I just installed H&R cup kit, which is a spring and a damper kit.

Both front and back installed just fine, but the rear is making a noise everytime I driver over small potholes or uneven road.

It litterally sounds like the two nuts holding the strut in place in the tower, are loose, but they aren't, I've double checked them.

Can I have put them on wrong? Assembled them wrong?

What could be making this sound?

 

Is it a clunking noise then? Just curious, I have a similar sound. It did get better when i got better tires went from 205x49r17 to 205x45r16's, but still kinda clunky over crappy roads.

 

Yes it's a kind of clunking noise I would say. I don't see how different wheels/tires would make any difference. It's on 15" now, but I have summer 17" - But they are almost excactly the same dimensions.

Did you also lower your car, if so how much?

 

Yes but it was the previous owner that did it, maybe 1.5" or so. I think it cut down on the noise because of the the 45 vs 40 tire thickness (more rubber to cushion bumps) plus the newer tires i got were especially great a handling potholes and road bumps. I went from crappy *** Kumo A/S to BF Goodrich G-force comp 2 A/S and the rubber on the Kumo's were not forgiving whatsoever

 

eventually I'm just going to replace everything bushing and suspension wise, so I've been happy with the newer tires giving me a quieter ride till i do that lol

 

Today I took off the front and rear suspension and went it through. All assembled according to service manual, with correct torque etc.

I'm still getting this noise, at least now I can say that it's not the coilovers.

 

Did you re-use the upper or lower spring perch isolators? If the springs are of a progressive wound design, a lot of the time the softer coils will compress completely and quickly over a road that's not perfect and make a "slap" noise. That's just the nature of a progressive spring.

Is this the cup kit that has adjustable shocks?

 

Yes I did re-use the rubber for top and bottom perches in the back. It is progressive springs, and yes it's the H&R adjustable kit.

The rear has 3 grooves in which a c-clip sits, right now the rear is on the bottom/lowest one.

So what you're saying is there is no fix for this?

Would moving the c-clip improve or worsen the "clonk" sound I get when driving over small road imperfections?

 

Unless the spring is becoming unseated from the tophat, no. It's just something that I learned to deal with when I had a progressive spring on the car(Skunk2, same as H&R Race/Neuspeed Race).

Only other option is to start replacing bushings on the car.

Do you have an aftermarket rear sway bar?

Also, would you mind measuring from the hub center to the fender? Front and Rear.

 

Okay, thank you for your answer. Any specific bushings that needs replacing?

Everything else is stock, including the sway bar. Though, I do have an aftermarket bottom and top rear strut bar mounted, as well as one in the front.

Front is 310mm (12.2") rear is 330mm (12.9")

 

You're right at about my ride height(13" F/R).

I'd just replace all of them. I like to stick with rubber, some people like polyurethane. Being that the car is 20ish years old, it's a good bet they need replaced.

If you want to get fancy, Fat Four Customs makes billet rear lower control arms and toe arms. With those replaced, you'd just have to replace the big trailing arm bushing and the upper control arm.

Bottom and top rear strut bar? I don't think it's really necessary on the rear, with how high the shock towers are and how close it is to the parcel shelf, it's pretty stiff back there. A lower tie bar is pretty much worthless as it's really not bracing anything considering the design of the rear crossmember. I was surprised when I did the front upper shock tower bar- the Neuspeed unit made a hell of a difference, and the only one on ANY car I've owned that actually did anything. I highly recommend a rear sway bar; Tanabe allows for stock mounting points(if you have an EX), the Progress unit is just a little larger and a little more intensive to install.

 

Thank you, I'll look into it.

Last thing, would spring insulators make any difference? I've seen some that is put "inside" the springs so to say, in between where they would make contact to dampen the noise/compression.

 

Nope, they'll just do screwy things like mess with spring rate. Leave it and inspect bushings, replace what's necessary.

 

Thanks.