JMillerUA6

iTrader: (1)

The long and short of it is that I hit a massive bump in the road here in Hartford on Thursday doing about 10mph. When I hit it the passenger side front made a godawful bang. After that I noticed that it felt like the shock on the corner had lost pressure and it was making a rattling sound.

So I just took the strut bar off to have a look and this is what I found.......



Drivers side for reference:




So.....anyone ever heard of something like this happening? Is it even POSSIBLE for the pressure inside the shock to be so great at the time of impact to physically shoot the washer and everything above it off the threads?

I'm at a loss for words right now. These things are only nine months old too.

happyboy

I don't have this kind of stuff...but my guess would be nut may have already backed off, and this was the last straw. Hard to believe you can wreck your suspension at 10mph.

bluetl04

iTrader: (4)

That sucks op...Maybe it had something to do with your other front end accident???

lleron

iTrader: (1)

When I was adjusting the height on the coilovers on my 300zx by turning the shock bodies, that top nut actually backed off and I didn't notice it (it was still slightly on the threads though). When I was driving around it was making a godawful banging noise in the rear until I realized what happened. If you haven't checked that nut's tightness recently, I'm guessing that's what happened to you. Are the threads still intact on the strut?

JMillerUA6

iTrader: (1)

These were installed after that.

That actually makes a lot of sense, and I did recently (about a month ago) lower the car back down. I'm gonna check the rest of them tonight and put some Loctite on those fuckers.

ebelp

I'd take the whole coilover out and inspect it for leaks/damage. That top nut could've been getting loose for a while and the bump you hit just knocked it the rest of the way off..who knows. Hopefully you can just throw another washer and nut on there and be on your way.

bluescreenofdeath

my top nut/adjuster didn't blow off, but one of my struts did fail on me this week at 11 months... waiting on F2's reply now to see if they will send me the $75 strut under free replacement (i'll still have to spend half a day or 1.5hrs shop time to get it installed)

k1x

iTrader: (1)

oh shit! earlier at my work i tried to work my way around this speed bump (going sideways) but i still failed and my driver coil over bottomed out on me! there was this awful banging noise. shit i need to check on mines. I'm all paranoid now i hate it. and I'm maxed out too

Jesnutz

I need to check mine out.

DC2many

swang and bang

nah but I've had the same problems... my driver side koni yellow I just found out recently is now leaking and I do not have money to fix it! FOIHEWSgf98 23qhgr f9823q1hgf9823qh so pissed because thats a lump of money down the toilet... but it still seems to ride ok still

shenrie

look at that picture a little closer. that strut has been loose for a while. the threads of the strut rod have been sawing into the tophat. all those shavings in the back of the cup are from it being loose. there should have been signs that something was wrong well before the nut backed all the way off.

mY sLOW UA6

Every time I build up the courage to put my F&Fs on something like this pops up.
I may just go for an A Spec setup anyways.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

Wanna tell us why you are using OEM top hats?

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

Ok, back on a real computer. I am definitely wondering the need for using the stock upper mounts. Unless you have a very old kit or bought and used an accord kit there is no reason for this. Development work done by Heeltoe in conjunction with Function Form resulted in a completely bolt in kit that uses their upper mounts.

This is exactly what happened. The question becomes...why did the nut back off?

This is a good answer. I have had this happen to me actually! The process of spinning the shock to adjust it CAN loosen the nut at the top. If it is not checked it can result in a failure. This is not a product issue. It is an issue of improper work and follow up done. Some of which has to be learned the hard way unfortunately.

Good idea on checking but loctite is unnecessary and not recommended by me. It can interfere with the process of removal and assembly if it should be needed later. You are naturally over-reacting to a simple problem. Just tighten the nuts, pass on the loctite!

Tearing the whole thing down, again, is an over-reaction and unnecessary step to take. There is no reason for this.

But he needs more than a nut and washer, he needs a new upper mount bushing as well.

11 months is a good amount of time to have on the suspension. It is good that it does have a 1 year warranty on it! Some questions:
1) Did you send in your warranty card when you bought the kit?
2) Is this an HTSpec kit? If so, make sure you mention it as well as what version you have! V1 and V2 shocks are different.

Function form is excellent with their warranty replacements. I have faith you will be treated well.

Are you having persistent banging, clanking, or knocking sounds? If not you are definitely being paranoid. According to Wikipedia:
Paranoia [ˌpærəˈnɔɪ.ə] (adjective: paranoid [ˈpærə.nɔɪd]) is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion.


Your problems are not the same as anyone else's mentioned here. Maybe you are unaware of the fact that Konis do claim to have a lifetime warranty, and they are rebuildable shocks so there are many shops that can do this work for you. To say you have money down the toilet is, well, a mistake. If it rides ok but is leaking you really should address it soon.

This the biggest sin here. There most assuredly was banging and clanking going on for some time. Probably a few days at least. The OP should have investigated before this parts actually fell apart.

There is no reason to feel this way. If you have a kit and you have any questions at all...even if it is an HTSpec kit, then you can call me any time.

Marcus
949-295-1668