I don't touch my suspension after getting an alignment. I had these SSRs aligned to get my camber at -7 and get toe in spec and haven't touched it since. Next time I touch it will be when I get different wheels, and adjust the height that looks good on them, and then I'm off to alignment. Then I won't touch it unless I change the height again.

I don't change my height often, I know some people do, and if they don't get an alignment afterwards, then that's pretty stupid.

 

Nothing wrong with your mods or your "poor mans exhaust", I have the same setup on my car. It's the fact you think you are "out of mods" that makes you look foolish, and is embarrassing to the rest of us from AZ.

 

Alright my fault haha. By the way, do you know if superior racing development is any good and has good prices? I'm trying to find a shop in az. I've hear of them, rev em hard motorsports, and pitstop performance.

 

SRD Tuned my car, Tim's prices are fair for tuning but that's all I've had them do. I've heard Pitstop is a good shop and have no idea about the other place. If you need parts CZP is in the north valley.

 

'06X in need of both front and rear pads, dealership seems to be a lot higher than local shops would be and I'm trying to justify that price difference. Even if i bought OEM pads and had a local shop install i think its a fair chunk different.

First off am i wrong to even consider more basic pads like Bendix or whatever basic shops use even if its ceramic? I'd hate to have my rotors chewed through because of a tougher pad trying to get a longer life. I know one shop claims they use Akebono pads and seems like a great price, but they weren't 100% sure it fits the car, best they can do is say the specs compare to what the OEM ones claim.

Another option would be to try a Nissan dealer and I assume get the same pads as a 350Z? Not sure if the AWD sedan would be different than that, but I know Nissan would be cheaper, but not necessarily the same quality of work.

My biggest hesitation with trying a local brake shop even with a good reputation is if they are there to simply put on the pads I provide and turn the rotors and basically overlook anything else that might be slightly off or the rotors aren't perfectly set for that wheel and I get a lot of squealing or something.

I guess the short version is, when it comes to brakes do you really get what you pay for and should pay the extra to go through the dealership that truly knows these cars since obviously brakes is a key component, or is it possible to save some money with the labor and try a local shop with OEM pads i provide? Or other options/experiences as well please.

 

13 months ago I had to make the same decision. August 31st 2012 was when I traded in my 06 G35 6 speed manual with 171796 miles for my 2012 G37S 6 speed manual.

I got 84948 miles on my original factory OEM brakes and those were replaced at the dealer who also turned the rotors. In April 2009 the dealer charged me $530
In addition to needing brakes again at almost 172k miles with rotors it needed a few other items. Rather to sink a couple of thou into it I decided to trade it in.
I love my G37S with Nav, backup camera and all the other goodies.

In your case your vehicle is now 8 years old and when it comes to brakes and tires your life depends on both. I never let anyone touch my vehicle except the dealer.
I know the mechanic that I always request as well as the service manager.and the job is always done right the first time. I don't mind paying a little more for quality work by highly trained and an experienced mechanic.

Good luck in your decision

Telcoman

 

I'll start this off by saying I respect telcoman and his input, however I'll offer a different viewpoint for you to consider. First off my advice would be to research DIY projects on your car and become a shadetree mechanic on it. I can't tell you how much pride and sense of accomplishment you will generate by being able to do just routine maintenance like brake jobs on your own not to mention the $$ you will save by doing it yourself. When I bought my G I knew nothing about them but used this forum and help from friends to learn as much as I could about it. I also bought a Chilton's manual for it which has been a godsend when I got into a spot where no other advice was available to tackle an issue I couldn't figure out on my own.

Second, find a local shop that you trust that works on our cars and if you end up modding it make sure they have experience with modified Gs. This will also help save you money over taking your car to the dealership, especially if you become a regular customer. I had a shop in Austin before I moved that I trusted implicitly with my car (and that's a rare occurrence). I would roll in there and ask them to just adjust my toe (did the camber adjustments myself) and they would have me done in 20 minutes and charge me $20. No way a dealer would do that for you and this shop was lowered car friendly which is important because I'm dropped 3".

On the subject of pads I would highly recommend looking at a quality cheaper alternative such as the Wagner Thermo Quiet pads. They can be purchased almost anywhere, I paid $36 shipped for the rear set (I have Wilwoods up front) and they took 20 minutes to install and are every bit as good as the OEM pads.

Hope this helps you and let us know if you have any other questions.

 

In my personal experiance, you're better off getting in touch with the local car scene and deciding where you take your care based off the success/failure of others rather than simply trust that the dealer knows best.
I've seen some really sub-standard work being done by dealerships before.
Not to say that they all do shoddy work, some are really good.
Of course, good, bad or indifferent, the dealer is going to take a bigger bite out of your wallet.

To directly address the brake pad issue, I put Akebono ceramic pads on when I did my slotted/drilled rotors right at 3 years ago, and they've been great.
The ceramic pads don't have the same initial bite as OEM, but they're very linear feeling, and our cars have excellent stopping ability with just about anything.
I have cooked my brakes abusing them on the Tail of the Dragon in TN/NC, but they were just fine once they cooled back down.

 

So my friend with an '06 G35x recently just started experiencing the jerk/clunking noise when he puts the car into reverse from park. But from any other gear to reverse it shifts fine, it's only from park.

So I took a better look at his car and discovered that the jerk/clunking noise only happens when the car is cold and goes away when the car is warm and has been driven for a bit. Which makes since the fluid isn't at operating temperature to lubricate effectively.

I did tell him to change the fluid since I will be changing my tranny fluid before winter as well since the cold weather will be even harder on the transmission especially with the constant tire slipping due to snow and ice.

He went to a shop to get that done the other day and the tech. told him that changing the fluid in the tranny would actually make the problem worse??

I figure there is no sense in keeping that dirty fluid in there as it will just get dirtier and dirtier over time and probably turn into sludge.

Now I'm kinda 50:50 about changing my tranny fluid lol.

 

Im new to this whole forum thing, So excuse me if im not in the correct place to ask this question, or if you think this is a stupid question.

I'm wondering if anybody knows a website that I can buy OEM paint from? I know someone who will paint it, I just need to buy the paint. And i'm not painting the whole car either if that makes a difference.

This is literally my first post ever. Forgive me.

 

A body shop should be able to mix the paint for you.

 

^ Correct.
Also, welcome to the forum... And also the Internet lol

 

Thank you, I'm having a friend of mine that works at a shop find paint for me. I'm not new to the internet but its hard to search for something that you don't know specifically what your looking for. I'd hate to waste my money or look stupid buying wrong paint.

Thanks again!!

 

I have a random question I'm thinking of getting a wideband air fuel gauge controller.
question is one does this require a Ecu flash or a separate standalone fuel management?
and two which brand is most recommended?
I do apologize this will be my first added gauge and my first time ever getting into a car this deep

 

Has anyone got a p0507 idle air control rpm higher than expected?