I will post some picts in a few weeks - I have a busy track schedule ahead of me and I am trying to work on the car.

For you enjoyment here are some pictures before the end links and only 265 front and 295 rear:

 

Nice . . . that's a Z that was "born to track."

 

Nice looking car!

 

Any update from anyone? Still looking for a quality front end links to replace my OEM set . . .

 

i replaced my endlinks this past weekend, the clunking noise is still there. i have no clue what it could be anymore. abui01 drove my car and confirmed that the sound was similar to his endlink noise but yet the noise persists after replacing them with the SPL ones. its driving me crazy!!

 

Probably not from your endlinks. Either your sway bars are moving laterely, the sway bars are hitting something when they move, or something else in your suspension.

As far as a quality aftermarket - I did give an update on the powergrid.

 

Is the noise in the front or back? What is the setting on your sway bars? Did you adjust the end links accordingly after the install? They probably needed to be tightened up if they were loose initially.

 

it's the rear. i have OEM sway bar still so it's not the setting. hmm, what do you mean tightened up? when i installed them, i made sure all the adjustment nuts were on there tight, but i'm not sure about the height adjustment of the endlinks, it's still adjustable when they're on the car. it's hard to explain what i'm trying to say lol.

 

Is there a reason why you replaced the stock rear end links? Were they worn out or you just thought they were causing the clunking noise? Did you adjust the SPL end links after installing them? Also, did you check the sway bar to see if there's any play in it?

 

I replaced my front end links on the 03 last week with the updated 04 and up ones. Clunk immediately went away and I noticed a stiffer front suspension. Comparing the old to new the old ones where extremely loose around the ball joint, I could move the bolts in any direction without effort, the new ones where stiff and a lot harder to move with no play in the ball joint area. Also the rubber seal was worn on each end and I could see a lot of rust forming. I believe this item should be listed under the maintenance section of the owners manual Still I have to give some credit to the OEM links, my Z has over 70k, daily driven through bad NC roads, running a lowered stiffer suspension with wider 19" rims, no front strut bar and on top of all that a short time ago when I first got the rims I accidentally landed in a huge pothole cracking one rim in the front right down the middle. The noise only started recently after a trip to the Tail of the Dragon in the mountains for a little fun, it started as a faint pop then around every turn quickly became louder and louder. As stated before if your Z has a similar noise front or rear I would find the end links and wiggle them back and forth to see if they are loose or check the bolts to make sure they are tight. Another problem I encountered was the exhaust pipe hitting a crossmember. This can also cause a clanking noise around turns or bumps. Very noticeable if your under the Z. I have a creak noise on my rear suspension which has not gone away even after replacing springs, shocks and sways. All bolts are tight and I do not believe it is end link related or axle click b/c I had the click then made Nissan perform the repair according to the TSB on it. Is this what you are hearing? If so I have heard of some people curing the sound by tightening their spare tire ****. I did this with no luck but I believe it might be the upper gaskets on the rear shocks, when replacing the old shocks I noticed that the gaskets where paper thin, it was late and I installed the shocks without them. Maybe the metal to metal contact might be making the noise. I will order the parts soon and keep you guys updated. Good luck with your clunk, creak, click or rattle

 

abui01 - What year and trim is your Z? The PIC displaying your old links looks nothing like what I removed from my 03 Touring. To be honest my old ones looked identical to the newer revised links that I purchased from Nissan, might the factory links already been replaced once before I purchased her? If so then I do not give so much credit to the stock piece, I purchased her with 45k on the dash and as stated before she is pushing 70k now and might I say looking and running finer/better then ever, LOL.

Z1 - Any progress on the solid one piece design? The replacement pieces I installed are only there temporarily to stop the annoying the clank and prevent any further damage to the suspension. I believe the design pictured in the first page would be perfect for my ride. "Very nice how much?" - BORAT HAHAHA

 

the SPL link looks identical to Whiteline

nothing to report yet on our end

 

i replaced them because they were the "common" fix to the clunking problem i was hearing. how would i adjust them? i just set them to equal length of the OEM ones and tightened them. i'm pretty sure the sway bar is on there tight. i can double check everything though...

 

Yeah, double-check them to make sure there isn't any play, which is probably what is causing the clunking noise. Tightening up your new adjustable end links might do the trick.

 

I just checked with SPL and I was informed that their front end links will not be available until early next year (Jan/Feb 2007). Looks like I'll be looking at the Powergrid product. Anyone have the Whiteline end links installed? Any others have any update on the ones being tested?

 

Still waiting for mine from TC Design.

Edit, just spoke with them, they've got all the parts in now so they should be ready soon.

 

Guys - I just put 2 more hot track hours on mine at Barber Motorsports and couldn't be happier with the Powergrid. Here is some pictures of the testing they underwent at Sebring (and I am not sponsored by them either):

 

Checkout thread below on update to new SPL endlinks (post #54):

https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-suspension/230829-some-new-spl-stuff-sneak-peak-3.html

 

Just picked up my end links from TC Design. They are very sturdy, race quality parts with high quality bearings! I'll post some pictures tomorrow with more details when I have some time.

They are ready to go so anyone who is interested should give TC a call.

www.tcdesignfab.com

 

Can you give me an idea of how much they cost? You can PM me if u don't want to post on here. I am just trying to figure out which way to go with my front end links which are currently shot.