One of my corner lamps had burnt out, and I was looking for something that would more closely match the color of the HIDs. Picked up a pair of PIAA Extreme White Bulbs at Pep Boys. Much more white-ish than the OEM bulbs and a bit brighter too. Not a perfect match and I was hoping they would be a bit brighter but overall is an improvement.





I have also had an exhaust rattle. I went to O'Reilly Auto Parts to see if they would have the OEM still rubber hangers. They only had one in stock that was for small to mid sized 80s Dodge vehicles. I ended up buying it to see if it would help but knowing there were a total of 4 of them, I ended up going by the dealer to get the three for the muffler, which they had to order and should be in tomorrow. I decided to put the one I bought at O'Reillys on the mid-pipe section. The ones on the muffler just slip off but where it mounts to the mid-pipe, you need a 12mm socket or wrench to remove the nut. I pulled off the OEM hanger which seemed to be very easily smooshed, then replaced it with the one I purchased (had to put the metal sleeve inside the OEM hanger into it). I then pushed up and down on the muffler and no more banging! Drove it around a bit, including over some rough roads and the back end of the car is quiet again. Still have some light rattling/clunking in the front end to take care of but what I was hearing from the back of the car was much more noticeable than at the front.

Total cost for both fixes? $20.

 

Hose clamps wrapped around OEM exhaust hangers are the best fix and they're adjustable.


And removing heat shields helps too. Always nice to find these easy fixes which help with sanity (my rattles and bangs were driving me insane).

 

You know, I have an old pair of those exact PIAAs sitting in a box somewhere that I never installed on the Z. Time to put them to good use

 

fwiw, found an awesome Maxima Bulb Chart for anyone curious:

http://www.moodym.com/maxima/tech/maxbulbchart.html

 

Cheap fixes are always a plus! I've been annoyed lately with various frontend clunks/rattles and I just pulled the right front off hoping I'd find a bad sway bar end link...it looks fine so it's definitely gotta be the strut mount I'm thinking that I've been putting off.

 

I did both of those last week.hose clamp mod and heat shield delete mod

 

is there a how to on removing the heat shield? i have a stupid rattle in the front at certain rpms while accelerating that is driving me nuts..

 

This is the closest I've got to 4300k with LED's. I haven't found a Incandecent that can get close enough, but that looks decent man, thanks for posting! I may check those out. Although, I don't think I could sacrifice how bloody bright these ones are! They illuminate the driveway with just them on.




That's a 26 SMD 'bulb'. Alex used to sell 15 SMD's that were equivalent. PM or post if you guys are interested in purchasing them I can set you up. FYI, they are not as blue as shown, and I have TRUE 4300K HID's installed.
These would match aftermarket 4300/5000k Perfect