Ok guys, appreciate the awesome help for the sway bars... here comes another issue.

I installed my IM Cross about 2 weeks ago and started noticing "popping" sounds from underneath. At first, it didn't do it, but now it's doing it more often. Steering feels good, car accelerates better with this setup and turns exceptially well. ...What do you think is the popping coming from? Could it be the cross links?

My axles are brand new and it didn't do this before. I know the cross links are a little stiffer in fitment to this cross as it didn't fit completely perfect.

I haven't had time this week but will be checking it today in the afternoon. Any input greatly appreaciated.

 

Hey i just got my innovative crossmember about a week ago-- still waiting to install........
I have the "replacement" one. Which crossmember did you pick up the "replacement" or the "high mount." ALso did you get the poly bushing kit from innovative with the extra thick spacer to go along witht he crossmember? This thread will be a great trouble shooot for me if i end up with the smae problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdm4drSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I installed my IM Cross about 2 weeks ago and started noticing "popping" sounds from underneath. At first, it didn't do it, but now it's doing it more often. Steering feels good, car accelerates better with this setup and turns exceptially well. ...What do you think is the popping coming from? Could it be the cross links?

My axles are brand new and it didn't do this before. I know the cross links are a little stiffer in fitment to this cross as it didn't fit completely perfect.

I haven't had time this week but will be checking it today in the afternoon. Any input greatly appreaciated. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The innovative bar uses the stock radius rods, and should be a perfect fit. If it wasn't then there may be an installation error.
Does it pop when turning or at any certain time?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zerons hell &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey i just got my innovative crossmember about a week ago-- still waiting to install........
I have the "replacement" one. Which crossmember did you pick up the "replacement" or the "high mount." ALso did you get the poly bushing kit from innovative with the extra thick spacer to go along witht he crossmember? This thread will be a great trouble shooot for me if i end up with the smae problem.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
The "extra thick spacer" is a caster washer, it doesn't have to be used (optional)

 

zerons hell:

As far as I know, I ordered the replacement with the D-Series mount. I only used the bracket since the actual mount was meant for manual transmissions. It does NOT fit the Auto. The bracket, on the other hand, does fit with the stock Auto mount. Be advised that this thing lays extremely low, so be prepared to scrape it a lot on a dropped civic. Luckily, I sport TEIN dampers and I only scrape on drive ways and really bad dips.

Autoworks:

I hear popping when I brake and when I take off. I really dont hear the pop when turning or at high speeds. It turns really well and the car performs. I only seem to hear it on a stop and go basis. When accelerating on the freeway, there is no popping and the car rides nicely. Any ideas? I am going underneath tomorrow and see if there is any bending, metal shavings, etc...

You think it could be the mounts? I did torque them a little tight.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdm4drSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">zerons hell:

Autoworks:

I hear popping when I brake and when I take off. I really dont hear the pop when turning or at high speeds. It turns really well and the car performs. I only seem to hear it on a stop and go basis. When accelerating on the freeway, there is no popping and the car rides nicely. Any ideas? I am going underneath tomorrow and see if there is any bending, metal shavings, etc...

You think it could be the mounts? I did torque them a little tight.</TD></TR></TABLE>

My guess right now would be worn out motor mounts. You could be hearing the motor torquing/rocking or causing some king of pop/clunk when you first hit the gas or stop, especially with the front mount removed. Make sure you put the washers in the radius rods correctly (not backwards). They always look like they should go in backwards, but they don't. That could cause noise if not installed correctly or tightened down all the way.

 

Yeah, the radius rods would be the links bolting to the crossmember, right? If so, yes, I was confused on how to install those washers that hold down the bushings. I placed them exactly how I took them off the og crossmember though.

Are the washers installed with the deep dish side outward or inward? I will take a photo of them and post them right now so you can check them out. Also, the front mount is really bolted up nicely, I purchased the beefier bolts, that might explain why the tranny picks up better.

 

Here are the shots... sorry for the delay (something came up).

 

Something is wrong here...

The bushings shouldn't be smooshed liked that.



