i have this killer noise in the rear of the car that ive been trying to diagnose.When going over bumps in the rear i car hear what sound like the shock hitting the body of the car.I went to the rear and checked if the top mount bolts(14mm)were tight and they were.I checked to see if the top bolt on the strut(top of strut)was tight and it was

I went for a test drive(me in the rear and my friend driving)to find the noise.I found out that the shock on the drivers side is moving on bumps.That top bolt moves very little and you can only feel it if you put your hand on it and visually you dont see it move.I also did a jounce test and all shocks are fine.

Im going to pull that one shock tomorrow and check for wear and maybe debri(first time off since buying the car).I was wondering if any of you guys have any ideas.It would suck if that one is unrepairable cuz i wont be able to replace just one(have to replace in pairs and discontinued).Also forgot to mention that these have pillowball mounts and the car is not lowered much at all

 

^^ Try checking the bushing in the top hat to see if it's been worn down

 

Ahh, i just saw that you have pillow upper mounts. Ouch, you don't need them for street. That could be your problem there. I would just use the stock top hat and ditch the pillows. Or see if you can return the pillows for regular uppper mounts

 

can you replace the bushing? i sure hope so cuz i mean they still dampen and perform very well its just that there noise.Im taking suspension and brakes now and i remember reading that theres bushings on the top mout of macphearson struts only

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spoonef &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">can you replace the bushing? i sure hope so cuz i mean they still dampen and perform very well its just that there noise.Im taking suspension and brakes now and i remember reading that theres bushings on the top mout of macphearson struts only</TD></TR></TABLE>

It makes noise b/c you have NO bushing there due to the pillows being there. The pillows are for track so that your suspension will react better to the track, but when you street them with the pillows you'll hear every bump. People with Buddy Clubs ditch the pillows and just use the stock top hat and it worked fine. Perhaps you can do that. Pillows have no bushing I believe, so there's no bushing to replace. Hope that helps

 

I knew it was a stiff ride but this one side is making the noise not the other three.Ehh im off to school to take them off and see whats up

 

Alright im at school right now and i took of that one shock off.On the top of the pillow mount there was signs of metal to metal contact(body to shock).Everything was tight before taking them off and tightened when putting them back on.Now i kno pillow ball mounts are overkill on the street(old owners doing).So is there anything i can put under there to cushion the contact? or maybe theres something i can buy?.

 

anyone? im going to go crazy

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spoonef &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">anyone? im going to go crazy</TD></TR></TABLE>

Um.. I've been telling you to use the STOCK TOP HAT, that should solve your problems

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Now i kno pillow ball mounts are overkill on the street(old owners doing)</TD></TR></TABLE>
I do not have the stock mounts because the car came with the suspension on.I dont have any stock shocks or top mounts either.Theres obivously a problem with this one shock and i cant seem to figure it out.Sorry about that im just so pissed at that noise.So i can just switch the pillowball mounts out for stock top mounts? if so ill try and get my hands on some and put them on asap.

 

How about a urethane bushing for the stock top hats?

 

my tein pillow ***** have bushings. there is also this coil wrap you can get it is a small piece meant to stop squeeking. you could put them over that section to help

 

link?

 

?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spoonef &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">?</TD></TR></TABLE>
does anyone else have any suggestions? whats the real purpose of pillow ball mounts and will i not get the full effect of the coils after taking them off?

 

Going to be sent out for a rebuild .For people that have done this how long did it take?

 

Nvm im going to get rid of this setup for a set of gc/koni yellows.Any suggestions on spring rates? car is a daily driver with pretty bad roads but when good weather comes around i would like to do autocross

https://honda-tech.com/zero...age=1


Modified by spoonef at 1:11 PM 12/11/2006

 

sell me the old suspension then!!

 

Honestly, I would just go with another company. Apexi has TERRIBLE customer service and one of their sale reps doesn't know crap about any of their products.

I sent my suspension in for a rebuild in Sept. they kept giving me the run around about ordering parts, etc. I just got fed up and told them to send my **** back.

-AR

 

I hear you on the terrible customer service.I tried to talk to there suspension guy but he was always away and i left a few messages.I got ahold of his email addy and i sent him a message.After a few days of not getting back to me i called them up and left a message once again and the guy said he will check his email in which he replied to me saying "hey i heard you had a problem...how can i help?".I gave up after that

 

the one thing that i did think about but never did was stock top hats.The shocks dont drive as if they were blown and theres no oil anywhere.

 

pillowball mounts use a spherical bearing in place of rubber bushings, to allow the shock to move properly throughout the suspension travel. It's not a crucial thing really on a double wishbone car, since the shock does nothing to locate the suspension, unless you have some seriously worn control arm bushings.

On a mac strut car, it is critical to have some sort of bearing or metal bushing, since the strut itself locates the suspension and controls the camber and caster.

 

Thanks for the info so do you guys think its possible for a the bearing to be broken

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spoonef &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the one thing that i did think about but never did was stock top hats.The shocks dont drive as if they were blown and theres no oil anywhere.</TD></TR></TABLE>

PM'ed

 

sending them out today for a full rebuild cant wait to feel the results