suspension/steering questions for Q45 tech

[hoju1301]

Hi there!

I have a mystery front suspension/ steering problem in the front as well as the rear. It is a base model '94 Q.-All shocks replaced with tokico blues about 15k ago-Kingpins replaced 3kmiles ago-Rear bushings replaced 500 miles ago-Outer front tie rods replaced 1k ago. -Rear right shock mount/top hat replaced 15k ago with new shocks.

On the front suspension, I'm having lots of play in steering as well as a steering wheel vibration. When the car is stationary and I'm rapidly moving the steering wheel left/right about 1/2 a turn there is a distinctive click in the steering wheel that can be felt. When the car was on the jack I grabbed the wheel and jiggled it, having left/right play but no up/down movement. Front right wheel has no play. Outer tie rods were replaced recently as well as an alignment. Also, when i touch the rack on the left side about an inch from where the boot is held onto the rack, i can feel the distinctive click while someones moving the steering wheel. Is my rack bad? Or could it be my rack and pinion that needs to be replaced?

As for the rear suspension, im getting a clunking sound when going over bumps, so I replaced the current tokico blue's with another new one. Problem went away for one drive and now the clunking sound came back. after a while, the clunking isnt as apparant anymore, but its still there. Could the top hat for the shock be bad to cause this clunking? The car also has more body roll than before. Or, would worn out subframe bushings be worn to cause this, although i checked and they are not leaking. But theres a quirk to this, when i first replaced the car with tokico blues all around, the new rear right strut made a huge clunking sound when going over bumps, so i replaced that strut with another tokico blue and the problem went away. Could this be a quality control problem with the blues? I did not turn the shaft on the struts or use an impact wrench to tighten to bolt on the top of the shaft/top hat.

Lastly, I think I recall you saying a while ago that Tokico shocks for a 300zx will work on the rear of the Q with minor modifications. Could you elaborate on what is needed to do this, and what are the advantages of using the strut from a 300zx vs the tokico blue's for the Q.

Thank you once again!

[natsoundup]

clunking....I am replacing the rubber inbetween the top metal hat and the strut...i'll let you know what happens.

[maxnix]

-Rear right shock mount/top hat replaced 15k ago with new shocks.

Why not the left rear?

All front and rear rubber should be replaced when replacing shocks.

[hoju1301]

Rear right was replaced because I was a knuckle head and snapped one of the studs tightening it. I'm replacing both again later next week.

[natsoundup]

I replaced the top hat on my strut....no more knocking or apparent side to side movement of strut..

I didn't realize until the part came, that the top hat and the rubber were integrated...

[hoju1301]

thanks natsoundup!

can you elaborate on the side to side movement?did your car have excessive body roll with the top hat rubber being messed up? Im not sure if its a defective shock, or one of the rubber pieces is toast. thanks again!

[natsoundup]

I basically said side to side....because when I removed the bad top hat...you could see paint worn off of it from the inside...

so there was metal to metal contact.

I think I said before that the rubber was obliterated for some reason.... the passenger side is ok.

this is on the 90Q. I think the part was about 40 dollars delivered from Joe