If you hear some knocking noise from the front suspension when driving your Infiniti over small bumps, or cracked pavement, most likely it is caused by damaged bushing on compression rod. Some mechanics use different terms for this – tension rod, radius rod, radius arm, radial arm, and so on, but in the official Infiniti Service Manual it is called Compression Rod.
The reason why bushings got damaged: they are defective. They can be damaged after replacement every year if driving in bad road conditions.
What you need is to replace ONLY the bushing, NOT the compression rod itself! Compression rod is pretty expensive part – over $300, bushing is much more cheaper. Moreover, compression rod is not covered under extended (or third-party) warranty because it is just beefy aluminum part, and nothing wrong can happen with it, but bushings are usually covered by extended (third-party) warranty.
Well… This is my story when I had the same problem. However, at that time I did not make any research and just trusted service advisor at Willowdale Nissan Infiniti Service Center.
It happened long time ago in June 2008. I started to hear knocking noise from the front passenger side when driving over rough surfaces, and reported the problem during my oil change visit to Willowdale Nissan Infiniti. Service advisor was Karim Mulji. After inspection he told me that compression rod worn out and had to be replaced. I’ve asked why it is happening? He told that it is because of the way I’m driving – lots of bumps, cracks and stones on the road, and so on. Karim did not even mentioned that there is a known problem with compression rod bushings in Infiniti G35 models of 2003-2006 years – those bushings are defective which causes them to wear out very fast. I figured it out only this year during deep research of what has been done with my car at Infiniti of Willowdale after recent obvious fraud from them which I’ll describe in another post later. What I’ve found is TSB (Technical Servise Bulletin) which exactly describes the problem I saw:
NOISE FROM FRONT COMPRESSION ROD
If you confirm: there is a noise coming from the front compression rod and the bushing is damaged
Actions: replace only the bushing, not the compression rod assy
You may take a look at the TSB in PDF format here:
Infiniti G35 TSB – Noise from Front Compression Rod (ITB08-013a)
However, for some reason Infiniti did not apply this TSB for G35 2003 models, only for 2004-2006 models. But there is almost no difference between 2003 and 2004 models, and a lot of Infiniti G35 2003 owners complained on noisy compression rods. I can not believe that certified Infiniti service advisor did not know about this issue.
So, only the bushing was damaged. Compression rod itself is a solid aluminum part! Nothing wrong can happen with it other than in an accident. But Karim decided to replace the whole expensive part rather than bushing. Why? Maybe mechanics at Willowdale Nissan Infiniti are not qualified enough to do the job described in TSB with nice colorful pictures? Bushing replacement is indeed more complex than just entire compression rod replacement.
I’ve also asked if this repair can be claimed under my extended warranty. He looked at the warranty and refused. He also called to the warranty company, but he asked about compression rod, not about the bushing. Recently I’ve figured out that bushings are covered with my FCPP extended warranty Select Plus plan. It is clearly identified:
11. Front and Rear Suspension: …; Bushings; …
Most likely service advisor Karim Mulji decided to choose the easiest and most profitable for the dealership way. If they submit a claim to FCPP warranty, they may get twice less money than when charging the customer for the same repair.
The repair costed me ~$650, however it could be only $56.50 deductible if service advisor could claim it with warranty company.
+ tax
I’ve tried to escalate the problem to Steve Zehr – Director of Service and Parts Operations Willowdale Nissan Infiniti, but unfortunately he did not want to understand the point at all. He answered through e-mail that compression rod is not covered under FCPP extended warranty, and that TSB about the noise from front compression rod does not apply to 2003 models. But the point was that only bushing was damaged and it is covered by warranty…
This summer I started to hear exactly the same noise from suspension, from the passenger side. In less than two years replaced bushing got damaged again. They are really defective…
During the research I’ve also tried to understand how suspension works and why compression rod bushings can be damaged. These Infiniti G35 Repair Manuals can be helpful if you consider replacement of compression rods by yourself:
Infiniti G35 2003 Service Manual – Front Suspension (FSU)
Infiniti G35 2003 Service Manual – Rear Suspension (RSU)
Service advisor Karim Mulji also did a big trick on me. He put “Radius Rod” in the invoice (picture above). But there is NO “Radius Rod” in the front suspension – you may check it in the Service Manuals I provided. Radius Rod is the part of rear suspension of Infiniti G35 2003, and it costs approximately $100, not $300.
I have a repair estimate from Siver Spring Infiniti dealership for $4,900. All repairs seem to be on my LF and RF Tires. And they are Outer Tie Rod(620), Compression Rod Bushings(1250) lower knuckle spindle boots(1750) and lower control arm bushings(1,280). I live in Williamsburg if anyone can advice a good Auto Shop with reasonable charges I would appreciate it. Thank you.
