fanbanlo

I have 4 brand new Koni STR.T (orange) structs installed but the fronts, especially the driver side, makes a weird noise.


My mechanics double checked everything and he suspects it's caused by the rubber bushings and/or the spring mounting cushion.

I've ordered:

51631-SV7-004 - rubber bushing
51686-SDA-A01 - rubber spring mounting cushion
51684-SDA-A02 - dust cover lower mounting

Hopefully they will get rid of the noise once installed.

V-dub-R

Are you lowered or on stock springs?
Did you line the front shock forks up with the notch that is on the shock? The front shocks basically have to be aligned, they can't simply be put on. If that notch isn't set in line with the opening of the shock fork, it'll essentially be sitting on top of the shock fork and while you turn the steering wheel the shock will turn as well, causing weird noise. Not sure if this is really what is going on with your car, but it is very possible.






Picture below shows outright incorrect installation.




To check, just jack the car up and look to see if that notch is sitting inside the opening for the shock fork. Depending on where that notch is, you may or may not need to compress the spring to turn the shock and line it up.

Remember, just because you take the car to a "shop" to have things installed doesn't always mean they do it right, even good mechanics can overlook certain things.

Hope that helps.

fanbanlo

Stock sprong. Thanks for the pointer!

fanbanlo

The dealer's service dept guy test drove my TSX and he believes it's "dry bushings", maybe the arms are somehow over-torqued. He suggests me to instruct my mechanic to spray lubricate the upper/lower/control arm links. If that doesn't help, loosen them first lowered the car, then tighten them.

My mechanic doesn't buy it, but he said he'll try anyway.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

are you sure its not steering related!?


i only heard the sound when you took a left.
Didnt sound like anything suspension related at all.

fanbanlo

I doubt it is steering related. All 4 corners make weird noises now. I suspect it's either the top hats are not aligned or the springs are too soft for the structs... I don't know. It's really annoying.

Hugh_Jorgens

Not sure what you mean? Why would the shock turn when turning the wheel? The spindle turns. The shock can never turn...even if it's fully loose in the shock fork.

Hugh_Jorgens

OP...describe the noise. I can't really make out what I'm supposed to listen for on the video.

This thread is a month old. Maybe you have a solution?

fanbanlo

The noise is captured in the very beginning of the video, like at 0:01 mark. The noise seems to be traveling up from the steering column, and I thought it'd be related to the steering squeak TSB, but someone on another thread said their steering squeak does not sound like the mid-high pitch rubbing sound I have right now. Furthermore, how likely would new shocks suddenly breaks the steering system? coincident? That TSB is quite costly to carry out and if that doesn't fix it, more money wasted.

Unfortunately I don't have a solution yet and I'm still quite frustrated by this. I have had multiple mechanics looked at it but so far they are out of ideas on what's really making the noise. Yes, the bushings on the arms and front sway bar are not at their best shape given their age but there's no one bushing that stands out as the offending one.

The noise appear usually during a turn or exiting a corner. I really wonder if the noise is made from the STR.T or other suspension parts... Too bad I don't have an extra set of shocks to test out my theory. I contacted Koni and sent them the link to the video but they claim it's not from their parts.