jayunsplanet

iTrader: (1)

I installed these w/ a few friends about a month or so ago. Springs on OEM shocks. I figured i'd give it a couple hundred miles before I posted here or made a big deal out of it. But it's been about 500 miles, and the sound is still very much there. (For what it's worth, the car has 68k miles on it)

1. A day or two afterwards, I noticed a clunking sound coming from the front of the vehicle when slowly moving over a bump.
2. Car got an alignment the day after the springs were installed.
3. Car does NOT pull the left or right, steering feel is fine, no noise when turning the wheel while not moving
(Tested the control w/ some "spirited" driving around some twisties in the countryside, and it handles much better than stock, no weird twists or anything pertaining to this sound.)
4. Sound is more prevelant in the front, but I do believe there is some sound in the rear (I can't be sure at the moment, but I want to start fixing the front first.)
5. I checked to make sure my CAI wasn't bumping up against the frame. It's not. I also check the resonator to make sure it had good clearance between the "cut out" (Since it's wider than exhaust pipe) Plenty of room. I was just doing this to be sure I was pinpointing the springs as the culprit.
6. I ensured the top mounts were tight as well as the front upper strut bar.
7. In addition, although not as important to me, there seems to be a bit of a squeak when the springs are compressing and decompressing. This is very subtle and only really noticlable it you are drifting (engine/exhaust overpowers the sound).
8. While it has been pretty cold here in Maryland since I first installed the springs, there have been some warmer days where the sound still occured. So I don't think it's the cold.

I do not have access to a garage. I do have access to a floor jack & jack stands, but I don't really have a flat area to lift the car up. I could make do, but I want some ideas before I get the car up off the ground. (I may even be able to use someone's shop afterhours)

Any ideas what this could possibly be?
I'm hoping/thinking maybe just loose endlinks, sway bar? Just something that can easily be tightened, or replaced for cheap. Something I could even do. My plan was to get coilovers in the spring (which is why I didn't get shocks. Figured my OEM's would last a few months).
Could something have been stripped, and prevented a bolt from being tightended all the way.

Thank you for any insight you may be able to give. I'd love to stop worrying about this.

fsttyms1

Well I would continue checking for the obvious. Sway bar end links, ball joints. Make sure that all the susp bolts are tight. Make sure the springs are seated properly. Properly support the car and yank on the tire to see if you have a bad ball joint or any play I highly doubt its your shocks that are bad. Its most likely something else. only way to know is to start addressing things and eliminating things

CJITTY

Mine did this too after my HR Sport spring install. Turns out it was a loose end link that my installer loosened to relieve pressure to get my rear struts out, turns out he didn't need to do that, but he forgot to tighten it back and that took care of the clunk!

jayunsplanet

iTrader: (1)

Alright, well, I have the car on on a jack w/ the drivers side wheel off right now. I checked the basic bolts, and everything seems nice and tight. So now I'm really concerned.

Is it possible that the immediate drop of the car w/ the Tein's was just too much for the stock shocks to take? This clunking sound started the next day, it was a progression. I do believe, however, that it has gotten worse in the last week or so.

Could it be the rubber mount on the top? (Replacing that is going to be a bitch, and cost a fortune, since they'd have to take the whole shock/strut assembly apart. If I have to do this, I'm getting new shocks, or possibly waiting a few weeks to get coilovers)

Any other ideas/suggestions!?

soccerbenk

i have tein ss coilovers and my car does this. Never have been able to figure it out. Let me know if you make any progress

jayunsplanet

iTrader: (1)

Humm, now that's interesting. We have completely different setups, but the same symptoms? Something has to be not tightened correctly, or worse, stripped?

I checked to see if everything was "tight" on the driver’s side. I believe it is. However, I used a simple ratchet when doing the install, so it's possible that the bolts are not torque to spec. Apparently, the TL service manual has torque specs for all the bolts. When I checked the bolts, the weather was windy and cold, and it was dark out.

I also checked all my wheel lugs, and found that everyone was NOT even close to being torqued to spec (80ft/lbs). So, I torqued ALL of them, and took the car for a test drive. Well, what do you know!? The clunking was non-existent for about a mile. As I was driving up the last road to my house, the damn noise came back!! What the heck? I believe the clunking happens less frequently than before, but it is still there, and quite annoying to not know the culprit.

Like I said, once the weather is nice, I’ll get it back on the jacks and see what I can find. I’m at loss.

merkin110

I am having that same clunking noise when going over even the smallest bumps. It almost sounds like something is hitting the sway bar or maybe even the exhaust pipes I have no clue. If you guys find a fix let me know too

jayunsplanet

iTrader: (1)

What is the name of the part circled in red? (the larger thing circled in red)
This is on the passenger side. This connects the front sway bar to the suspension tower. It has a bolt w/ a hex in the middle w/ a rubber piece.

