I have a daily driven 06 G35x that I am getting ready to service the rear brakes on. While I am doing the rear brakes I am thinking about doing the shocks and struts. The car has 86k miles on it and is daily driven (no racing / track days)

Can somebody suggest a shock/strut replacement set? I am looking for OE replacement or better for ride quality / feel. The car is not lowered it runs on the factory 17" wheels. I have shopped at Rock Auto in the past and they offer KYB and Monroe for the AWD cars.

FYI - I am thinking about the shocks and struts because the car is 9 years old, I am pretty sure they are original (as I have owned it for 4.5 years and have not replaced them) If the forums collective experience dictates "if it aint broke don't fix it" than I won't.

Is there anything else that people can recommend replacing as preventative maintenance? I had the front end bushings replaced 1.5 years ago by the dealership as part of the CPO warranty so those should be good, but if there anything else that could use update, I am all ears.

Finally, does anybody have any links or tips on getting the alignment close enough to make it safe to drive to the nearest shop after I replace the shocks and struts to get that work done?

 

If you replace only the shocks and struts, you don't need to touch anything to drive to the alignment shop. In fact, I never had an alignment done after replacing mine. Not saying you shouldn't, but I'm not too concerned

I went with the KYB's. Hard to judge how the ride improved considering I replaced 150K OEM struts/shocks.

Ride is firm, but the car did regain some of the handling it lost as the shocks wore out.

 

I went with the KYBs as well when I swapped them two years ago. I've put 20K miles on them already, no complaints at all.

 

KYBs are a good replacement for your OE shocks! Factory ride and they'll last as long as you own your G. You may get members here that will tell you to go with something else using names like Koni or Tokico but you'll never do better than KYB for the cost!
Gary

 

A - i live in Illinois where the sign that welcomes you to the stat says "Next turn 320 miles"
B - i don't take the car to any kind of motor-sport event (no racing)

thanks for the advice, I ordered the KYBs from Rock Auto yesterday because I needed some other stuff and they are pleasant to deal with. I will be sure to post back in the thread when I am finished to post my results (which I suspect will be very similar to everybody else)

 

Things that ive found to typical get bad when a AWD in the rust belt gets near 100-150k.

1, Front wheel bearings.
2. Compression Rods bushings
3. Rear exhaust flange.
4. Valve cover leaks

My 05x in the chicago rust has had most of these issues. I have 98k right now but i was on coilovers for 30k so only 68k on my suspension. I feel the ride can be firmed up some more with the KYB but i'm kinda done spending money on the car. $300 for the KYB and a few hours in the garage is something i'm debating on right now. I've done like 8 suspension installs now and they are just annoying now to me.

KYB have lifetime warranty so thats a huge plus.

 

1. already replaced 1.5 years ago

2. replaced at the time I purchased the car (made a thunking noise so dealership replaced both compression rods)

3. what is this? can you perhaps show a diagram in question? I had a noisy cat heat shield and cut that off but have not noticed any additional noise from the exhaust.

4. is this easy to detect if I remove the engine cover? I have a warranty on the car for another few months so if that is the case I would rather have the dealership fix it before I am out the cost and inconvenience to do it myself.

As for the comment of throwing money at it. The car is paid off, I don't drive it that often and would like to get several more years from it. A few hundred dollars every few months is less than a new car payment and with only 86k.

 

1.) 3 front wheel bearings
2.) Warranty repair at 50K miles on both sides. Replacements still silent (knock on wood)
3.) Rusted out around 100K miles. $60 weld patch to fix.
4.) So far so good. Need to check again soon though.

153K miles and counting


You need to add #5) Rear calipers seizing up. I've had bad problems with mine seizing up the slide pins. Worn pads on one side, soft pedal, etc. I replaced one rear caliper, but now both are starting to stick again. Just going to replace both rear calipers again as I hate trying to free, clean and lube those slide pins. A reman is $40.

 

I just put some KYB's on my sedan... I went with the OEM sport one since in am lowered on 350z Eibach Sportlines... It gave me a great firm ride but still overall smooth on the Freeway... I would recommend them since the value they provide... I did have the welded nut snap on my rear drivers side, but sound an OEM nut that matched the bolt thread and it was smooth sailing...

 

I've replaced both rear calipers, because the pistons actually froze. I think rock salt and other trash found it's way in and seized 'em up. Both of them needed to be swapped in the middle of winter, which added to the fun.

 

Ah yes... #5 for sure. I forgot to post about that. I just did one, i lost brakes because the piston seal was leaking all the fluid and the lower slide pin froze. I need to do the other side just for peice of mind later in the summer.

 

#6 - rear shock bushings. On both of my rear shocks the pin (bolt) was seized into the bushing. My local dealership had 2 bushings but only had 1 pin, so I replaced one shock but didn't try the other. I am going to order a new bolt today and will document how to replace the bushing on the other side this weekend.

 

I promise you that job will suck

 

I did one side over the weekend. I have a REALLY large breaker bar that was big enough to snap the rubber, from that i used a hacksaw to carefully cut out the inner sleeve.

Step #1 - Break the rubber, my large breaker bar worked to do that, just be careful when pulling that you don't slip and hit the fender.

Step #2, cut the shock off on the bolt side. I have a 4.5" angle grinder that made short work of the shock fork.

Step #3, with 2 pry bars I was able to pull whats left of the bushing and shock out, and easily remove the entire shock assembly.

Step #4, using a hacksaw very carefully (read slowly, and constantly clean and inspect) cut a channel in the sleeve. Be VERY careful not to cut into the knuckle. I have seen some websites that have said if you cut like 4 slits in the sleeve without going all the way through you can relieve the pressure and it will pop out. I have also seen some people that have said you could use the setup that I used to install the new one below to remove it, but I bent a threaded rod trying that....

Step #5, using a socket that is smaller than the opening in the nuckle but larger than the inside diameter of the sleeve and a mallet hammer out the old sleeve

Step #6, using a socket that has a diameter very similar to the size of the new rubber it will hold the bushing and with a threaded rod that goes through to the other side with a VERY large socket on the other side I was able to "press" the other bushing into place.

Step #7, install new shock and torque bolts to spec (21 on the top 12mm nuts, and 80 on the bottom)

I will take pictures when I do the other side this weekend.

 

stick with OEM...KYB I believe? don't get Monroe