Ever since I purchased my G35 I have dealt with a bad bushing in the right front compression arm and a bad front right hub. I bought the parts to fix them, but just decided that based on the overall appearance and "squeakiness" of the rest of the suspension I figured I would just go ahead and replace it all at the same time.

I have purchased:
-Both front hubs
-Moog replacement front lower control/compression arms
-Z1 front lower (knuckle) ball joints
-Kinetix Front UCA's
-Moog inner/outer tie rods
-Moog Stabilizer Bar end links (all 4)
-Kinetix rear adjustable camber/toe arms
-Moog rear upper control arms
-Eiback Pro-Kit springs
-KYB Excel-G shocks/struts
-KYB shock/strut mounts
-All new Nissan/Infiniti bolts/nuts/washers/insulators/etc.

Basically, when I'm done I don't want to ever do it again haha. I replaced the rear hubs last year after I bought it, before the other issues came to light. I have put a whole 4000 miles in this car in 18 months, and want to drive it more, so I can't wait to get this moving...

My question: to anyone that has done this before, what is the best place to start? I have done a few spring/strut replacements on other cars I've owned (GM fwd's - 04 Cavalier, 06 Cobalt SS, 05 Grand Am GT), but never anything this extensive. Any advice you all may collectively have will be greatly appreciated.

 

Buy a very good impact gun, preferably air.

Get a car wash that does underbody also.

Take off and put on the suspension nuts UNDER LOAD (car on stands, lift under the lower control arm or knuckle.

 

Only real advice to give is do it all at once. Don't do one piece one day, then another price a few days later. You have to tear everything out to do any of the pieces up front, so you'd just be doing everything over and over - it's a good way to learn, but it's a waste of time if you just wanna be on the road. So, do all the front in one swipe, then all of the back in one swipe. Or both all in one day.

It's about a good Saturday's worth of work to do absolutely everything.

Also, put polyurethane bushings in the comp rods and front LCAs before installing.

 

Thanks for the advice. Urbanengineer - Is the load on the hardware to prevent the bolts from free spinning? I'm glad you said this or I would have done the work with the suspension hanging. I'm just curious about the reasoning. Thanks again!

 

Trust his advice above too, I learned a bit from him ^.

Only loosen the nuts this way, as it prevents ball joints from failing due to "spin torque." I had a lot of problems replacing suspension on my sisters car because of it. Learned from the G's FSM.

And yes it puts some load on the bolts/ball joints so you focus your energy on the nut.

Good luck.

 

What is the condition of your bushings also - I would bet they are worn to death! Check those out so you can order them before everything comes apart.

 

*most* of the bushings are in ok shape. The one on the right compression arm is toast and making a bunch of noise. That coupled with the bad left ball joint and the desire to drop the car a little is what is making all of this happen. I figure if I put in all new now my chances of messing with any of it later are much slimmer.

Thank you for the advice guys. I really appreciate it. This is the largest project I've ever under taken but it doesn't seem too tough. I hope i'm right with that lol....

 

Urbanengineer - Where is "pig town" OH? I'm in north Dayton.

 

Cincinnati, haha.

* Home to the flying pigs.

 

Wow, Jordan, you really went to town on those bushings. Haha

 

Well the front was really nice, and then I did a bad thing and looked at the rear suspension bushings!

... and then **** ... I looked at the diff bushings.

 

Definitely DO NOT use the KYB shock mounts! They will develop a very annoying, loud squeak! Greased or un-greased does not change the outcome either. I can confirm this with my experience on 3 different vehicles (Z & G), as well as the forums.

 

so, new OEM or do you recommend another aftermarket brand?

 

The main reason that you want to tighten the suspension arms (front and rear) under the weight of the car is that they will bind and the car will not drop down. your alignment will be really screwed and the car won't drive down the road like before. ask me how I know.


just like Urban said, put the jack under the balljoint/control arm to force the ball joint into friction. then I put the control/compression/camber bolts and nuts in and tighten them, then back off about a turn on the nuts. I either put the wheels on blocks or ramps if you have them. then drop the car onto the blocks/ramps so the suspension is under full weight. then tighten the control/camber/compression bolts.


then its off to the alignment shop.

 

Riding sideways the whole way lol