Nissan Wingroad Y-10 (1997/98): Rear Ground Clearance Low With 4 Pax In The Car

Wingy · November 20, 2007

Hello all,

My 1st post on my 1st car, hope you can help out a newbie... :rolleyes:

My car: Nissan Wingroad Y-10 (1997/98)

I noticed when I travel alone or with 2 pax, the car acts normal on bumpy roads. However, when we have 2 people in the back (4 in total in the car), the rear tends to scrape or touch bottom on bumpy roads, especially during reversing.

I noticed anyway with 4 people in the car, the rear is rather low, which is surprising for a station wagon. I did a shock & brake test at Nalaka Tyre House, and they told me all my 4 shocks are bad.

1) Can you please look at the attached report and give me a 2nd opinion as to whether ALL my shocks are really bad? I only notice the rear is low.

http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=s...treport2lz9.jpg

2) If shocks are not too bad, is there an alternative to lift the rear (safely), in a more economical way? Cost of new KYB shocks for rear are Rs3790/= each

3) Also, in the brake test, the "Ovality" for my rear types came highlighted (13 & 14), but the guy there said nothing to worry. Is that true?

Thanks in advance guys...

Wingy

Ripper · November 20, 2007

welcome to the forum and congrats on your buy

I assume that you need specs from a factory manual compare that report against to come to a conclusion... it might be available on the web too but not too sure...

I would take it to the agents and get a check done by them also to make it 100% sure if the bad shock problem is not very apparent... If the car bottoms out with two people pretty easily i think it's safe to assume that the shocks are F'd up...

I'm sure expert nissan users can chime in with better advice

leonardo · November 20, 2007

No expert but are you the first owner of the car? If you are and have never replaced your shocks I think its safe to assume your shocks need replacing considering the YOM. What's the mileage? You can also do things the old fashioned way and press down on the car to see if there is too much "flex" and if it bounces around. For me the best indication that shocks are bad are if the car bounces around too much when driving over a bad road or over a railway track crossing.

You may want to consider replacing just the rear shocks to see if it sorts out your problem.

The Don · November 20, 2007

Having owned a station wagon myself I can say this much,

1. I am not sure how any of us can disagree with a test result, but generally speaking if your car is rather bumpy and there is exaggerated up and down movement after hitting a pot hole for example thats a sure sign the shock absorbers are on their way out. The problem starts more subtly and that might be what the test revealed. As for your loading issue, station wagons sit quite high up when not loaded as the rear springs are quite long and strong to carry loads. But the springs are not too strong as to hold the car up when loaded, and this is to ensure that it performs and is comfortable like a car, not a lorry or a double cab. With 4 adults in this probably means the car levels out to its natural position and thus the bottom scraping problems you experience. Its an issue that comes out of the car design, and the solutions you have is either to put longer springs in, which might affect the stability of your car by, or simply to drive more carefully, which is what I did

2. The ovality of the wheels probably means the wheels are out of shape, but as long as it does not affect the balance of the wheels too much and a remedy can be found through wheel balancing it it can be tolerated.

The Don