RonDawg
Contributor
Chebby:I never checked the GVWR rating for Altima, but doesn't that refer to weight evenly distributed along the car's four tires? I, on the other hand, had all the weight in the trunk >=200 pounds. Also (I think), mass stored in a trunk translates into more weight when hitting a pothole because it is located forther from the axis. When coming back from NY yesterday, I put the tanks and weights in the passenger compartment, even on the front seat to try to balance the car a bit.
I was not aware of the damaging potential of salt, I will ask the mechanic if he sees signs of rust. My Altima's year is 2000, it's in pretty good shape.
Unless you like to park in the ocean, a 4 year old car of any sort should not have significant rust damage, so something else is wrong. Definitely a mechanic will need to look at the car to see why it's doing that. If the suspension mountings have rusted through, it might be covered under warranty; many cars have 6 or more years' worth of rust-through warranty coverage.
Ideally, the GVWR (which, incidentally, is the TOTAL weight of the car including passengers, cargo, and fuel) should be evenly distributed among all four tires, primarily for handling reasons. In reality, manufacturers know it's not possible to evenly distribute the weight of cargo when the primary cargo-carrying area (trunk or pickup bed) is at the rear of almost all vehicles. Since the Altima has a front wheel drive, the car is already going to be nose-heavy, so if anything putting weight in the trunk should improve the car's handling to some degree.
My personal experience with loading heavy objects into the trunks of many modern cars is that it causes the piece of cardboard that covers the spare tire well/storage compartment to collapse, and that is the case with scuba tanks. You can solve this problem by putting a thick (minimum 1/2 inch) piece of plywood across the top of the well. It doesn't have to fit the trunk perfectly but it does have to be large enough to reach across the empty space and onto solid sheetmetal.