Hi all,

This has been an ongoing problem for almost two weeks now. A friend came over from Atlanta to help me install my Tein H Tech and Koni Yellow's that I've had for about 9 months. We took the passenger rear out first to knock out and quickly realized that the top hat bushings needed to be enlarged / bored out in order for the rod of the strut to fit through. We didn't have access to a drill press as it was a Sunday and most shops were closed. We attempted to drill one out but it would have taken too long. This is when I decided to just let the shop that always works on my car do the full install.

We started to assemble the stock spring and strut to reinstall it but noticed when I was driving that it was making quite a bit of noise. It honestly sounded like the spring wasn't completely set although it was. I didn't really care as the next day the shop was going to complete the work.

The shop enlarged the bushings (rubber bushing with a metal "sleeve" in the middle) and installed everything within a few hours. I picked up the car and it rode so nice but it started making the rattle / noise again after about five minutes of regular driving.

My OEM bushings look a bit different than the ones pictured below. Mine have a piece of metal in the middle which made it extremely difficult to enlarge to fit the strut rod.



Took the car back to the shop and he replaced the top hat rubber mounting as well as the end links. Picked it up Monday to take for a quick test drive and after 5 minutes, started making the same noise as it did before! The guy at the shop is out of ideas of what could be causing it to rattle so much. It drives fine but after a few minutes of regular driving the issue comes back. The spring is completely set and isn't loose at all and all of the mounting is properly done.

I advised him to swap the driver side and passenger side to see if it makes the noise, which I think it will as the stock setup rattled, and this may narrow it down.

Can anyone give me some advice here to give to my guy at the shop? He will swap sides tomorrow but I have a strong feeling the issue will still be there and that it has something to do with how it is mounted.

Thank you all! I hope I can get this resolved. I haven't really been able to drive the TL much since it is in the shop and the loud noise irritated me beyond belief!

 

To follow up with my original post.. are the rear spring / struts specific to each side of the car or is it possible to swap the driver side rear with the passenger side rear to see if the noise still happens?

 

Anyone? Still can't figure out the issue!

 

They are not left and right specific.
Dumb question, but both top bolts were tightened? I had one come loose.

I had that issue recently when I swapped THAT particular shock from one car to the TEIN and wanted to swap out the type S to base tophats. In the end, I decided to keep the base tophats on the tein in my new type s and vice versa and leave the type s tops on the koni onto the base car.

But missing the metal sleeve shouldn't cause noise like that...

another dumb question but did you have them unload rotational bushings and then tighte them at the new ride height?

 

The top bolts were as tight as can be. The car rides fine for about 5 minutes before the noise starts happening. This even happened when we put my OEM suspension on after realizing we had to enlarge the holes in the bushings. The top hat assembly was replaced too and it still rattles.

2nd question, not too sure. I just know they installed the passenger rear the same way they did the other three struts and springs. I don't know what else it could be on the car though. New bushings, new top hat assembly, new end links and installed the same as the others.

I'm hoping to hear from them by tomorrow and see what happens when the two rears are switched. If the noise travels with the setup, then we will know it is something with the spring / strut. If the noise doesn't, then it'll narrow it out a bit and we will know it has something to do with the setup of the car itself.. which is where it gets confusing as the end links were replaced.

 

you may want to double check that all the bushings and washers are in the correct order when putting everything back

 

Guy at the shop said they did all four the same way and it is just the one making noise. He called me this evening and said that he swapped sides on the rear and the sound traveled with the spring / strut assembly to the other side. He's thinking the strut or something with the mounting hardware is damaged. This is hard for me to believe as the OEM one was making the same noise before taking it in to the shop to have them install the new setup.

So I need to either 1) pick the car up tomorrow and take it to another shop to verify that it is the spring / strut assembly and not something on the car 2) contact Koni and have a replacement sent and be without the car for another week or so 3) sell the damn car!

Ugh, I stopped doing most of the work on my car since something always happens and now when I take it to the shop, I'm still without a car.

 

I went with option 1. Sorry to keep replying to myself but hopefully this will be helpful for others in the future!

