Crappy Ride Quality - QX4. Where do I start....

[longhornsqx4]

This is my first car, pretty nice auto (01 qx4). But I feel over the winter and summer that Ive had it that the ride has gotten ALOT more stiff, Ive got a godawful "tweety" bird in the back when its wet out and i hit a bump (shock maybe i dunno, its annoying), and when I hit some bumps the car just seems more rigid, not smooth.In my UNprofessional opinion, its obviously suspension, and the rear.

My car has 115k I believe, and I dont know of any recent work thats been done, so it may just be all oem. But what would be the best things to look at / inspect based on what Ive said?

Im willing tot ake pics, inspect whatever anyone tells me, I wanna fix this as much as possible by myself with simple hand tools and grunt.

Appreciate any help

[Chuck Tribolet]

Check the bump stops in the back. They are inside the coil springs.

[bullittandy]

Replace shocks, struts and mounts along with sway bar end links.

[QxMan01]

I have an 01 qx4 as well with a bit more miles on it (approx 135k) and I have that "tweety" bird chirp going on in the back too except mine is literally ALL the time. Dropped my car off this morning to have suspension work/repair/replacement potentially done and I'll report back if anything improves.

[tgunz]

I hear a similar noise too but I found out it is coming from the headrest where the metal bars insert into the seat. It goes away when I put my hand on it and apply pressure to stop the vibartion from the car.

Not sure if that's what you have but worth checking out too I guess.
Modified by tgunz at 5:11 PM 2/15/2009

[razzlerdazzle08]

My 01 LE has 62 thousand but it dose this to. Its not annoying and usually dose it maybe 3 or 4 times a week. Its one of those "when I get to it" deals but I do know that the trailing arm bushings are famous for going bad in the 2nd generation R50's. I am going to be doing alot of towing here soon so I plan to swap the shocks out in the rear anyways.

[longhornsqx4]

Another "distinct" noise i hear, seems to be when Im travelling real slow, and hit a bump and the rear of the car travels UPWARDS, I hear a squishing noise, so hard to explain

[rhd itr]

Replace shocks, struts and mounts along with sway bar end links.

[Johnsonsrt10]

yeah its gotta be time for new shocks/struts, i have about 110K on mine, just redid the rear struts, kyb Gas-a-just, its an amazing difference! it was a really simple job to do the rear, like 1.5 hours from pulling into my garage and back out.

[longhornsqx4]

Where did you buy them? Im thinking i might go ahead and do my shocks, atleast the rears as thats whta I think the problem area is.

Ive got this annoying "tweety" bird squeek though on like every bump, would that be shock or spring?

[Johnsonsrt10]

i ordered mine of the tire rack site, they were 50 each. you can get the GR-2's cheaper but i wanted the gas-a-just. i have pics of my install, i would but them up but can't figure out how to on this site.

[jsm02cpa]

Johnson, I think alot of us would be interested in seeing how the struts get replaced, I think my fronts need it. Doesn't bounce much, but I'm getting a clunk with the smallest road variance. I'm sure the rears won't be too far behind...

[Buzzman]

i have pics of my install, i would but them up but can't figure out how to on this site.

Open up a photobucket account, and follow these directions.I did it a while back, and it was a lot easier than I thought.zerothread/254009

[Johnsonsrt10]

hey thanks that was slick, i posted the pics with my own little instructions. they are rough but should get the job done.

[jsm02cpa]

Other than the reverse threading, looks to be pretty easy.

Anyone ever do the fronts, or the stabilizer links? Also, both O2 sensors have set off codes, so they have to be done, any tricks to getting them out of the exhaust system? Lots of wd40 I'd assume...