Riverside Infiniti's swaybar endlinks
 

Picked up an insanely clean '05 6MT sedan this weekend. It makes a clunk noise on bumps that reminds me of the noise my '02 Maxima made when its sway bar endlinks went out.

Now, I found glorious threads detailing the endlinks and merits of the various aftermarket ones, but I'm confused as to how people are buying endlinks from Riverside Infiniti for $20. When I drill down through their parts, I'm seeing them listed as $50 each for the 6MT sedan front links. What am I doing wrong?

Are you possibly looking at threads several years ago that posted the $20 price? Riverside is also a forum vendor so maybe these folks contacted them through the forum and got special pricing.

Here's an :IDEA: Before you spend the $$ for new endlinks get that super clean sedan on a rack! Only then will you find if the clunking noise is caused by the endlinks or maybe just a lose bolt!
Gary

@BD: Yeah, I mean, those were 2012 threads, so I figured it was unlikely they increased in price 2.5x..? Or maybe the non-6MT endlinks are cheaper for the X or base sedans?

@Gary: I like your :IDEA:, but I'm also an utter noob when it comes to the mysteries of this ludicrously amazing double A-arm stuff. I don't remember having to do anything about loading the suspension to replace my Maxima's FSB bushings and end links. How can you simulate the clunks with the wheels in the air? I only have a jack and stands, no sweet lifts live in my garage.

At $20 each, I thought it'd be cheaper to swap out the endlinks then pay Infiniti to go over the car and tell me everything that's wrong with it, but maybe I can roll that into a post-PPI at the local dealership.

Mostly, I'm puzzled why a car with 57,500 miles on the odometer makes noises in the suspension. Carfax shows two alignments in the past 17K miles at the dealership--in 12/2014 and 08/13, which is very curious.

Rough roads and sport suspensions mean faster wear. Plus its a 12 year old car.

Have a suspension professional check it out. I have a pretty solid idea on mine what to do, and still often enlist the help of a professional.

Does a suspension professional mean any performance shop?

Paid to have a local performance-ish shop do their 150-odd PPI today. They found the rear diff bushing is blown (that explains my struggle to get the G through the 1-2 shift quickly) and the car pulls to the right. They didn't notice or mention the clunking, though. I asked about it and they told me they see a lot of 350Zs and G35s with noisy strut mounts. So, not very helpful. "Yeah, it could be the strut mount or the endlink." Which I already know. Derp.

I guess an easy step one is to disconnect the sway bar and drive around the block and see if the noise persists.

Without reading the whole thread I'm going to recommend you get the compression rod bushings checked, endlinks, rear subframe bushing for the diff and upper control arms. These are some of the common suspension issues to have. Luckily it's all an easy fix and lots of people make bushing kits for these cars.

You can't simulate the clinic with the wheels in the air, but you can find loose parts by tugging on stuff. Best thing you could do is either bring it to a shop and have them inspect thoroughly, OR put the front end on ramps and checks all applicable nuts, bolts, joints and bushings. Which would be: top and bottom shock mounts (bushings and bolt tightness), comp rod bushings and castle nut, lower control arm bolts and bushings (chassis connection), chassis brace bolts for tightness, steering knuckle ball joints and upper control arm bolts and ball joints. If all of those are tight and look good, then replace the end links.