When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Oh, I've been out there. I know how cold it can get. Good luck on the project - I'll be working on my new front suspension this weekend, so I share your pain.
Tried getting a coffee this morning on summer tires. 😂 360 then rolled backward about 10ft. Thankfully getting some Cooper winter tires today since my blizak order is taking soo long.
Well, the suspension job is done. Over the last 3 1/2 weeks, I've put in:
Front and rear end links;
Front and rear Hotchkis adjustable sport sway bars;
Front and rear Koni Yellow adjustable suspension;
Rear control arms with new ball joints;
Front and rear differential Z1 Motorsports urethane bushings;
All new fluids (diff, gear, coolant, engine oil, clutch); and
Various new nuts, bolts and washers.
The great news is that the car finally handles like I imagine it should have from the factory, meaning it feels planted and responsive like a sports car should. The first thought that went through my mind while I was taking the car for its initial test spin was that the car felt "transformed."
I have the Koni's set toward soft for now (due to all the potholes and the cold weather.) I'm running 2/10 up front and 2/11 in the rears. On the sway bars, I'm running hole 2 up front and hole 1 in the rear, again on the soft side. That stated, the car handles like a completely different machine.
Despite the difficulty of the removal process, the differential bushings are ABSOLUTELY worth upgrading. The shifts are so much crisper, it's insane.
So in the end, after all the hard work, the crushed knuckles, the blood, the swearing, the sore back, the question can be asked was it all worth it?
YES.
Except that the (insert expletive ending with "ing" here) thumping noise in the left rear passenger area is still there. My project for next month: stripping all the trunk garnish and removing the rear bumper cover and light and getting this figured out. I know that it's going to be something simple and I'm going to need a stiff drink after I get it figured out.
Still, the suspension upgrayedd was on my bucket list well before the thumping sound started, so all in all, I'm completely thrilled with how well this project went.
Thanks for the update. While I'm a novice at working on cars; I can't believe we are in such a similar situation. As mentioned earlier in this thread. I also just had my front/rear diff bushings, rear knuckles, new front and rear control arms were put in 6 months earlier.
All of which gave my car back its planted feeling that I have lost a long time ago. (15 year Z33 owner). However just like you I still have a clunk/squeak noise coming from the rear left corner.
I spend all of Sunday stripping the rear trunk of its plastics and testing. After taking out just about everything back there I heard the sound even louder!? I then held onto the rear left corner and gave it a shake and with the trunk opened it was clear that the sound was coming from the strut mount area. I then did one more test by lifting the rear left side up with a jack and did the shake again, no sound.
I am just starting out with wrenching my own stuff and I do feel comfortable with the fix above. So I bought some new strut mounts and should have them in this weekend. Any thoughts on this Zak and other more experienced wrenchers? I really hope this will get rid of this final annoying issue and get my car.
That was the first thread I followed when the thumping sound started and I attempted every one the different listed solutions, including the plumber's gasket, the KYB shock mount, the grease... EVERYTHING. None of that worked. I did notice after I replaced those parts that I was getting a little play out of the ball joint on my left control arm and thought it could be that. It wasn't a LOT of play, only a few millimeters, but any play is bad play, so I went ahead and replaced both control arms when I did the suspension upgrade. The play is gone, but the thumping noise, as mentioned, is still there.
I was thinking about replacing the factory wheel bearings while I had everything apart, but they seemed fine. I know they have a bad reputation for failing at around 40-50K miles, so I may reconsider this and just replace them with some Moogs before the OEM bearings fail and take the races on the hubs out with them. I'd rather not replace the hubs if I don't have to, and pressing out the bearings isn't that big a deal. (I haven't found a single source for a pre-pressed rear bearing/hub assembly, so I'm kind of on my own to make that happen.)
I inspected the entire rear suspension assembly as best I could when I had everything apart and didn't see or feel any problems with any of the bushings, but I may take that route next if the problem continues. I'm also looking at replacing the spring isolators since they felt a bit gungy, even after I cleaned them off. I'm not looking forward to any more time under the car, but damn, the noise is irritating, and I'm finding that a lot of the OEM suspension components leave a lot to be desired in terms of longevity (mileage-wise, anyway.)
I'll keep updating as I continue to try to track this down. Of course, it's no guarantee that what works for me will work for you, but I can tell you that nothing on the thread you posted (an otherwise great thread, by the way) worked for my situation.
In terms of the shock mounts you purchased, just be aware that the KYB's are a bit taller than the factory mounts, so you'll need to push them in there a bit until you can get the top nut started. Once you do that, keep turning it until it bottoms out against the steel bushing sleeve and torque to spec (if you can - otherwise, get it nice and tight.) You'll need to use two wrenches to do this; one for the top nut and one to keep the shaft on the shock absorber from spinning around (an adjustable wrench works fine for this purpose, since the top of the shaft is square.)
If the KYB mount/gasket/grease solution works for you, and I hope it does, then please let us know. With regard to which kind of grease to use, I'd recommend going with something that's rubber-friendly, like silicone or dielectric.
That is unfortunate that this did not resolve the problem for you. I'm planning on doing the fix this weekend. Thanks for all the heads up.
I am planning on using these vice grips and a combo wrench to remove and install the strut assembly. I did also read about how hard it is to fight the larger bushing and may take precaution and freeze them overnight in hopes to reduce the size and will make sure that the strut mounts are securely fastened.
If this doesn't fix the issue..... just kidding but seriously i will be back with an update.