Great info. My 2006 G35 AWD has a bad compression rod bushing. It looks the do it yourselfer wouldn’t have the press for removing/inserting the bushings. However, the entire compression rod replacement looks pretty easy as long as the nuts are seized. If I do it, I’ll follow up.
For everyone, I replaced my bushings with Roca bushings specifically aftermarket polyurethane bushings and I’ve had them on for several years now with no issues. Look up Roca great bushings.
hey I have a question for you I drive a 2005 g35 infiniti automatic two door coupe when I drive my car from 20-45 mph on a straight road it makes this kind of knocking and rattling noises and idk what it is that is causing this please help me
KEVIN, YOU NEED AWD the RWD won’t work.
Wow !!! tons of known issues on the Infiniti yet stealership does little to help. I stopped visiting the stealership a long long time ago and I could not be happier.
In the recent past I have had the following parts replaced
1. Front lower forward control arm bushings on both sides. I purchased whiteline bushings which are far superior to the stock rubber bushings and had a local shop press fit the new bushings on the OEM control arms. Cost (99$ for bushings, 200$ for removal of both control arms, press fitting the new bushings and re installing them).
2. Just replaced the front compression rods, both left and right. I purchased Reybestos compression rods from amazon.com and had the same local shop install it. Cost (each compression rod was about 60$ on amazon and the shop charged me 150 for the labor. Please note that if you have never replaced the compression rods, it might be seized at the upper end)
3. I also replaced both the front tie rods outer ends and forward sway bar links. Cost ( Moog tie rod were 35 $ each on amazon.com, Beck & Arnley links were 18$ each on amazon.com and the mechanic charged me 50$ even to install these)
My 2 cents, if i knew better, I would have just purchased the prothane or energy suspension polyurethane bushing kit and replaced all forward end bushings in one go. That way you are set for life and you can save some $ on the labor. Also, the first time you are replacing any of the forward suspension components, do replace the links and tie rod outer end if you still have OEM’s on. Once again you can save on the labor. An alignment will be required once you replace tie rods and suspension components.
Owing and driving my 2003 Infiniti g35 has been a pleasure but I have to admit the parts are expensive and its always better to do some research before believing the dealer blindly.
I am just beginning to have the calipers problem on the front right end. Even after replacing the control arm bushing, the entire compression rod and links I am getting a clunking noise specially when going over a pothole or while braking. Research brought me to this site and I decided to share my experience. I hope it helps someone.
I am considering purchasing the calipers repair kit instead of shelling out $$ for a brand new calipers. I will keep you all posted.
Cheers !!!
I need to replace both my lower control arms on my 05 g35x but when I look up the part they say they are for RWD so will it fit Awd also ?
Wow i’ve been through so many of the problems you guys are having.. i feel for you all.
The fact of the matter is the rubber bushings that they use on your compression rod (and lca’s) are designed so poorly it’s almost is if they want them to go out quickly. Make sure you have also looked at your lower control arm inner bushings @ kmember because those will go as well and they need to be replaced by polyurethane. new designs for this bushings eliminate the movement that nissan’s design allows which causes the wearing. I mean there is an aluminum run outside of a steel run outside of a POS rubber bushing.
There is also a similar problem that people experience thinking it is their front suspension when it’s actually the front brake calipers. If when you tap your brake even slightly you here a little ‘clunk’ then your nissan brakes have failed you. If your tires are wearing strangely and your front end is crawling its probably your lower control arms (these are visible without even jacking the car up). If your compression rod bushings are failing u can easily see it the same way. Peak underneath and see if there is any cracking or wear that would allow it to wiggle in place.
for those of you having a/c and radio issues, the only solution is to purchase an aftermarket dash and heat unit (roughly 300$ if i recall). I was able to purchase one to match my beige-ish interior along with an aftermarket stereo that included an adapter for it to be able to power the bose speaker system. The circuit that shorts out is actually one solid chip that unfortunately controls both our climate control as well as our stereo X.X
Sorry forgot to indicate my model. Infiniti G35x 2005 Sedan AWD.
I have the same noise coming from right front. The symptom is exactly what Ken mentioned above, “The noises are especially noticable when driving slow on uneven surfaces. As speed increases, the noises went away. However, after a while i realized noises appear at high speed around 110 km/h as well.” After going to dealership I was told the compression rod has to be replaced, 530 dollars!!
Going through this long post, I am pretty sure it is due to damaged bushing and I am gonna buy it from internet.
