Yes, that's true.

On one side of the fork the hole is larger with approx 5 mm in diameter than the other side where the nut is. The nut is incorporated in the fork, it is not a separate piece.

Also, the hole in the suspension arm which goes in the fork has the same diameter with the bolt, so a thicker bolt won't go through.

 

Its just amazing that this is a problem and Nissan did not fix it.

Im also kinda shocked that such a small movement could make such big sound.

 

I know its kind of a waste ... but I called Nissan again. Spoke to a parts guy who said often the Z needs a grease on the Sway Bar Bushings to get rid of a knocking sound over bumps. Could this clunk we all hear come from that or the Sway Bar Endlinks????

Anyone ever look into that?

 

I also wondered why Nissan did not fix the bolt-fork issue as it is very easy. And why they made onle hole larger in the first place, I suppose for making easy to assembly the shocks as it is somewhat harder to allign the hole in the fork with the hole in the arm and put the bolt in with all holes the same diameter with the bolt.

Before doing this fix I asked for a complete check of the suspension including the endlinks to make sure I eliminate all the possible causes of noise as there was no way of being sure. The endlinks were fine. Anyway, if the fix wouldn't work, I was planning to remove the sway bar and see if the noise goes away. But fortunatelly the fix worked and I am now sure that the cause in my case was the fork-bolt issue.

 

any harm in just ignoring it? i have 55k miles on my 07 and if its not a danger id rather just tune it out lol

 

rear shock gaskets.replace them!

 

Did that replacement and it came back! I think it only went away because it was spring and got warm anyway.

Im just having a hard time wrapping my head around a little tiny milimeter movement making such big noise.

What about the SWAY BAR BUSHINGS???????? Saw one comment on here where a person said that was the reason and its common and lubricant is the fix. Also Nissan parts guy said the same thing

 

Not to the car. But it is pretty detrimental to my sanity.

 

I've seen this and dealt with it myself, I think most people that have installed coils on Z's have had a similar problem and always seem to chase the top mounting holes with no luck (me being included from the misinformation of the forums). In my case it was the lower mounting bolt on the bottom of the rear shock was loose, not loose as in it wasnt tight. It was loose as in there was play between the bolt and the hole in the bushing it went through. My coils didnt come with the nut welded on the rear shock lower mounting postion so I just went to Ace hardware with the bushing that the rear shock bottom mounting bolt goes through and got a bigger diameter metric bolt and nut that actually fit through the bushing hole with no slop. I have had no noise issues with my suspension since then.

P.S.- If you guys dont think this is a issue heres the way I tested my theory. Remove the bolt out from the lower shock position, move the shock out of the way and reinsert the bolt through the control arm bushing mount now wiggle the bolt if its moving around up and down this is the issue. Like I said I went through all these BS remedies and nothing fixed it till I got the bigger bolt in there.

 

Here is another possible fix for people who this was unsuccessful.

https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance-...e-for-4-a.html

Ive been having the same issue after installing SPL front a-arms, compression rod bushings, and front lower control arms bushings all from SPL. Also, I installed SPL rear camber arms, eccentric lockout for camber arms, and SPC toe bolt washer extender.

When I took down the front cross bar (or brace) one of the bolts were stripped so I just ordered some bolts to replace the bad one maybe the bar is rattling against the steel it sits against. Or possibly the SPL compression rod bushings are too big and it is leaving a gap at the cross bar causing the rattle.

I am testing new bolt first, then I am going to try the link above if this doesn't work.

 

Could it also be the wheel bearings

 

Not wheel bearings.

Also, not sure about the shock fork bolt. If that was the case why is it so temperature dependent? During the summer, mine rarely makes a peep. During the winter it sounds like a tin can full of marbles rattling around back there. Even in the winter if the back of the car sits in full sun for a while the rattle is decreased.

I wonder if a lot of the confusion in this thread is because of different problems?

 

I have an 03 350z and recently i’ve had a clunking/knocking noise somewhere in the back middle. It happens mainly under decent acceleration and it barely happens under slow acceleration and it makes almost no noise when up to speed but it sounds horrendous. It doesn’t seem to be a wheel bearing. I do have a video of it but it won’t let me upload it.

 

My guess would be diff bushing