I purchased a lowered TL recently, and I'm working to unlower it.

The previous owner had installed KYB Excel-G struts on all four corners with lowering springs. The OEM springs were included with the purchase of the car.

I removed the strut assemblies, removed the lowering springs, and installed the OEM springs.

I drove the car briefly after installation, and I had lot of "creaking" noises, and some metal-to-metal noises. Numerous other maintenance tasks were accomplished concurrently with the suspension change, just FYI.

So now I'm trying to troubleshoot the causes of the creaking and the metal-to-metal sounds (banging metal when going across bumps).

Looking at a diagram of the front strut assembly:


I have the following parts installed:
4 - Shock absorber
1 - Spring
7-Top Hat
10-Rubber Spring Mount
17/5/6/15-Top hat assembly. The rubber bushings around where the strut comes through resemble this.

So...the rubber spring mount (#10), is very soft and pliable, could it need to be replaced? When I pump up and down on the LH forward quarter panel, I can replicate the creaking sound.

I haven't been able to replicate the "banging metal" sound when the car is sitting static. I'm going to pull the wheels and double check if I failed to fully tighten any hardware/look for obvious causes. If anyone has any areas to check I would appreciate it.

I finished the install late one night and just did a brief test drive, hence the limited information posted.

Thank you.

 

make sure the springs were installed properly onto the rubber, if not it'll make sounds. You can use white lithium grease also to help prevent creaks!

The bang/thump could be from a loose endlink for the sway bars (front or rear), or loose swaybar bushings for the front or rear.

 

Is the bottom of the spring affixed to the lower rubber mount in the correct orientation?

 

Could be some damaged bushings under there from an improper lowering. Made noticeable by returning to factory ride height.

 

If I'm understanding your question correctly, I don't have any rubber mount installed on the bottom of the spring. The bottom of the spring contacts the metal flange around the shock.

 

Thanks all for the ideas. I got the car safety inspected (state requirement), and they failed it due a leaking power steering rack, so I'll have to replace that, which will give me some time to look at suspension.

 

then that's your problem. If there's no #8 on the spring seat, you'll get some noise.,

I sent you a pm.

 

That would probably be the source of the noise. Honda calls it a "lower spring seat" or "Lower Coil Spring Insulator":




and it looks like this(upside down):

 

Thanks for the information. Guess it's time to order some more parts. Thanks again.