So my question is, can anybody tell where to buy it and what the part# is on that website? Since a lot of similar parts there …
I own a 2004 G35 Infinity After complaining about this same noise, I was told by my dealership the same thing I am reading here. They said it is my Compression Rod that needs to be replace because the bushings are worn. My car is at my mechanics right now & they are telling me that my Compression Rod looks good, doesn’t seem to appear worn & that the noise is coming from my steering rack that is worn. According to the dealership the steering rack will last forever & they believe I am being mislead! This is going to run me about $800.00 to replace!! What should I do??
Here is what I did… I bought a COMPLETE WITH BUSHINGS new lower control arm for my 04 G35 from RockAuto.com for $58 and replaced it myself in 30 mins…Looks just like the OEM control arm…
Please someone should help me.
I’m using infiniti G35X 2006, The car do off and it will took two to three days before it on again, Most time it will do as if it want to on but off back.
Please could be the problem?
Most of you go to stealership and then complain you got robbed? That’s all they do – unnecessary work using parts that don’t need to be replaced so that they can charge you lots of labor hours on top of lots of parts than never needed to be replaced. You are just a bunch of suckers as far as dealrships are concerned. Find a good honest mechanic outside of dealership and hold on to him if you don’t want to be charged $1000 instead of $50.
Rubber bushings only last about 100k miles. Older infinitis comes with extra crappy bushings that may only last 50k miles. And dealerships all try to replace compression arms and not bushings because they can charge you a lot more. Even though there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the control arm.
Solution is actually very simple – buy aftermarket polyurethane bushings from Whiteline ($55) or Energy Suspension ($35)and replace just the bushings with 1 hour of labor. Done.
I have an ’05 G35 sedan. I took to the dealership for a “free” 100 pt inspection. I was told that the rear subframe bushing is split and leaking and that the repairs would be $1800!! I am wondering if maybe I can replace the bushings only, because after reading these comments it sounds like this is a pretty common repair. Also my airbag light is on all the time!! I have had it in the shop 3 times for this issue and even though it’s all new it is on again!! If you could give me any feedback on these issues I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for your time.
go to rockautoparts.com get the comprods complete 60.00 each easy to change.
I found these bushings on a performance website. THMotorsports. This is how I will replace mine.
SPL FKS Front Compression Rod Bushings replace the stock mushy rubber bushings with low-friction articulating spherical bearings, eliminating bushing flex and reducing friction. This maintains optimum suspension geometry under load, to improve handling and feedback.
SPL FKS Series Bushings feature massive 1†size FK racing bearings with a self-lubricating teflon liner for long life and maximum performance. Highly precise (machined to 1/1000th inch) CNC machined T6061 aluminum bearing shell and sleeves provide an accurate fit.
Very helpful information! The following is my experience on this issue:
I own a 04 G35x in Toronto with 140,000km. I first started noticing the knocking noises on my front left side. I simply ignored it. Then the right side started to make noises too. The noises are especially noticable when driving slow on uneven surfaces. As speed increases, the noises went away. However, after a while i realized noises appear at high speed around 110 km/h as well.
I first took the car to dealership, went for a test drive, then they said right away that it is compression rod. Obviously, there is a service bulletin on this issue. Quoted me $600 to repair for one side only. I said no way, walked away paying $60 diagnostic fee. Then I went to an independent mechanics; he told me it was because of sway bars, and they cost only $150 to replace both. Due to the cheap cost, I went ahead with the repair. However, this did not fix the issue.
Finally, I went to another mechanics, this time I told them directly it might be the compression rod. After diagnostic, they agreed to fix them for $600 for both side; half off cheaper than what dealer quoted me. The parts are from OEM. After replacing them, the noises went away!!!
I recommend ppl to replace the whole thing instead of the bushing. It takes longer to push the bushing out. With $600 in total for both sides, might as well replace the whole compression rods.
Good luck!
Also after reading this post. You need some mechanic friends. I got my bushing installed for $100.00 American dollars both sides
Autozone is where u can get a balljoint for the compression rod which makes the clunking
I’ve replaced it on the g35
where can i get just the bushing for the compression arm
I have a 03 G35 coupe, less than 60000 miles and had the issue with the compression arms bushings as well, dealer wanted to charge me $900 for the arm replacement, and another $800 for struts that are a little weak! What a rip off, I found the bushings online by “Whiteline” Whiteline (W52991) Control arm – lower inner bushing(2 in pack) $65.00
Whiteline (W52992) Shock absorber – to control arm bushing(2 in pack) $60.00
Shipping approx. $75.
The labor to remove both arm and remove bushings and install new urethane bushings would be 2.5 hours, a total of $169.94. Total paid was $357.00, and still after this work was done, it still has that clunking sound which did not solve the problem. Help Please!!
I stopped into both of the Infiniti dealers in the Minneapolis area for this problem on my 2005 G35x. Both dealers claimed that they are unable to order just the bushings, and that the only way to fix this is to order the entire compression rod assembly. I was quoted 900ish at one dealer and 1100ish at the other. I mentioned the above TSB and they disregarded it even though it is issued by Infiniti. Anyone else have this problem with their dealer?
