GTOpezzer Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Hi everyone, I've recently bought my first Z, a 2005 Azure Blue with 88k. Got the banging / knocking coming from the offside front wheel area, and after reading through a lot of posts on here it seems obvious to me that its the Banana Arm. Now- I've read on here that they are £350 from Nissan, and also some trader members have them a bit cheaper too :-) , , , but I've recently seen even cheaper ones on Ebay (£65 each) Different sellers, although they all seem to be in Dewsbury, and with 100% feedback - with 1yr warranty too :-) Would I be wise to buy 1??? Even if it only lasts a few months - but cures the problem, , , then I'll know what to get next time, rather than spending loads on other parts until I get to the bottom of it. Also - can I do it myself in my driveway with an Argos socket set??? (I'm a middle aged, overweight trucker - NOT a mechanic) Looking forward to hearing from you all soon, and hopefully building a good friendship as I did with my old Mitsubishi GTO on the owners club forum :-) Cheers, Perry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Personally I'd buy the cheap ones, one for each side and polybush them before fitting. Like most OEM parts for the Zed, the price is inflated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richf Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 The cheap ones come from China , like most things they are of a variable quality. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenDW Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 (edited) Also - can I do it myself in my driveway with an Argos socket set??? Might be a bit ambitious of a job for DIY tools. The tools we have that have stood up to 20 years of mechanical grief are all Stanley, Snap-On, Kamasa and the like. You don't want one of the tools to break and you hurt yourself/the car. Also you've got to think about the thing maybe being stuck up in the air longer than expected; it would be best if it could be left under cover and secure if you had to leave it overnight. Just a thought; I tend to be overly cautious/paranoid with these things. P.S. thanks for bringing to light the cheaper arms that available. If/when I do mine in the future I'll probably get some eBay specials myself and put the poly bushes in like KyleR recommended. Edited April 26, 2016 by RavenDW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veilside z Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Hello and welcome along. Nice colour choice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock_Steady Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 I recently changed mine and got them from cougar. the quote i got from Nissan was £306 each. Cougar were much cheaper. Sorted out that knocking you're talking about. if you're going to do it yourself on the drive way, it could impede what is already a rather long winded job into a cursing marathon. I suppose you could do it with an Argos socket set but you WILL need a breaker bar and possibly a blow torch. Some of those bolts won't be so co-operative to come off. You'll also need to get the cone off the old banana arm which isn't going to be easy. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsniss350z Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Welcome to the forum Perry and congrats on buying a Zed with the best colour they ever painted them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth29 Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 If its the just the bush, you can replace it - think theyre about £40 each. I think you only need to replace the arm if the ball joint is bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTOpezzer Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 JOB DONE!!! I bought just the one Offside arm from eBay for £62.99 Didn't realise that the subframe needed to be removed for the arm to drop low enough to clear the stud, and the only problem I had was that I couldn't get the nut off the ball joint,, and ended up having to grind it off!! Then I struggled to remove the cone from the original arm, , , , it was stuck solid!! . . . Wasn't sure if it was screwed on the threaded stud - so tried it with 2 pairs of Mowl Grips, but still wouldn't budge So out came the Plumbers Gas Torch again. . . . And suddenly it popped off!!!!, , and I mean it literally JUMPED off the ball joint stud like a FROG!!!! Put it all back together, gave it a good 10mile Road Test - and came back home with a smile on my face And all I broke was my 1/2" to 3/8 socket adapter (£2.99 for 4 - so no big deal) Cheers for all the welcoming messages guys Perry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Muxlow Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Hi and welcome. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 In the words of Hannibal from the A-Team "I love it when a plan comes together" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 The cheap ones come from China , like most things they are of a variable quality. you hit the nail on the head there the Chinese stuff comes in very cheap but with the risk that either quality or fit will not be good or it may fit and work perfectly as the man said Variable and until it arrives you won't knowI was trying to fit fuel rails yesterday bought at a fraction of the cost from china compared to the UK but spent several hours with them in my milling machine due to clearance problems not a problem to me but something to consider before spending your money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth29 Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Glad you sorted it. I just wasnt sure whether the cheap ones would be forged and it just seemed a shame to throw away the oem parts as they lovely things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth29 Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garygranite Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 I bought one of ebay for around £65.00 ,was German made quality seemed fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopedmark Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Good job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-Fed Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Welcome bud. New guy myself! And experiencing this dreaded knocking! Mine was more a f/n/s clunking so I changed the drop links which sorted that... But now there's a definite sinister sounding knocking. I'm guiessing it's the banana arm... I managed to get a replacement arm on eBay for only £30 (guy bought and didn't use). Figure I'll see if that shuts it up first then can look at getting better ones/poly bushes in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-Fed Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Hope that is the same knocking anyway or will be worried? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsniss350z Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Happy to read that you've fixed it and are now driving around in a sorted Zed with the added bonus that you fixed it yourself. Here's to driving plenty of miles with plenty of smiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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