Anniversary Edition suspension rehab and other stuff

[rover3l]

Well I have finally made major progress on my suspension rehab courtesy of Infiniti Parts USA and help from forum members in terms of guidance on what parts to replace.

Last week the mechanic who works on my car replaced the front struts and all associated bushings, sway bar bushings, sway bar links, rear shocks / bushings.

He ran into a few problems which I will mention as follows:

Could not remove ABS sensors without damaging them and so I had to order replacements from Joe

Could not remove rear sway bar links without shearing off the nuts so I have ordered new links, washers and nuts to go with the 6 bushings I already have

Infiniti Parts USA shipped by mistake, two RHS front sway bar links and without realizing they were the same, my mechanic fitted both. Needless to say the ball joint came apart on the when I made a sharp turn. Infiniti Parts USA are in the process of shipping me a replacement correct part for the left hand side.

So far I can report an improvement in general ride comfort and particularly in handling and general control. Of course now the sway bar link has come apart all bets are off and I am limping along until the new part arrives.

I did expect that the suspension might be a lot quieter (like my work colleagues 1998 Deville) but it still makes noise over broken pavement. It could be related to the lower profile tires than the Deville however.

Other issues I would like to address and would welcome input on are:

1. Road noise is excessive and may be due to cupping on one tire. I have a set of Bridgestone Turenza's with Serenity Technology with 10,000 miles on them. They were reported to be an extremely quiet tire by Tire Rack which I have not found. However, as mentioned this could be due to a problem with one tire as the main road noise I think is coming from the rear right side but it is difficult to be sure.

2. There is some mechanical noise which I do not think would have been present when new. At 65 - 70 mph, there is a droning noise which seems to be exhaust system related. Specifically it is a low frequency noise which disappears if I take my foot off the gas.

Any input would be welcomed

[maxnix]

Turanza are not up to FGY33 service. You need to upgrade your tire a tier or two.

The front strut bearings at the minimum should have been replace also. Maybe shock mounts also?

[trajanH]

Can you tell us what method the mechanic used to remove the ABS sensors?I would like to know why you cannot remove the ABS sensors without damaging them? Is the part engineered to fail on removal? What is going on with that part?I also had problems removing the nut on the front sway bar links of my 97 q45 and had to cut them off to replace the part.

[paranoidjack]

same issue here, just poor design, or recommended replacement, however you want to look at it.

[tfvesquire]

Can you tell us what method the mechanic used to remove the ABS sensors?I would like to know why you cannot remove the ABS sensors without damaging them? Is the part engineered to fail on removal? What is going on with that part?I also had problems removing the nut on the front sway bar links of my 97 q45 and had to cut them off to replace the part.

The reason is that they were never installed from the factory using anti-seize compound. The moisture and salt (in the northern states) gets in there and basically fuses the sensor to the spindle housing. I too tried to remove one and ended up destroying it even after sooking it with PB Blaster for three days straight. On the other one, I just disconnected the wire harness and carefully fed it through the grommet hole on the wheel well. Then, I taped the wire to the strut housing while I chaged out the strut cartridges. Installed it and it worked ad good as new with no ABS/Traction Control dash lights.

Good luck and remember to put some anti-seize on the new sensor.

Ted

[rover3l]

Strut bearings and mounts were included as part of the rehab. Now that the rear sway bar link bushings have been replaced it is actually a lot quieter. Also we have just replaced the front left hand side sway bar link as I was originally sent two right hand side parts. Finally it feels like new.

In terms of the Turenza's the load rating is correct for the Q45 and they are the correct size. OEM's Potenzas for example have a much worse noise comfort rating according to Tire Rack surveys and so I would be interested to understand what you would recommend with ride and noise comfort being my most important criteria
Modified by rover3l at 8:03 PM 8/6/2009

[rover3l]

In the end it was just brute force as they were seized in place. There is a screw to be removed and then in theory they should pull out, but they were both solidly seized in place. This added a bunch of unwanted cost to this project
Modified by rover3l at 7:18 PM 8/6/2009

[maxnix]

I am more for wet and dry performance. No comfort for me if car does not respond in high speed curves or wet stops!

So right now, I like the Goodyear F1 GS D3 and the Michelin Pilot Sport 2.

Load ratings are only a minimum. My wife put some Dunlop Direzza DZ101 on in an emergency and they were done before 10K and loud to boot. It is the carcass constrution and stability under load that is important. Touring tires are for Buick Roadmasters.

UTQG rating should be 300 or less. 220 is good. Harder is bad.

And congratulations for restoring your suspension. On the stock wheels, whether 16" or 17", there is a very limited tire selection.

By the way, the PS2 are one of the quietest tires if not the quietest tire I have ever driven which is remarkable for their high performance envelope. Comfort in 40 aspect ratio on 18" wheels was also outstanding.

Anyone interested in tires for a Q45 should read hth tire sticky in Infiniti General.

Congratulations on restoring your suspension. Enjoy!

There is very little selection for performance tires in either of the stock 16" or 17" wheel diameters and widths.
Modified by maxnix at 4:44 PM 8/6/2009

[rover3l]

Thanks I will do some research on these. I probably have a 7/10th of my tread left on the Turenza's so I will need to decide whether to junk these or whether to wait it out or take a hit now and change to a better tire.

My goal is to restore the original NVH of the car to as new and the suspension re-hab was a good first step.

The next issue is one I mentioned in the original post which is either transmission or exhaust system related. There may be two issues but I will try to describe in better detail than before:

1. When pulling away from rest, I feel the car is too noisy in the way a low priced car would be until it reaches a higher gear. I can't determine whether this is auto transmission related or exhaust system but it sounds more mechanical than exhaust if I am pressed to make a judgement

2. When driving at say 60 mph and above there is a low frequency drone which is only evident when the car is in cruise control or I have my foot normally on the gas at constant speed. If I back off the gas and coast momentarily the drone goes away. The drone sounds more exhaust system than rear axle but I could be wrong as it is fairly subtle but annoying if you really know these cars.
Modified by rover3l at 6:47 PM 8/7/2009

[maxnix]

I would investigate driveline (drive shaft in particular) and differential.

When my wife had a droning at highway speeds, turnid out to be cupping on the dreaded Dunlop Direzza DZ101.

Back to the tires breifly, the ones I recommended are summer only tires. Like every one did in the fifties, I recommend winter tires for winter conditions. All season are comprmised performance tires and not very good snow tires.