I recently had a shop put on my compression rods because i was feeling lazy and I didn't want the headache.

I bought some aftermarket compression rods and dropped it off.

At first everything was great. I drove for ~20 miles and next thing you know I hear a LOUD clunk. The compression rod went CAME OFF.

I had to get my car towed and they had to fix the issue. I thought they might not have tightened a bolt all the way or put them rods on backwards.

After leaving it at the shop for 2 full days. They said I need a WASHER on the compression rod where the ball joint is. They said the castle nut was too small and just went right through.

They said they "called the inifinty dealership" and said "sometimes you need a washer and sometimes you dont..." what the ****? I called and they said no, you aren't suppose to need a washer for the compression rods.

The shop called me and said "we ordered special washers from inifinti to fix your car" LOL WTF? Special washers?

Anyways thought I'd share my frustration... Is it safe to have washers on the bottom of the compression rods? Won't the washers just bend and I'll be right back where I was?

I know I should get the OEM compression rods but I dont have that kind of money to throw around just to stop a clunking noise.

 

Whaaaaat? First off I don't think it's even a crown nut that goes on the end. Mine is a FLANGED nut, the cotter pin doesn't even go through a crowned section it's literally just to keep the nut from falling off if it wiggles loose or something.

Here's a picture of the correct nut from CZ

https://conceptzperformance.com/niss...php?quantity=1

I suspect they lost the correct nut, assumed it was supposed to be crowned because there's a cotter pin, used it instead of the correct FLANGED nut which would cause it to pull through. Bring this to their attention, show them a picture of the correct nut, demand they use the correct parts and cover the REPAIR because they didn't do it correctly last time. Don't use this shop anymore, the dealership might charge a little more but you know the work is being done correctly.

 

They forgot the “funnel” portion from the original compression rod. I made the same mistake when I put mine in and the car’s wheel shifted forward 2” when it went on the ground lol.

You need this ... on the RIGHT red arrow ...

https://g35driver.com/forums/brakes-...placement.html

 

I don't know how a suspension shop could possibly forget the cone washer tbh? Maybe if it was the tech's first time ever doing a ball joint? Either way it wouldn't explain the "crown nut" being pulled through the steering knuckle because it was too small.

 

I've seen it before too where shops will look on forums like ours for things they can't figure out right away, and I suspect that they're mixing up some information. The only washers we use on comp rods are on the bushing side to correct bump steer after switching to polyurethane. They probably know they screwed up and are probably trying to say "there's something wrong with your car, not what we did".

 

So I installed Mevotech compression rods a while ago so I just went outside and checked my car. Sure enough there's a castle nut with a washer in place. I honestly don't remember if it came with the washer or if I was smart enough to notice during the install and grabbed one out of my spare nuts & bolts bin.

They did come with new cone washers, so I know that's not a problem.