Hey guys, I'm having this extremely annoying issue with my 04 G35X. Every time I go over a mild bump I hear a clunking noise coming from the driver side. I've replace almost every single part of the front end suspension on both sides but I cannot for the life of me get this noise to go away.

I'll post some images of some of the things I've replaced (didn't take pictures of everything). I replaced the upper control arms, lower control arms, every single bushing (including the sway bar bushings), lower control arm ball joint, stabilizer link connecting rods, stabilizer bar links, even replaced the axle on the driver side (boot was torn). I'm totally lost at this point. The only two parts I haven't replaced are the tie rods & compression rods. I was going to order both compression rods but would that even cause a clunking noise? I checked the struts/strut mounts on both sides and they both look good. I figured I would ask before I buy the compression rods. This is driving me crazy. I almost want to just finish replacing every single part at this point smh... Any other potential culprits that I am missing?


New Lower control arm with bushings and ball joints pressed in place & stabilizer bar link.

New lower control arm ball joint.


New upper control arm next to old one.

New driver side axle (biggest paint in the **** to replace).

New driver side axle installed.

 

The biggest culprit for clunking sounds is struts, especially if you have more than 100k miles on them. That's pretty much the max life expectancy for any strut.

You should also lift/support the front and pull on the wheels to see what condition the wheel bearings are in, typically on this chassis they start to make a humming sound, not always though.

 

I went ahead and bought both strut assemblies and both compression arms. I'll post back when I swap them. Hopefully it fixes the problem. The only thing left would be the tie rods at that point. The car rides fine which is why I was reluctant to swap out the struts but I'm at the point where I kinda have no choice. I'm gonna lose my **** if that doesn't fix it haha.

 

I was going to say the compression rod ball joint was my guess.

On my 2005X, that was my next item to address but i sold it prior to finding the solution.

 

I'll bet my left nut it's the compression arms.

If you've already replaced everything, I would do the inner/outer tie rods if I were you (and money was available). Really tightens up the steering!

 

It turns out it was the compression rod balljoint that was shot. I swapped both struts and rode her around the block and she was still clunking away. Swapped both rods (by far the hardest part to swap out of the entire front suspension) after that and the noise completely went away. She rides so good now, the steering is much more stiff and responsive than before. Was kinda annoyed at first but worth it in the end.

New & old strut assemblies

New & old compression rods.

Old suspension junk.

 

The silver lining is now you have a fully refreshed front end.

I do recommend replacing EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT when doing front end work on this chassis if there is more than 75k miles on the parts. These front ends were built to PERFORM, definitely not built to last.

Might as well tear the whole thing apart one time and replace it all in a single shot.

 

Which struts did you install? They look like FCS off Rockauto. I installed these on my X as they were cheap and (at the time) the only complete assemblies available for the X. I see Rockauto now sells Monroe assemblies which I would have preferred.

My ride now sits about a 1/2" - 3/4" higher than it did before. The length form the very top of the assembly to the bottom of the collar that sits in the shock absorber arm is longer. Great struts for the price, zero performance issues so far. Just sad that my car now has MORE wheel gap.

 

Yea these are rockauto FCS strut assemblies. You know what now that you mention it. I was actually thinking the car stood a bit higher but I thought I was imagining. Just took a look and they do definitely sit a bit higher which is unfortunate but atleast the car drives great. Would have ordered Monroes had I known.

 

I agree, I ordered the tie rods and will be installing them soon. Every single part will be brand new on both sides of the front end (except the axle on the passengerside). I'll keep the car parked until I swap them out to get the car aligned.

 

I would do the inner tie rods as well as the outers.

Then, if you really want to appreciate how tight the suspension is, toss on some Hotchkis sway bars and you’ll officially have a 100% replaced front end suspension and you’ll be whipping around corners like nothing!

 

Glad to hear it was the ball joints on the rod.

I was pretty sure it was my fix as i took it to a shop and they were betting on it being the strut mount. I was lowered on Tein springs so most shops were so focused on that. I had lifetime warranty on KYB struts thru rockauto so i just paid the $30 for the mount and swapped whole thing. It did not fix my problem. At the end of the day, compression rods were the only thing left but they had no play in them whatsoever.

Someone needed a car and offered decent money for mines, so it was a done deal.

 

Yea man I even grabbed a pry bar under the balljoint before I started buying parts and it seemed fine. I must have not applied correct pressure but ohh well. I'm happy with the results. You saved yourself a huge headache haha. Those compression rods were completely welded to the damn stud. Busted a couple knuckles taking both of them off with a pipe wrech.

 

These things help a ton with the busted knuckles.


I won't even touch a car anymore without wearing a pair, they're just thin enough that they don't affect dexterity at all, they actually fit your hand really well (some brands have artarded pinky finger lengths), they're cheap and are only $2/pair, but they provide just enough protection against abrasions and such.