I picked up the car today after work and the rattle is no where near as loud as it was. They swapped the left and right strut / spring assembly but it still has a slight noise. I'd say it was comparable to the noise I heard on my OEM setup before I attempted anything which was the rear struts being blown, but on a smaller note.

I could tell the setup now on the driver side rear was louder but the passenger has a faint noise. I'm taking it to a 2nd shop in the morning to see what they have to say. I didn't tell them what was replaced yet so it should be interesting. I'm hoping the Koni's they sent me were not damaged during shipping or just a bad batch. I'm sure if my seat were in it would be quieter but I want pure perfection (for the most part) factoring in the money invested in the suspension + install.

 

Stupid question, but...since they had to mess with your rear sway bar to get the suspension in/out...no way there's any problem with endlinks? Or the bushings that hold it...i had an endlink up front that LOOKED fine...but it wasn't connected inside and would make this thunk when accelerating.

What gets me is the 5 minute thing...why the fk would it only be present after a few minutes...unless it's the dampers and the fluid inside is getting warmed up...

meh, I have no idea. Definitely set all the way to firm or whatever...nobody loosened it up, the dampening?

 

I would certainly hope they tightened them up! I don't see why they wouldn't but to be honest it doesn't sound like it is coming from that far down. Sounds higher up in the suspension.

The dampening is set to medium right now but will adjust to the softest for the first 500 miles once the noise goes away. Dropped the car off at the 2nd shop this morning to get a 2nd opinion and will go from there. At least the sound decreased significantly, but still not quiet enough for me after the time and money I have invested.

 

After a three week long ordeal I think I am balding on the top of my head from scratching it so frequently. The second shop called and said everything was installed perfectly and there was nothing wrong with the end links or anything vehicle related.

This is where it got strange. He put everything back in and of course the rattle was still there. He had his co-worker curl up in a ball and get in the trunk and drove off.. no rattle what so ever. The co-worker got out, rattle was there. Put two cylinder blocks in the trunk, no rattle. According to the guy, the perch that the spring sits on is a tiny tiny bit lower than it should be which is causing the spring to move a little and not sit as tight as it should.

He is able to fabricate something to make the spring fit in there perfectly or he could send them back to Koni to warranty them out but I'd be without a car for the duration of shipping.

Luckily my friend that helped me attempt the install, and fellow AZ member, has the exact same setup that I do and his do not rattle. He is moving back to his modified ASPEC MT suspension and is selling his H Tech and Koni setup. So, we are going to remove my two rear and put his in and disassemble the ones on my car, send them to Koni for warranty and sell the springs. He will be putting his ASPEC springs on the Koni's after he receives them back and gives his current setup a test drive. Within two weeks I'll be completely fixed, hopefully, and will get my alignment and the mods with the TL will be complete!

Cliff notes:

- Weight in the trunk made the rattle go away
- Remove weight and rattle came back
- Spring does not sit 100% between the perch and the top hat bushing
- Could modify the strut to make it work, not doing it
- Could send to Koni for warranty replacement, not doing it yet
- Swapping a fellow AZ members exact same setup in place my rear that rattle
- Installing his ASPEC MT suspension on his car and warrantying out the Konis
- Installing ASPEC springs on Koni yellow when warranty claim is complete
- My car modding is completely finished (minus the arrival of a new strut bar)

 

that is insane...

 

This is why I don't really mod cars anymore. The simplest things ALWAYS go wrong when I invest time or money into any vehicle. At least the issue should be resolved very soon and I'll be happy with the car again.

 

but a little lowered isn't going HAM rewiring stuff, you'll get it figured out!

 

A nice follow-up to this problem! My buddy came back over and we swapped out my suspension with his, not a single noise at all from the suspension. No idea what it could be from the old setup but the issue is resolved!

 

WOW! that was some an issue. Glad it worked out.

 

I'm very happy with the suspension now. It is just baffling trying to think what the issue could have been. We played around with the spring / strut when we removed it from the car and there was definitely enough pressure where you'd think it wouldn't rattle.. and then swapping in the EXACT same suspension setup and having no issues! Weird.