Hey guy, so I have a problem. I bought a second hand G back in January and it had some work done to it previously, including Greddy Type-S coilovers. Iv put about 6,000 miles on the car since I got it and I havent had a problem with it (minus scrapping everywhere) until now. The other day on my way to work I noticed, as i was going over some rough road, that my car was bouncing a decent bit more in the back.
I also did this small test a buddy told me about... to roll at like 3mph and then mash the breaks, and see how much the car rebounds. The result of that was a unsettling for how stiff the suspension is. I just want to know what this means... do i have blown struts? Blown mounts? both? And for whatever is wrong how can i check for it or what needs to be done to get it fixed. thanks for the help... i dont know much about suspension so any additional things i need to know would be helpful.

 

Best place to begin is by getting your G on the rack and check everything. By "bouncy" I would suspect a blown coilover, might even be leaking fluid but you won't know until you get her up in the air.
Gary

 

Yeah, im putting it up tomorrow and just going to take a look but is this something that would be noticeable at a glance? or is there particular damage i should be looking for?

 

also sorry if i ask noob questions, i just dont know what a blown strut or strut mounts look like

 

Generally when a strut blows it's seal there's leaking fluid, not much just running down the tube. I'd also check the entire suspension from shock mounts to swaybar endlinks. If you don't know what to look for take it to a independent brake/alignment shop that deals with suspensions....hope this helps!
Gary

 

Something that you can do now while it's sitting in your driveway is to push down on the car. It should spring back up and stop if the shocks are good, if not the car will bounce up and down a time or two. If the shocks are blown they wont be able to control the compression and rebound of the coil spring so the car will bounce.

 

i did that too, it does bounce a little bit but im not sure if its enough to conclude bad shocks. I never did it when they were fine so im not sure how bad they have gotten comparitively. I think this has the same function as the small test my friend had me do with rolling and stopping firmly which did not end how i wanted it to :/

 

It's kind of hard to explain how much it should rebound via the internet. The rebounds and compressions will be controlled vs a boat bobbing in the water.

 

i got full set of strut coil spring and mount for the rear if you interested... it's the revised suspension off 350z, lmk

 

are the s-types fully adjustable? Meaning is it possible to adjust the compression on the struts via a small **** or something similar? If this is the case then it could be that the PO had it on the "softest setting".
It sounds more like you have a blown struts. Fortunatly the rear strut can be removed with 2 wrenches and 3 bolts. Visual inspection for fluid and manual compression (compress the strut with to hands against the ground) can tell you if that strut needs a rebuild or replacement.
If it is blown and replacement or rebuild is cost prohibitive fortunatly you may have options. Since the rear suspension is independent strut/spring you could use a stock strut along with the Greddy spring to get you through until you can replace. Or you could look into the Tokico D-spec strut which is adjustable and better for lowered cars.
This doesn't sound like any thing to do with the mounts, most def a strut issue. Good luck bro and congrats on the new G.

 

Thanks for all the advice... Im going to have more questions in a little, but right now I'm under the car, lol, and all I can see is leaking fluid all over the strut. This means its blown right? Is there a way to fix this? Or do I have to replace the strut alltogether?

 

The high end/$ struts are rebuildable not sure your's are, Google Greddy and make contact with them. Have the model number ready so you're giving them the right information. Glad you figured out the problem, now all you gotta do is get it fixed!
Gary

 

i havent heard of tokico D-spec struts... and its ok to mix an match struts and springs like that? also is there an advantage to these over replacing them with new greddy struts? also i think my fronts are ok, would it be bad to have mixed things between front and the back? like if i were to have oem struts in the back and greddy ones in the front??

 

ok, so interesting finds.... I also found out that my rear driver side spring is cracked. The person who had this before me clearly beat on this car a little bit and didnt take care of it the way he should have. I spoke with greddy and was able to get a moderate discount on 4 new springs and 2 rear struts, and will be here next week.

 

installed both rear dampeners and rear springs, fronts to go in next weekend. Car no longer feels broken... thank god. Pics to come when i get a chance.

new question/problem though. before i installed the parts and still after, there has been a small clunking sound coming from what sounds/feels in the front part of the car. Its only noticable at slower speeds and when i go over bumps or accelerate out of turns... i checked endlinks and ball joints... everything seems to look ok. anyone have a clue what this could be?