours that includes removing the tire.

[@MacAutoDiag]

Title is incorrect. Service info says 2002 applies to 2002-2006 Altima. Your video applies to 2007-2013 Altima

[@HypocriticYT]

The front brake dust shields rust out on these cars, don't bother replacing them as they don't really do a thing. If they are really bad and scraping the rotors just break them off, do not unbolt stuff to remove it all because the thickness is required to keep the other parts in position like a shim.

[@dupperskeez]

Great info on loosening the bolt only! Thanks for sharing.

[@MTLJack]

Glad it helped , make sure to like the video and maybe subscribe!!

[@RotogripRocks]

thanks for the vid. on another video, someone commented that you don't need to remove the sway bar attachment, is that true?

[@MTLJack]

If you do one side at a time, you must remove the sway bar bracket because when you lower the rear control arm , the sway bar will block it from going further and you won't be able to remove the coil spring.

[@katrinalindahl1293]

You don't need to I just did it without doing that and had no problems

[@willienillie6337]

Use some liquid wrench, will make your bolts easier.

[@HypocriticYT]

An alignment punch would make it much easier to align that bolt.

[@Chungi2020]

Your title says 2002-2012

[@MTLJack]

Nissan did not change the altima suspension designs from 2002-2012.

[@willienillie6337]

just don’t break the bolt..don’t break the bolt...

[@MTLJack]

no bolts were broken :)

[@lisaaguirre1960]

I recently replaced my struts and it still bottoms out I bought new springs to replace but they say that the springs are still good no need to be replaced but why does it still scrape with new struts..

[@cyberneticghost47]

@@lisaaguirre1960 did you use oem struts or aftermarket?