That part is VERY LOOSE. I can't tighten it, so I believe it may be stripped. (The other side is fine, nice and tight) I can pretty much replicate the sound I am hearing by pushing on sway bar.. It is the "clunking" noise as well as metal on metal... The metal on metal sound is the loose connecting piece moving around hitting the bolt. The clunking sound is the sway bar connector hitting the control arm.

Video of loose sway bar connect on passenger side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHveGBEZ75E

I did notice that red circled part has chipped paint on the drivers and passenger sides. It IS hitting the control arm. The two small red circles are the points where each other hit.

The chipped paint



Why am I having the problem of it hitting the control arm and other people w/ drops are fine?

Any idea on how much a new piece would cost to replace?
Any ideas why these parts are hitting?
Would a new sway bar (Comptech, Neuspeed, etc) NOT hit?

On a side note, the rear sway bar hits the B-pipe just a bit as welll...

Legendaryyaj

The red thing are your endlinks. I dont know about the TL's but the Accords endlinks are very poor and Honda does have a updated version available. It should be swappable with the TL's.

JCharged

iTrader: (5)

I hope this doesn't happen when I reinstall my springs for spring....

jayunsplanet

iTrader: (1)

Yea, I figured it all out after I posted that... Since no one responded, I figured I would just go back out and jack up my car and try to fix it. Which I did. NO CLUNKING. All I had to do was to PROPERLY tighten the endlink. I didn't have a hex socket, so I have to make one out of a allen wrench, a vise grip, and a wrench. Worked like a charm. And the handling is a noticelby better, since the sway bar is stiff... +1 for easy fixes. -1 for not doing this a month ago. It feels good to work on your own car, I learned a lot about how things work underneath there. Using a shop lift is soooooo nice.

fahoumh

I had the same problem shortly after my sister's accident in my car 2 years ago...turned out to be a broken endlink, which I had replaced at the stealership. Good to see you fixed it.

merkin110

looks like it is a very common thing among TL's. I went and got my Tein SS-P installed the other day and it turns out that my passenger side end link is broken. I am getting it repaired next week.

JpnSamurai

man hope this wont happen to me...puttin in s.techs Tuesday

Bobbydoedoe

Heres a trick, you can always swap the springs on the left side with the ones on the right. After, see if you see could hear the clunking noise. lol i have the same problem, and i was thinking of swapping the springs on the left to the right, but to lazy. gl

RidinDurty

Better hope its not a blown shock. Happened to my boys RSX. Installed after market springs with OE shock. They blew in about 3 weeks

PiZauL

iTrader: (1)

The trick to not even taking off the endlinks is have someone step on the rotor (put alot of weight on it) so it moves as much as it can down.. then just pull the shock/spring assembly out. This is how I did it. I know that alot of people strip the endlink and can't tighten it anymore, this is a good way around that.

fsttyms1

Removing or loosening the Endlinks is NOT necessary to remove the shocks.

jayunsplanet

iTrader: (1)

See a few posts above... I already fixed it..

I wonder if these people actually stripped their endlinks, or if they're just not tightnening them properly. Because I too thought mine was really stripped because when I tried tighenting it it just kept spinning and spinning. I was trying to hold the hex in place while I tightened the bolt. It's the opposite! You tighten the bolt until you don't feel anymore resistance, THEN, you hold the bolt in place (keep it from spinning), and tighten the hex nut. Simple fix that worked like a charm for me. I'd bet money people aren't doing that. But I could be wrong.

True. And that's actually what we did w/ the 3 other wheels. The front passenger wheel was the first one we did. That was before the main guy who helped w/ the install (the guy w/ used to have the Skyline and now has the red 240) got there. He's knows his stuff.

At least I know what I'm doing now.. since I'm getting the REAL deal very soon.

mariusz84

My sweybar link broke, passenger side in the back, looks like it had no lubrication for a while, it was dry inside and rusted. i wonder is its ok to drive like that, i took it out and seems ok, and ordered 2 new ones from murrays for $40. but is it ok to drive like that? or will it damage something?
Thanks

jayunsplanet

iTrader: (1)

So no endlinks and your sway bar is just being held up in the center to the frame? That shouldn't be a problem until you can get new ones in, so long as it isn't dragging on the ground. I wouldn't permanently drive like that. You don't "need" a sway bar. Lots of lower-end cars don't have them.

mariusz84

its holding on one side, so its not hanging

immetoo

is there any strut installation page or site? specifically the rear?