civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Most of you know Im running KSports in my 03 CL. Im nowhere near slammed with them, nor do I have them on the stiffest setting. I believe they are 7 clicks from the softest setting actually.

Ive been experiencing odd knocking noises from the front end of my car for the past month or so. I though it was ball joints, but they are fine, the mounts are fine, the tie rod ends are new (I replaced them back in December), and the sway bar end links are fine.

Ive noticed a few months ago that the little piece of rubber at the top of the KSports the surrounds the adjuster (the top of the strut, as seen from the engine bay), was deteriorating. It was cracking, splitting, and ripping off.

About two weeks ago I noticed that the rubber was entirely gone. And in the process my driver side coilover seems to be collapsing. The strut tube is no longer centered in the top hat - its pushing against the inside portion, collapsing towards the motor.

Its very noticeable from behind the wheel. The steering isnt as sharp, theres vibrations, and most noticeable is the knocking noise Im getting over bumps.

Has anyone else with KSports ran into this issue? Im going to contact KSport as well regarding this, unless they see this post.

Ill also snap a picture of what Im talking about and post it here tomorrow.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Bump?

richardparker

iTrader: (7)

Have you pulled the struts yet to fully examine ?

For the noise, if not coilover related I say check upper control arms,or lower strut fork,either right on the coilover or where it mounts to the lower control arm.
If you checked those other pieces you mentioned and their fine.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Im doing a full inspection tomorrow.

Type S of Edmond

Yeah the rubber on mine is doing the samething, i was going to see if they could be replaced or what to do. I have had them on just over a year now. I dont have any noise though.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Yea, Im a bit put-off by the long-term quality of the K-Sports. But Ill be 100% sure what the problem is tomorrow.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

lol, yeah they do not seem to hold up very well, especially when pushed harder on a regular basis, then with all the "show" people

btw how old are they again???


and as far as collapsing inwards, seen quite often on McPherson strut front suspensions, where they also hold the wheel rigid, but on a Honda where they only got to go up and down basically (aka not a whole lot of side loading in our suspension design for the struts)

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Yea, thats why I almost didnt believe what I was seeing. But they are indeed collapsing inwards.

Ive had them on the car since Feb of last year. Ill admit that I do drive a lot, but in Feb of last year I had around 81k on the car, so theres only 34k miles on these - well below what most quality coilovers should last.

And as far as hard driving goes, Ive not tracked the car, Ive not taken it to the drag strip. As indicated by my mileage, 90% of my driving is highway. I do like to take an off-ramp a bit aggressively, but that doesnt wear out a suspension this quickly - at least one thats properly built.

Unless I can find evidence that proves its not the coilovers and its something else going wrong, Im staying far, far away from KSports. Im sorry to everyone that I have suggested KSports to.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

I had a similar issue with my d2's (made in same factory) when I bought them, both of the rubber boots were torn and I noticed similar issues. Not the colapsing though

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Yea, IIRC the D2s, KSports, Megan, and Function and Form coilovers are all the same thing just in different colors.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

only thing i could say to help prevent that, but this should not matter though, is tighten the lower bolt to the control arm, with the suspension loaded (vs unloaded), maybe that is putting too much of a preload on it