Whats up fellow G35/350Z owners! I wanted to give everyone my experiences with a local dealer completely overhauling my 2004 G35 5AT suspension this past week. First off, I am just a regular guy who fell in love with the G35 when my aunt got one the first year they came out. I was destined to have one. About 2 years ago I bought my current 2004 G35 with 84k miles. I received a hell of a deal and have loved the car ever since. However, the kid that owned it before me did the suspension half-assed and I was forced to put money into her right after I bought it to band-aid till I could afford to do everything the right way. He had all stock components but put eibach lowering springs which ate the tires down to the steel belt. I quickly bought new tires, and got those damn eibachs off right away. After driving for thousands of miles, I decided it was time to over-haul the suspension. At this time she has 98k miles and still drives like a champ except for bad shocks and the usual bushings being bad. I usually do everything myself; before the G I had a 400HP Turbo Acura RSX that I did all the mods to in my parents garage. Unfortunately with my current job, my car can not be down nor do I have the time to do everything I wanted; so I turned to my local Tampa Infiniti dealership to do the work (Everyone cringe, OH NO the Dealer!?). I bought all the parts needed, some on ebay, some from reputable G35 websites. Here is the list of things I bought to replace the old stuff.

KYB Shocks
KYB Shock Mounts
Moog Rear Shock Mounts
Tein H-Tech Lowering Springs
OEM End links
OEM Sway bar bushings
Whiteline Compression bushings
Whiteline lower Control arm bushings (both)
Brakemotive (ebay) drilled/slotted rotors w/ PowerStop Ceramic Pads
Beck Arnley Upper Control Arms

There may be a couple more small things that I missed but you guys get the jist.

Before I start ranting away, I want to say I spent nights, and I mean nights researching everything I wanted before I purchased. I got a lot of help searching g35driver which gave me a better understanding of the items I was buying. Thank you to all in the past who made those very helpful posts!

I was nervous taking it to the dealer just because of the horror stories and the prices. The local Infiniti dealer as I mentioned is located off of Dale Mabry highway here in Tampa Bay, Florida. Paul was the service manager that helped me through the process and really made me feel comfortable. Since I'm used to doing all my work I was very skeptical letting someone else touch my baby. Paul not only went above and beyond to help me, he gave me the brand new Q50 as a loaner while they did the work, which by the way was simply a magnificent car. I called Paul a few times to check on the car, he was happy to oblige and answered all of my questions and kept reassuring me to call him with anything I can throw his way. A day later I received a call from Paul stating both of my motor mounts were torn and he recommended I replaced them. Anyone who has tackled this task knows how much of a pain in the *** it is, not to mention each mount is pretty expensive. He discounted labor and the price for me without me asking since he was already under there which was awesome for me. It was a big hit I wasn't expecting but the way he explained it, it made sense. Why do all this work only to have it negated down the road with bad motor mounts, I completely agree which I why I decided to replace them. I got the car back today and she drives SIMPLY AMAZING. I will only go see Paul from now on to have any work done on my baby and I hope some locals can muster up the courage to go talk with him. He will give you the best deal he can, and he really knows his stuff as well so all you gurus can have a long conversation with him to know you are in good hands.

A couple things I wanted to touch on. With all the research I did I kept reading people saying how you have to to the spring mount mod to even the car out and also get adjustable front camber arms for the H-techs. I took a chance on the front as I already had the SPC rear arms but the alignment is perfect. The paper reads .02 on both sides which 2 tenths will barely cause any inner wear on your tires. That is almost how the car comes out of the factory so I was a very happy camper my risk paid off. Now with the Htechs, Paul used my old spring mounts and the rear sits PERFECT with the front. I truly love the way the car sits now. I know she will settle even more down the road and it can only get better. Paul also offered for me to come back and get an oil change and he will check the alignment and make the necessary change for free. YOU CANT BEAT THAT. I am so happy with the way the car drives and the stance. I will say if you do not replace your bushings when you put new springs in, that will also cause inner tire wear because the shock is able to move when it is not supposed to. I highly recommend Whiteline as well. Part of my band-aid was I put Energy suspension bushings in the car and they were torn within 2 months. I hate how it is two pieces held together by the middle piece of metal. The Whiteline are far superior as there is a metal sleeve like OEM. They feel MUCH more solid and truly make the car feel brand new. I will post pics in the next few days, just wanted to share my experience.

Feel free to ask me any questions about my mods, especially the ebay brakes because a lot of people on here were dissing them. I do not track the car so I figured my choice would be fine. I will recommend getting G35 KYB shocks and the 350z Htechs because the combo feels and sits awesome. I wish I had the time to do a review on each new piece but just wanted to share with everyone how a dealer helped me hugely with the price and a piece of mind. Great guys over there at Infiniti Of Tampa, thanks again!

 

Mods, is there a reason this was moved. I know it says suspension overhaul but I don't thin it belongs in the tech area as I am just sharing my experiences. Could it please be moved back to general?

 

Suspension specific threads belong in the suspension section which is why this got moved, hope you understand. People need to know where to look when they have specific questions.

 

Understood, thanks

 

What'd the parts cost individually? And what'd the labor to install them cost is what I'm interested. Also you mentioned the motor mount job being expensive. This is the info I find useful thanks!

 

I think I spent right around 2,200 with labor and all parts combined. If you really want individual just PM me and I'll get it to you. I'm sure it could have been a little cheaper but I did use some quality parts other than one or two things ordered from ebay. The motor mounts through the dealer were like $275 a piece iirc but he did the mounts and labor for like 600 I believe. I could've saved around $150-200 doing it myself but it is a major pain in the *** doing it in a garage on my back.

 

Glad to read this, I'm getting ready to do a bushing/ball joint/endlink refresh soon. Will mostly likely do it myself; no local shops are trustworthy.

 

Glad you had a good experience with Infiniti of Tampa. I however would never take my car back there; I had numerous fights with them when my car was under warranty and I lived there. They tried to deny everything; I eventually started taking my car too Clearwater for maintenance and they were awesome!