94q45...Trouble with front end suspension....hopping

[Rokketarm]

Hi all, I'm having trouble with my left front wheel hopping pretty bad when I apply my brakes. I just put new tires, and struts on the front. Any suggestions as to what this is and how to fix it?? Thanks

[maxnix]

Shouldn't affect it, but did you also replace the boots with the integral bump stops?

How about tension rods and upperlinks? Any other worn parts? What were the algnment settings?

[Rokketarm]

I did not, where are the bump stops located, and the boots? I'm just curious what would make it hop like that? The only way to get it to stop is to almost come to a complete stop....

[maxnix]

Sounds like a warped rotor. Not Chinese are they? When were they last turned?

[96Qowner]

I was thinking the same thing, Brian. But the pulsing would have to be pretty obvious to make the wheel lock up like that.

Rokket, do the brakes pulse badly when the wheel isn't hopping? If you only touched the wheels and shocks, the rotor shouldn't have suddenly warped. If someone else did the work, you should tell them. Somebody screwed up. You should pull the wheel and take a good look at the rotor and caliper.

I haven't seen this problem mentioned before - it's an odd one.

[Rokketarm]

I don't feel any obvious pulsing, but it started hopping about 2 weeks ago when I was just driving at about 40mph , so I replaced the struts on the front, replaced all 4 tires, and now it just hops when I apply the brakes, this is frustrating as hell, I appreciate all your advice...

[gammer_ghn]

i had the same problem before and if u really want to know it could be the your bolts arent tight on your rim so just refasten them you will see if it works or not but the warped rotor is a very good one too EBAY rotors suck!!!!!!!

[96Qowner]

Ok, if it hopped before, without using the brakes (if I understand correctly), then it's not the rotor. I'd suspect an out-of-round tire, but you put new ones on. The guys who mounted the tires would have noticed a bent wheel when they tried to balance it, so ... huh ... odd one.

Something to do with the spring on that wheel? Broken spring mount? Do you hear any rattling or other noise from that corner?

[maxnix]

I am wondering about the ball joint, bearings, wheel concentricity and lateral run out. Brand and size of tires? Flat spotted?

So much to know and so little data provided.
Modified by maxnix at 5:47 AM 6/4/2007

[Rokketarm]

I just replaced the rotor last night, and it took some of the hopping away, but not all. At this point I've replaced the strut, tire, and rotor. The spring is fine with no broken mount, would a worn ball joint cause this? I've had the car for a year, and it was fine up until 2 weeks ago when all this started. As far as the boots, there is one underneath that I noticed that needs to be replaced, could this be the problem?

[Rokketarm]

Update on my hopping problem, turns out that the bushings on the rack and pinion were completely gone which allowed the rack to slide back and forth freely causing my violent hopping. I went to my local infiniti dealer and picked up the bushings, installed them and everything is right once again, thanks for all your help and suggestions....

[maxnix]

Wow. They must have been disintegrated. Surprised whoever did the front end repair missed that.