To be honest, I think freezing them would be unnecessary and may actually make it harder to compress the KYB shock mounts. If anything, I'd warm them up so they're a bit more pliable, since you're going to need to compress them, but not "press" them, if you catch my meaning.
I was thinking about my lower rear control arms when I was cleaning everything up and how much swing there is when you disconnect it from the axle. I went ahead and ordered a pair of Whiteline bushings for the inner lower control arms. Who knows, maybe that'll help. I'm really just trying to tighten up the suspension a bit.
As for the thumping noise, I'll put the rear of the car back in the air when the Whitelines come in and will quintouple-check everything, including preload adjustments.
Oh, one last thing, be sure to use the box end on the combo wrench. That nut gets really hard to turn before it bottoms out, and you're liable to round it off if you use the open end when you're tightening it down.
Just to be clear the noise that I am hearing can be described like this (in the next couple of days I will find a way to mount my phone to record a clean recording of this sound to share with you all)
1. When I shake the car on its wheels I can hear a click coming directly front the left top corner of my rear strut bar. With all the trunk plastics apart I shook the car and I'm fairly certain that the sound is coming from inside the strut bar. At first, I thought it may be a clip or something loose inside; I shined a light in there and I can see the strut mount right there where the sound is the loudest.
2. While driving the sound can be described as a cross between a loud clicking and the sound when something heavy is compressing a large spring, or some may call this a squeak.
3. The sound doesn't happen only when going over bumps but even on fairly smooth roads I can almost make it happen on demand while I give it good throttle at lower RPM/Speeds
4. I don't recall hearing this much when I turn. Now there used to be creaks and rattles when I turned at a brisk pace but after the bushings, I can really feel the car turn in very flat and stable and I do not think I ever heard this clunk while turning.
5. now if the strut mounts do nothing I will wait for Zak's review on the lower shock mount but per my testing I can tell it is louder from inside the car than it is outside so i'm just guessing the lower mounts should be okay? but i'm willing to try anything; I am contemplating just dynamatting the strut bar in hopes to minimize the interior noise.
Zak does this sound similar to what you're hearing? I will post an audio file if I can get a clean recording soon. maybe we can compare.
If it's clicking, I would be more inclined to blame it on the axle issue outlined in the Nissan TSB where they advise you clean the splines and apply moly grease. I had that sound as well, and doing the work outlined in the TSB got rid of it entirely.
The fact that you removed all the interior trim (garnish) and went at it with a flashlight kind of saves me from some of that hassle, so thanks for taking one for the team. The squeaking could be a blown shock. How many miles do you have on your suspension?
What I'm hearing is a clunking or thumping sound that corresponds with every time I drive over any pavement that isn't completely smooth, which around here means ALL pavement. The sound is more pronounced up to 35 mpg, but slowly goes away and at highway speeds all but disappears. It's definitely tied to the suspension, but the problem with the suspension is that it's tied to everything else, and noise like this will telegraph across different parts.
That being said, since the shock is mounted to a bushing on one side and to the shock tower on the other, I'm thinking that means it's an isolated part and noise is going to come from somewhere along the shock absorber between the top and bottom mount. The only thing I haven't changed out or lubed along that route is the shock's bottom bushing, which according to Z1 Motorsports, can cause a clunking sound if it's worn out. My car's low on miles, but it's ten years old, and I know time can be just as much an enemy to rubber bushings as mileage is.
The noise I'm hearing is a thumping sound, like someone's under the car tapping it with a rubber mallet every time I go over uneven pavement. The sound has gone away each time I've removed and remounted the shock only to come back a few minutes later. This is leading me to think that there's a strong likelihood that the issue is related to where the shock mounts to the bushing pressed into the axle housing.
It's frustrating as all hell that simple fixes that have worked on others' cars haven't worked on mine, but once I get the old shock mount bushing pressed out and the new one installed, I'm thinking I've replaced everything that could be replaced relevant to the rear shocks, short of the mounting studs up top. To be honest, it was a bit of a revelation to me after I installed the new Koni's in the rear that the problem was probably coming from somewhere closer to in the axle housing since it sounded like it was up on the top side. But like I said, sound's going to move through the shock like an engine tick does through a screwdriver, so it's just going to get amplified at the shock tower, regardless.
If I don't get the parts before the end of this week, I'll probably try to tackle it on the 23rd. Meanwhile, like I said, let us know how your fix goes.
i have read up on the axle click and already had the axles cleaned and lubed it while I had the car in the shop. And that click which has gone away I can tell it came from the axles and was very pronounced when taking off from a dead stop. this click/squeak/clunk is a bit different. may louder and a lot annoying.
Finishing up yet another thing that I've been sitting on way longer than I would like to admit, also have more time invested than I would care to admit.
Just waiting on my basement to stop smelling like plastic death so I can epoxy in the metal insert I just finished rounding out with a file.
It's made by the same company that re-brands the same wrench for Snap-On, who charges three times the price. Torque range is 40-250 lb.ft. I think the axle nut is 32mm.
Precision Instrument wrenches are made in the USA by CDI and the split-beam wrenches stay accurate for a long, LONG time.
If money's a bit tight, you can get a decent enough wrench at Harbor Freight that covers that torque range as well. To be honest, 177 lb.ft. of torque isn't that bad. I've dealt with worse on Volkswagons.
12-08-2017, 03:54 PM
just kidding but seriously i will be back with an update.
