Omnislash07

If you own a Tein coilover suspension without adjustable preload, you are probably familiar with the infamous Tein clunk/rattle. It sounds as if the strut is rattling because the top nut that connects the strut to the pillowball mount is loose (often in the rear suspension). THIS IS MAY NOT BE THE CASE.

If you’ve tightened your top nut, checked the nuts for your endlinks, and all the other horde of nuts in your suspension and the clunk/rattle still persists, it’s likely to be the spring rattling against the pillowball mount.

To fix the clunk/rattle I cut an inner tube for a bicycle and carefully wrapped the top coil of the spring ensuring uniform thickness and that the tube is pulled tight. This greatly reduces/eliminates spring play where the spring makes contact with the pillowball mount.

I took my car out for a test drive and the clunk/rattle was significantly reduced! There were also no noticeable changes in handling. It’s a simple, quick fix!

Your comments and feedback are appreciated!

Cheers,
Danny

FreDroRN

Thanks for the info. My g/f has Tein SS's on her RSX and she's had that rattling on and off. We've checked all the bolts and nuts and it still persists. I'm going to try your idea as soon as the weather gets a little warmer. Anything has got to help at this point.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

I don't know how that could be, since the springs are constantly under load.

I mean, if the springs came loose and rattled against the top mount, then yeah, that would help. But when driving, springs shouldn't be loose to a point that they would rattle against the top mounts.

Having said that, I do have the clunk noise problem, and I may try this when I'm installing the camber kit soon. Thanks for the tip.

99TLHeather

Anybody know whee you can get sprong isolators that will fit the yein springs. I bought some hoses used for the radiator but I think it's a bit to thick.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

If you still have the rubber isolators from the stock springs, you could probably reuse those.

Omnislash07

Thats what I thought initially and I was convinced that it was a loose top nut. Maybe when you are going over bumps there's just enough rebound for the springs to move side to side and rattle against the mount? If you think about it, all it needs is the tiniest mm of play to make that racket. Anyway, good luck and its definetely worth a shot. It only took me 45 mins.

-Danny

Omnislash07

Please excuse the old post.

Allow me to redeem myself and post the REAL fix. Yes, wrapping the coils did help alleviate some of the noise, but clearly did not eliminate it. I finally got around to disassembling the rear suspension and it turns out the collar that goes in the pillowball mount, PMP05-F1423, is too large due to POOR MANUFACTURING TOLERANCES! Because the opening is too large for the shock shaft, there is side to side play. To eliminate the problem, I had to remove the pillowball mount and wrap the shock shaft (where the collar is seated) with electrical tape.

This is the culprit:




If you are experiencing this issue, this fix is definetely worth your time. It drives like a whole different car now; A REAL luxury sports sedan! I fell in love with the car all over again. If any of you are in the Bay Area and need a hand, just let me know.

StanMan

you can also wrap your springs using a common wire management product called nylon spiral wrap. all sorts of colors, lengths, tube diameters and material thicknesses. you only need to wrap the "dead" end coils but i normally wrap the entire spring as it's cheap and there will not be any loose ends.

David Mandujano

Hey thank you for all the information you've provided. I just installed mine. And I've been having the same issue. I went ahead and also gave what you suggested a try and still. I'm from the South Bay Area and was hoping you might be able to help?

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

He posted that 11 years ago. He hasn't logged into this forum for the past 7 years.

Welcome to AZine

elfnumber1

did you fix this? thinking of getting the tein coilovers, but not if this is going to happen.