Hey guys, the weather has gotten really cold here(20's and 30's) suddenly. Whenever I first drive the car in the morning, especially over dips or any bumps when it's cold...I get a clunk from the front suspension. I've searched and seen the clunk threads on here before, but after it warms up a bit...no more clunk. I was also wondering about speed bumps, I creep over those things. However, I work with a girl who has a 2004 G35 and she flies over those suckers at like 30(biiig speed bumps) in the parking lots and garage. I just can't imagine that being comfortable. She also flies over all these railroad tracks(big rough rails that have gaps on each side rough). To me this car has a firm ride and yeah I don't think me or the car would like that...also when I first back out of a parking space on a cold morning I get a loud squeal. No brake squeal going forward, just that first time in reverse? Any quick fixes for these?


Oh and I was driving next to a G35 on the highway, I noticed everytime he went over any bumps or anything his back wheel would bobble up and down bouncing away. The car wouldn't bounce, just that one wheel. How would I know if I ever got that problem, seeing as to how I'm inside the car?

 

For the brake squeal, get some brake grease and lube up all non-contact pad and rotor surfaces (rears of pads, shims, bracket, connecting pins). Make sure you clean the surfaces first. There's a vid on YouTube; just search for G35 brake replacement.

I never fly over speed humps- and that's not just a G35 thing. Ive had Honda's and a Chevy all at stock height and would still creep over. I guess I was always worried about damaging something.

 

Flying over speed bumps, or any large bumps/holes for that matter, is just ignorant. I do not care what kind of car you have, it boils down to physics. Obviously a vehicle with a stiffer suspension would suffer more. That transferred force into your suspension components and body would thus be much greater. Simple, easy to understand logic there...

I cannot speak to cold weather noise as I do not YET have a G35 sedan. I am working on that ATM...

Wheel hop, tire bounce, etc are all symptoms of an improperly tuned suspension. Most of the time this is due to a lack of PMCS. As a subjective guess, that guy has blown shocks (based on your description; obviously I have no way of knowing). This is caused by a dissipating resonance that is not being appropriately controlled. Essentially the shock is not doing its job of dampening spring oscillation.

You will not necessarily understand what it feels like until you feel it. But, as a crude example, take a metal bat and 'wack' [lol] a concrete floor or some pavement. If you are holding the bat tightly, you will feel it vibrate (do this at your own risk). In a car it will be most noticeable while recovering from a pothole or after you do a 'burnout' and start catching traction moving forward. It will feel like the tire is bouncing instead of sticking to the pavement.

Does this make sense?

 

I'm guessing you're dealing with the same thing I am regarding your front suspension - the bushings on your front control arms have degraded. It's a common problem with G35s - especially X's - and there is a TSB out on it. There are a bunch of threads on this forum addressing the issue.

I plan to fix myself in the next couple months but don't know where to order parts. Might start up a new thread at some point to ask for reqs.