I'm pretty sure the Hotchkis sways just need more goop, but I won't have a chance to get to it for awhile, so I wanted to run it by you guys just to make sure.

The odd thing was it made no sound until a few days ago, then it became continually noisey all the sudden. There was nothing gradual about it.

It's a clunk sound on bumps and while steering. Sometimes two clunks. But it hardly goes 5 or 10 seconds without a clunk.

Nothing is wrong that I can see. (Except I got a huge static discharge while checking the lug nuts today!)

 

i used to get the same clunk sound. It got really bad that i was embarassed to drive the Z in town. I went to the dealer and they replaced both front shocks and control arms. The sound went away but i still get a clunk once in a while. Then, the dealer lubed them or something and now theirs nomore clunk noise.

hope this helps...

 

Thanks, it helps.

I hope I don't have to go to the dealer again, because it's almost like you have to build and argue a supreme court case in front of them just to get them to fix something.

 

this may not be the same thing but I had a clunking sound which seemed to come from the front suspension of my car when I would go over bumps, however after I had the dealer do this service bulletin it went away. not that this service bulletin has them doing anything other than retorquing the front arms.

http://www.nissanhelp.com/Ownership/.../NTB03-088.htm

 

Good to know. Thanks. I didn't remember that TSB, or maybe I just missed it.

For you guys, did the clunking just start all the sudden? Or did it build up over time?

 

mine kinda came up a few thousand miles after I put on my s-techs. but I don't recall if it was a sudden thing. although it did seem to get louder the longer I didn't get it addressed. man, you must be an insomniac huh?

 

S-tech? What kind of part is that again?

I did just replace my front brake pads a few weeks ago. I did that because they were squeeking, but they're still doing that too. Maybe it's the rears though. It's hard to tell with such a high-pitched noise.

Hehe yeah. I usually sleep between 5 and 11, get to work at 1, leave at 7, and then work a few hours at night.

 

tein s-tech drop springs? shame on you for not knowing jk. so wait a sec, is it a clunk? or a high pitched screech?

 

Hehe, sorry, I'm not much of a modder.

I'd say it's a clunk or a knock. The high pitched screetch is something else (the breaks I think). Along with the EVO short-shifter, I'm a one-man band.

 

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Tell me if I'm wrong--Hotchkiss sways (unlike my Stillens, for example) don't have a welded-in stop on the bars, so the bars can shift unrestricted right or left w/in the bushings. With worn out/depleted lube and/or fatigued bushings and no stops on how far the sways travel, the clunk may come from a shifting/repositioning of the sways attempting to get back to "0".
Stop collars and some non-lithium-based lube may help. Urethane bushings might help as well. I installed Prothane bushings all around and have had zero problems. Also, from what I've read on these boards, the collars and bushings are pretty cheap to buy;install seems basically DIY. Just my 2c.

 

Sorry-forgot to mention, I know the Prothane bushings are cheap, since I installed them w/ my Stillens. It's the stop collars I believe are pretty cheap, too. A search will tell you a lot more on stop collars than I can since I didn't need them on the Stillens.

 

I used urethane bushings and non-li lube... but I think it's probably worn off since it's been almost year. I'm still surprised how suddenly it came on.

 

Do the "clunks" sound on a speed bump or while your at 40mph then you hit a road bump? I get a clunk sound too, but mine is coming from the rear. I hear a clunk sound also when I drive in circles or u-turns.

 

Yes, it seems kinda sudden doesn't it? Have you tried collars and refreshed lube?

 

>> Do the "clunks" sound on a speed bump or while your at 40mph then you hit a road bump? I get a clunk sound too, but mine is coming from the rear. I hear a clunk sound also when I drive in circles or u-turns.

Man, it could be any kind of bump at any speed. It's creaking like an old jalopy. And it really does *feel* like the anti-sway bars.


>> Yes, it seems kinda sudden doesn't it? Have you tried collars and refreshed lube?

Nope, but I will right now that I have a sunny Saturday afternoon. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't something that would obviously destroy my car if I waited a week to fix it.

 

I'm just guessing here, but I think Zillinois had the same problem as me and found a solution for it which is to add collars to the sway bar:

https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-suspension/93923-possible-hotchkis-sway-bar-fix.html

When I got my car up on blocks to look closely enough, the bar has moved all the way to the end on the driver's side and so I bet when the curve of the bar hits the bushing, it makes the noise. It does seem to happen more on right turns. This probably happens due to some design problem with the car, or it's just because I take on/off ramps fast all the time and they always turn the same way!

Making a U-turn doesn't really clunk that much because it's the other direction, and it moves the bar to the other side.

 

I've been thinking about this. Maybe, just maybe, it's not a sway/collar/lube problem at all. If it's coming from the rear, then maybe it's a rear axle problem. There have been lots of posts on the axle subject and a TSB as well. Prolly best to do a search here on the axle subject, just to make sure we're not missing the real issue. I'm posting out an abundance of caution-just don't want to give bad advice.

 

Oh yeah, I've heard of that. I'm almost certain it's coming from the driver's side front suspension though.

I guess I'm screwed if it's something major because I'm outside of 3 years now...

 

ball joints?