^^That doesn't look right either for some reason. I need to go out and look at mine.

Does that bracket fit the stock front mount snug? Or is there some movement there?

 

Here's 2 decent pics I already had loaded.
First is the bar and DP after I pulled the motor.

 

The front mount fits very snug. Sits perfectly firm. I noticed the tranny performs far better with those front mount brackets.

I noticed the rods didn't align perfect with the points on the crossmember. Everything else fit perfect except for the rods. Is the 4dr that diff. from the hatch? Something wrong with my rods? They're not bent or anything..

I also checked the car today and there isn't anything noticeable that could tell me something is ******* up.... everything looks okay.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdm4drSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I noticed the rods didn't align perfect with the points on the crossmember. Everything else fit perfect except for the rods. Is the 4dr that diff. from the hatch? Something wrong with my rods? They're not bent or anything..
.</TD></TR></TABLE>
4dr is the same as the HB/CRX

 

Ok, so that puzzles me even more. The radius rod mounting points were not perfect.

Any other ideas what else it might be? I didn't lube the bushings completey... you think I should go back in there and smother them with grease? I only put grease on the outer rim. I noticed I re-smeared the grease and I haven't heard it doing it... hummm.

 

I didn't grease mine at all. Pull it apart and make sure you have the washers setaed in and installed correctly.

 

Are they seated right in the pictures? When I installed them, I made sure they were seated how they should. They didn't align well with the radius rod mounting points though.

I'm gonna tear apart again this weekend. I will be greasing them this time as I noticed less noise when I re-smeared the grease. I did nothing else but this when I took the pics, what a coincidence, no? Might also be my shifter cable, as it pops a lot too.

Anyone else has any input on this before this thread dies?

 

Is that red around the bushing worn bushing or bearing grease? I thought it was worn bushing.

This pic...


does not look right with the metal on metal washers.

 

The red thing is Mobil 1 Synthetic grease. I have the grey, stronger/stiffer bushing set. Yeah, the washers don't sandwich the bushings as they are suppose to. I don't know if their is a fix, but the car drives wonderfully and there are no visual signs of wear or parts under stress.



Modified by jdm4drSi at 7:46 AM 2/16/2007

 

So...everything good now? What was it?

 

Uhm...this is just a shot in the dark...but do you have a DA Knuckle swap? and if so did you use the DA LCAs??

 

I had the same popping with mine. I have da front brake setup and my rods look crooked like urs too. The popping went away though after a week.

 

Well...my concern here is that the EF and DA LCAs are pretty much identical except for the radious rod mounts...the angles are slightly different...I have had both sitting side by side everything else seems to be in the right spot...if this is the case and the OP is using the DA LCAs swapping back to the EFs should correct the problem...

It is a very srious problem if the radious rods break and with them twisted at an odd angle i can see the bushing getting excessive wear and eventually leading to a failure...just my opinion but I'd try anf figure out why they are angles wrong....

 

Looking at the pis or the bushing kit on their website it shows that the steel plate needs to be installed on the inside not the outside of the bushing. hope this helps.

 

I do not have DA front knuckles or LCA's and the radius rods are the original DX 4dr ones as well as my knuckle setup.

The thing is that I've looked underneath and the rods dont seem to be under stress. The mounting point on the crossmember seems to be the one that's off.

Could negative camber be causing this issue? I noticed that the passenger side radius rod is not as badly aligned as the driver side wheel. It actually aligns not bad at all in comparison to the driver side one. The driver side wheel has more off negative camber than the passenger. If it could be, the camber situation is going to get fixed eventually.

 

I think caster would have more effect on that. And thatswhat thoes plates are for. Installing them wrong looks like it messed up the bushing and is throwing off the angle.. Thats my guess

 

I have the innovative crossmember on my hatch and it pops when I brake hard or take off hard. My car has a d-series and when I bought my crossmember they did not have the bracket that goes from the crossmember to the front mount, so I made my own.

 

Really strange, because it pops when I brake too and when I take off as well.

I didn't use the caster plates...