Thunk be gone

carteach0 · 06-02-2005, 03:16 AM

I was getting an annoying 'thunk' from the rear on acceleration. Only one thunk, and only when pulling out from a stop, and only when getting on it a bit. One intersection particularly, it happened often. That spot called for merging with highway traffic from a stop while aimed uphill. THAT spot got me a solid thunk every time.

I isolated the sound to the spring keepers on the rear leafs. I think it has been discussed here before, and the answer some people found was to install 'helper' springs to control spring wrap.

That answer sounds fine, but I found my own way to deal with it.

The keeper is designed to limit spring wrap via the use of a plastic roller which snubs the spring. The 'thunk' happens when the keepers roller strikes the spring hard when you accel hard. On mine it had neatly worn the paint from the upper spring right where it strikes.

I replaced the skinny factory roller with two larger rollers mounted with bearings in their center.

To be precise...... they are skate board wheels scavenged off a trash picked Pokemon skate board...... (lol).

The hardware is 8mm x 1.25 x 90mm bolts with washers and lock nuts.
Total time to fix, including skull sweat and measureing..... 20 minutes.
That includes fitting them three times with different hardware till I was happy.

I did NOT modify the keeper frame and I can always mount the OEM parts back on in about 5 minutes.

THUNK be gone.... but it spins the tires easier too. Only downside I found so far. A few minutes with some flat black paint and my handiwork will soon dissapear from sight. I WAS tempted to buy bright red wheels and color co-ordinate with my truck.... but that would have cost an extra $20.

Yomama · 06-02-2005, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carteach0

THUNK be gone.... but it spins the tires easier too. Only downside I found so far.

You DO realize that some are going to start hearing a thunk, just so they can do this and get more wheel spin.

DeTitan · 06-02-2005, 05:32 AM

Hey Cartech,

Weeelll looks like you thunked this one design issue out!

Oughta send it in to them Nissan engineers.

With their group buy the fix costs would be less than oem!

Oh yea and your sig can be updated to a thunkmod

A2titan · 06-02-2005, 05:44 AM

I really need to work on my deck not look through my kids old skate boards today. ugh. I bet thats why some were losing their keepers, due to the slap from the axle wrap. Ah yes another mod for the to do list.

Clancy · 06-02-2005, 07:25 AM

I'd buy and ship you the red wheels just to see it!

HavockWK · 06-02-2005, 07:40 AM

Ha! I looked at the pic before I read what you wrote and thought, that looks like skateboard wheels!

Good work Teach! I will keep this in mind, but I have my axle wrap solution coming in the mail soon from PRG.

I bet the Ford guys would have a ball with this one.

Cominatcha · 06-02-2005, 11:00 AM

Nice Job. I hope this works for me also.

terryu1 · 06-02-2005, 11:33 AM

Quite a while back JetTech posted a mod he did using helper springs. It added quite a bit of stability and looked good. Here is the thread.
http://www.titantalk.com/forums/show...6&postcount=31
See if this may help others with what you are talking about.

carteach0 · 06-02-2005, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terryu1

Quite a while back JetTech posted a mod he did using helper springs. It added quite a bit of stability and looked good. Here is the thread.
http://www.titantalk.com/forums/show...6&postcount=31
See if this may help others with what you are talking about.

Nice catch. That is exactly the post I was referring to.

Yomama · 06-02-2005, 01:05 PM

I wonder why one mod gets more wheel spin and the other mod (doing the same basic function) gets no wheel spin?

carteach0 · 06-02-2005, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yomama

I wonder why one mod gets more wheel spin and the other mod (doing the same basic function) gets no wheel spin?

My thoughts about wheel spin after this tiny mod are entirely subjective.
I had someone watching the spring action as I accelerated from a stop. I MAY have been stepping on it a bit harder than usual (Grin). I noticed it broke loose easily, but as I said, subjective.

GO_VOLS! · 06-02-2005, 02:08 PM

That's the source of my suspension squeak. I think the factory over torqued that tightened the bands too much. Someone told me to back the bolt off a smudge and that would eliminate the squeak.

Would you guys agree?

carteach0 · 06-02-2005, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GO_VOLS!

That's the source of my suspension squeak. I think the factory over torqued that tightened the bands too much. Someone told me to back the bolt off a smudge and that would eliminate the squeak.

Would you guys agree?

If it IS the source of a squeek, loosening the bolt will result in the widget falling apart. Try lubing any points it might be rubbing at.

SUBTITAN · 06-02-2005, 06:37 PM

Very nice fix. There are some smart people on this site. Just another reason why I keep coming here.

CHEIF · 06-02-2005, 06:54 PM

Nice Job Carteach0. It looks fine and at a price you should be proud of

Cheif