Thanks!
I just purchased a used 2006 g35x sedan. When I did emission inspection, the mechanic said both of the front compression arms need to be replaced.
They told me it will cost 1700 dollars.
I really don’t know what should I do next.
I have a 2005 G35 Coupe, bought it used and noticed while driving if I turned I heard a vibration noise. Took it back to dealer and they replaced ball joints. Now when i turn i hear a sqeaking noise, im scared at what they will tell me because im ignorant, I will probably wait until my husband comes back from overseas but im curious to find out what they say. I think I may go to a place where they will actually let me come and SEE the problem, most dealerships will not let you back in the garage!! Any suggestions on what the sqeaking may be?
I have a gd mechanic but just want to try to get the cheapest price on parts I need and reliable enough where I won’t have to deal with the issues for a long time.
I have 2003 g35 sedan and I think I am having the same issues. There is a sound coming from the front driver side. It’s almost like a warped sound I guess. Don’t know of any other way to describe it. It’s at its loudest below 40mph and almost nonexistent on the freeway. I took it to a mechanic the other day and they showed me how tires that they put on not too long ago are completely balled on the inside and said its mostly something to do with the bushings as they were cracked. I’m trying to find out I that’s the only thing I need to replace; if I should go with a suspension kit like eibach or does that have nothing to do with the problem; I’m just confused about all the stuff control arms etc.
where do i get compression rod bushing ?
i have a g35 coupe 43000mi i had front suppenion comprassion rods replaced i had trucks that that over 50000 had never had this problem.also brake problem ,front only at 17000mi the back st 37000mi thats not bad.
Omg
I’m soooooo glad others are felling this problem. I have a infinity g35 2003 and I’m having this same problem. I feel every nook n cranny in road. I HATE how my car rides it’s terrible. I thought it was the shock,very expensive but I replaced them. Then they said it was the low profile tires an wheels I have. I’m broke and cannot afford to fix this. But now I know and confident this is ExCALLY what it is. Don’t you think this should be a -voluntary service complaint- I paid a ton for my car now it’s not worth much.
If enough people complain wont infinity fix it for FREE??
Thanks
Tina
John,
I did mine last year and they need to be done again. They are easy to do you can find the info on net and the torque specs. Go to Rock auto the arms themselves are about 60 bucks each plus shipping. You will find the bushing is fine its the ball joint on the other end of the arm thats wornout. It can’t be replaced(or greased/poor design thats why they wear out). The sound is telegraphing up the arm to the bushing
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php
Hi. I was informed today that my 2003 G35 coupe’s whole compression rod and bushing need to be replaced at a cost of $990. I asked if it’s possible for just the bushing to be replaced and was told that only on the sedans have that option. Is that correct?
I was told by the dealership I need to have my bushings replaced on my 2005 g35 at a cost of $500.00 My car is not making any noise. What will happen if the bushings are torn and I continue to drive it that way?
Hi! I have a 2003 g35 sedan and have replaced my left and right front Rods once already. Less than 2yrs. I have to replace them again. If we can replace the bushing where can I buy them? My car doesn’t need to hit a bump or rocky road, it will do the “clunk clunk” sound on a straight road with no bumps. I hope you guys can tell me where I can buy them. Thanks!
Listen….great news. YOU MUST REPLACE THE WHOLE COMPRESSION ROD BUSHING. IF U TRY REPLACING JUST THE BUSHING ITSELF IT WILL NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. JUST BOUGHT AND INSTALLED BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT COMPRESSION ROD ARMS AND THE NOISE IS GONE. ITS A MATTER OF TWO BOLTS TO REMOVE THE ARM. IT COST ME FOR BOTH RODS $ 319.00
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE.
Just replaced the compression rod bushings front upper ball joints and ” The clunking noise” is still present. Now going to replace front struts. Ill keep ya posted.
Oh how could I have forgot..both front ball joint assmbly.
FANTASTIC!
BRIAN
Hi everyone…..like you I have experienced headache after headache with my 2004 g35x. At 178k to date have replaced three wheel bearings,both front and rear, front drive shaft, brake caliper, all four rotars TWICE, brake pads and now both front comp rod bushings. This car is a joke…by far the worst car for continuial repairs. Ill go as far as saying a LEMON!!
Get rid of it while you still have some cash left for a new car. After this repair I am done!!!
One last thought….most certified mechanics can work on your infinity for 1/3 of the price. Find a local mechamechanic and you will go back to your dealer who will ovet charge you every time. They gotta pay for their pretty dealership somehow.
Take it from me….RUN.
Brian