Kinda sad, but when I'm driving on even a slightly bumpy road my civic sounds awful. The suspension makes all types of creaks and terrible sounds. I usually turn my radio up to ignore it, but it just sounds like everything is going to fall apart.

Would replacing the upper and lower control arm bushings, as well as the motor mounts and sway bars/sway bar bushings fix my problem?

Also - theres is a large amount of road noise inside my car... I have had the floor and trunk dynomated but it didnt seem to do much at all...

 

 

No offense... but your reply is worth less than a Yen.

I'm asking for help diagnosing my problem (I've searched, and posted a possible solution to my problem) not whether a dsm manifold will fit on an H22.

 

I know that some tires transmit more sound than others. Besides new tires, I am not sure how else to keep road noise out.

 

Ha, what model and mileage?

 

My reply is probably one of the best replies that H-T has ever seen to any unique thread like this. Read between the lines; of course you didn't ask about a manifold.

Would replacing the bushings fix your problem? Possibly. They are wear and tear items anyway, replace them as necessary and see if it fixes your problem. If it doesn't, then obviously it's not your bushings, but at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that all your bushings are brand freaking new.

Do we need more information about the noises and creaks you're hearing to actually help diagnose a problem for you? Definitely.

Road noise? You drive an EK.

Don't come on here asking for help, providing the most minuscule of details about your problem, and expect a precise answer, and then be a dick because someone told you to run through the car and try to diagnose it yourself.

If you want, I can hold your hand while I check your suspension.

 

^^^X2 this.^^^^
Replace the bushings and mounts? I don't know. Are the bushings & mounts the problem? Find out exactly where the noises are coming from before you waste a lot of time, effort and money.

 

the best part about driving an ek IS the noises u get, not like newer cars that omit all noise then u fall asleep at the wheel cus nothing is keeping u up

 

Most likely bushings. Check all bolts and nuts for correct torque. check shocks and springs for worn mounts. In a new car, its quiet because everything is brand new and torqued properly. If you want the car to be like new, youll just have to go through identifying and replacing worn parts.

 

Its not a little road noise. Its an excessive. And how else do you describe a creak? Ever walk on an old board? Thats a creak. It sounds like that. It sounds terrible. It sounds like my car is going to fall apart. I thought that was pretty detailed.

What kind of noise? A creak that sounds like my car is going to fall apart.
I'm planning on getting new tires soon.

Also... the rear seems to slide often on sharper corners. Like taking a "T" shaped corner through a fresh green light. The rear will slide

 

lower ball joint. most likely.

but also give us details. is it bone stock? what suspension? aftermarket lcas? mounts? recent accident, unbalanced wheel, dead baby in your wheel well?

just need more info. but sounds like its a lower ball joint going bad

 

You should tell us what year, trim and body your car is. You should probably also mention any mods.

What you're saying could be blamed on just about anything between your cabin and the ground though. Maybe even some inside things (my ex had a car that sounded like it wanted to fall apart because it was off a tooth on timing and the interior panels in the hatch area weren't held in place). That thing rattled like crazy. It made me want to just go over everything and carefully listen to figure out what all the problems were and then fix them one by one. I'm sure there were a lot more problems than I managed to figure out.

From your very vague description I'd recommend you at least check:

- Tires (tread style, tread life left, profile - low profile tires usually make more noise)
- Wheels (large wheels often use low profile tires, which cause more noise)
- Lower control arms (bent, loose bolts, worn bushings)
- Shocks (blown)
- Forks (bent)
- Coil springs (only usually if aftermarket - did you seat them right?)
- Motor mounts (worn, cracked, all bolts in place?)
- Exhaust (loose bolts, not on hangers)

Could be almost anything. That's what the first reply was getting at as well.
Before I did all my suspension mods and put some beefy *** tires on it my car was super quiet. It's a '98 EX coupe.

Got to say a totally quiet cabin weirds me out as well though.

 

when i drive our family SUV i always hate it because the power steering is so sensetive that the smallest touch on the wheel makes it wobble all over the place. when on the highway i cant hear anything from the outside, just barely enough to say that there is a motor under the hood. sometimes i crack the window just to hear wind noises and to make sure i am indeed driving(as if stepping on a pedal an grabbing a wheel wasnt enough but u get the point).

thats why when i get back in my hatch, a 97, i love it that much more. the super hard steering due to no mechanical help, the wind howling when im at 40-50 mph comming from the passenger window area, the noise my tires make on asphalt then ramdomly switches because it goes onto pavement and the best of all, THE SOUND THAT MAKES U THINK ITS GOING TO FALL APART because u have so much loose change in every nook and cranny possible along with tons of random bolts from previous projects in those spots too and it shakes vigorously cause u noobed out and almost stalled(haha at least in my case) for some reason i always deny it throttle, maybe my foot reflexes are jacked but i dont care because in the end my car tells me that i am indeed driving it.




...WOW what a rant and just to agree about how having a quiet cabin IS weird

 

i actually like the quiet cabin. i drove my buddy's e39 525i wagon and it's so quiet. i miss the luxury i lose from the civic.

back on topic, follow everything NOFX mentioned. my guess is tires and bushings. tires being one of the biggest culprits of road noise. bushing being a common and overlooked cause of clunking and rattling.

 

Oh man, my tires are so loud. If I didn't love them so much they'd be gone. Bizarre to feel my tread as I drive as well.

 

The exhaust slightly rattles at idles.
Also, the car idle surges at idle and the lights city lights flicker but I'm assuming that's a vacuum leak

It's on Tein flex with about 6k miles
Completely stock otherwise
I'm replacing the mounts as soon as I find an h2b kit for an ek.
The bushings are probably worn, but I'm ordering hard race as soon as my turbo parts sell. Or should I go with oem/ES? I just want the best ride quality
Also, there seems to be a noise increasing in volume in the rear, which slides terribly.
Tires aren't bad - 60% thread 205/55/15 which is oem I believe

I do need a slight alignment. And sometimes in the middle of the car after I've driven and stopped, or atleast I believe it's the middle, it sounds like... A clunk... Like a deeper version of your keys faintly hitting your door.
Lmk if I missed anything.

 

Does it sound like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfBPpxT3JUk

Because my car sounds like that too

I'm suspecting it's my lower balljoint, I have new tie rod and axle.

Also as far as the rear kicking out on turns, do you notice it especially when there's a bump in the turn? It's most likely your rear trailing arm bushings. Gives you snap oversteer if it's bad enough.

Best way is to just jack your car up and check all the bushings/balljoints. You'll see if they're torn or cracked, leaking grease, etc. Mine is completely dry and not cracked, but I'm 90% it's just dry inside. If you have a rear swaybar check those bushings as well

 

I have the same problem in the rear, specifically the rear passanger side. I changed out the rear pass. trailing arm and its still there. after further diagnosing, mine sounds like its coming from the shock tower (will be upgrading suspension soon anyway, hopefully it fixes the problem), pull your interior apart off around the shock tower and have a buddy sit back there and listen while you drive to see if its coming from there.

The sound in my car has gotten a lot worse and even creaks on sudden acceleration, and creaks more when it's cold and has clunks now when i drive over bumps.

It sounds EXACTLY like a wooden floor board creaking.