clicking tapping noise after changing rear shocks of my qx4

[new2infinitiqx4]

I have a clicking/tapping noise from my driver side rear suspension after changing the rear shocks with KYB Gas a Just and also changed my rear stabilizer links.. the shocks raised the truck up a bit after i installed them.. so im thinking something else is worn but i cant figure out what it could be.. i checked everything.. it wasnt happening right after either.. it took a week or so for it to happen.. i hear it inside sounds like if i didnt screw in the shocks right but i just check it and tightened it even more..

[new2infinitiqx4]

no one has any ideas??

[vq35]

same situation, interested in the same answer - mine sounds like it is 'creaking' and I also suspected the rear hatch ..... but not sure.

[Towncivilian]

Here is a post about the squeaky hatch, but unfortunately there are no pictures so it might be a bit hard to follow the posted instructions. That's the only thread that came up in a search for "hatch squeak".

[new2infinitiqx4]

thank you towncivillian, but its not the hatch.. it sounds like something wasnt tightened.. or that soemthing got loose when i installed the new struts.. i did check the hatch all over the seals are fine.. and it doesnt sound like thunking

[Towncivilian]

Have you torqued the rear strut hardware properly? See SU-14 for the torque specs. You also should have replaced the two bolts per side, but reusing the bolts is most likely not causing your noise.

[new2infinitiqx4]

i have a feeling the strut might be bad.. but idk.. im gonna be looking into it this weekend if its nice enough outside

[Camelfilter]

Could bad/worn control arm bushings cause a clunk/click type noise?

I have a similar sound from my rear suspension, and have had it for a few years now. One shop had tried to localize the noise but couldn't. They had thought it was coming from the rear tire carrier...I just live with it, as mine did not apear to be a safety factor-but dang it would be nice to have a quiet Pathy again.

[new2infinitiqx4]

yeah i hear that.. i was thinking maybe it was the shock itself considering it wasnt doing it before i changed them.. i havent had any time to check anything.. on monday or tuesday im gonna take the shock off and see if it does the noise when its off the truck.. if so.. back to kyb it goes.. other then that noise.. LET ME TELL YOU!! after changing the shocks and struts with kyb brand and replacing the stabilizer links oh my damn.. what a different truck i have to totally get used to driving it again.. feels like the first day i had it hahahaha

[Pathfound49]

I've had relatively fresh struts produce that type of sound where the spindle makes the right angle up to the housing of the strut. Something was broken inside the strut. The were monroe sensatracs and on a maxima, not a pathfinder. I don't think it matters though. I used the same method that one would use to check a bad ball joint to see if the sound is made.

[new2infinitiqx4]

what would that method be.. cause the ball joint i wouldnt touch unless i saw it was broken..

[Camelfilter]

what would that method be.. cause the ball joint i wouldnt touch unless i saw it was broken..

I "think" you jack the car, put a bar under the lifted tire/wheel and see if/how much you can move it.

-Or somesuch..

[new2infinitiqx4]

yeah see the thing is it would have been sitting lop sidded if the shock wasnt good... but i did contact rockauto.com and they said to buy a new one and send back the old one and ill get a refund on the shipping and part.. so im gonna try that first

[new2infinitiqx4]

TOTALLY FIGURED IT OUT!! its accually the bolt the shock gets put onto.. the top bolt at that.. when i took off the bottom bolt and let it hand i noticed that there was a small gap like if it wasnt snug.. so i stuck a very tiny hex key between the bolt and shock and put it back together and booyaa! no more noise lol
it was the shock moving on the bolt basicly

[Camelfilter]

Nicely done!

I'd devolped a new weird clunk over the past few weeks. Id hear a clunk whenever I pressed the brake at low speed, and similar clunk when I let off the brake & moved. No steering issues, no tire wobble. I was thinking something going on with my brakes.

I took it to Sullivan Tire (a New England chain) yesterday. Turns out it was bad sway bars-one of the rears had actually broken. Changed out 4, NO CLUNKS for me. Hurrah!!

-It's almost weird how quiet it is now...

[new2infinitiqx4]

yeah driving my truck now is very weird.. drives totally different then what it was.. i wanna change the swar bar bushings next just for the hell of it ..

[Towncivilian]

If you do go ahead and replace the sway bar bushings next, could you possibly take some pictures throughout the process and write a how-to guide? I'm sure some of our members would appreciate it.

[new2infinitiqx4]

sure why not