PDA

View Full Version : That POP, that CLUNK, that effed ALIGNMENT. Help.



doubledouble
11-23-2011, 06:34 PM
Are loose endlinks the cause to these loud popping noises coming from the front pass. side? I get it only when I'm parking, going over speed bumps. My alignment that I got 2 months ago is misaligned.

Went back a week ago, had it re-aligned again, today it's way off again.

PatrickJamesYu
11-23-2011, 08:25 PM
Tell us about your car

every single suspension modification, from stock.

doubledouble
11-23-2011, 09:11 PM
150k. Eibach pro kit springs (DC5 specific) on stock struts (don't tell me this is the problem, the struts are fine).

I installed them with a friend. Both of us knew close to nothing about suspension. So I needed an alignment afterward. Got that done. Drove it for ~ 4 months just fine, then I recently let it sit for 2 weeks. Got back in it and it was pulling to the right. By this time my tires got pretty bald. Went back to the alignment guy, he took a look at my tires and said, "that's why" I called BS and he aligned it again. He said maybe I hit something.

I didn't. Only thing I can think of is maybe a pothole. The alignment has been progressively getting worst. Sidenote: (I just got 4 brand new tires today).

PatrickJamesYu
11-23-2011, 09:16 PM
Do you have camber bolts?

Could be bushings that are causing your tires to be come unaligned while the car is moving.

doubledouble
11-23-2011, 09:59 PM
Pretty sure I do. Bushings?

PatrickJamesYu
11-23-2011, 11:56 PM
Pretty sure I do. Bushings?


If you have camber bolts in the front, it's a possibility they are slipping do to poor design, or poor installation/adjustment
But your alignment guy should be able to diagnose that the moment he gets his hands on your car.
He'd be able to see if they came loose.

doubledouble
11-24-2011, 12:44 PM
If you have camber bolts in the front, it's a possibility they are slipping do to poor design, or poor installation/adjustment
But your alignment guy should be able to diagnose that the moment he gets his hands on your car.
He'd be able to see if they came loose.


He tighten/adjusted them the first time around and it was fine. How did they come loose after 2 adjustments?

I see the camber bolts could be screwing around with my alignment but what about the popping/clunking? Having read other threads I'm thinking it's loose endlinks. I haven't gotten a chance to get under my car yet but I plan on it.

Satinsilver03
11-24-2011, 08:27 PM
I just had to change my swaybar endlinks last week because I was getting the clinking and poping and it's nice and quiet now....if I were u that's were I would start to fix that.....

doubledouble
11-24-2011, 11:07 PM
I just had to change my swaybar endlinks last week because I was getting the clinking and poping and it's nice and quiet now....if I were u that's were I would start to fix that.....


Were the endlinks ripped/broken? Also where'd you purchase?

04EP3Hatch
11-25-2011, 05:20 AM
install the stock strut bolts and toss the camber ones, and odd's are if you knew nothing about suspension like i did when i lowered mine you didnt index the top hat/mount in correlation with the strut, LCA bushings could play a big roll in this, even lower balljoints and/or tie rod ends. Have your car shaken down and see what they say

Satinsilver03
11-25-2011, 10:22 AM
Were the endlinks ripped/broken? Also where'd you purchase?

Got them from Honda.... Didn't have to pay full price for them though cause I got a discount from my work.....and the boots on them were ripped...

doubledouble
11-25-2011, 08:50 PM
install the stock strut bolts and toss the camber ones, and odd's are if you knew nothing about suspension like i did when i lowered mine you didnt index the top hat/mount in correlation with the strut, LCA bushings could play a big roll in this, even lower balljoints and/or tie rod ends. Have your car shaken down and see what they say

I def. didn't index the top hat/mount. Sounds like I need to do some research . . . after my finals.

I'll pick up some OEM lcd bushings while I'm at it.

What about the tie rods? Etc? Could they be the problem as well?

Sorry I know there's a ton of these thread with similar problems, but with different suspension set-ups.

Thanks for the insight guys!

doubledouble
11-28-2011, 06:18 PM
Since getting new tires (215/45/17) I've noticed that corner (front passenger side) tire rubs up against the fender.

What's going on?

doubledouble
12-04-2011, 10:44 PM
Going to do some work on my car tmrw. Any tips for a newb on what to look out for?

TIA

:heart:

Bradk20
12-05-2011, 12:52 AM
I dont have any kind of solution but im curious to see if yall figure this out cuz i think i may be experiencing the same thing. I have an eibach sportline kit for the ep3, front and rear eibach camber kits and tokico hp dampers. i had it all installed at jotech in garland, tx. ofc had it aligned right after installation. about 2 months go by and i start hearing some clanking/poping sounds coming from what sounds like the front and rear passenger side. i dont really think much of, iv read about ppl having issues with clanking and such after lowering rides. So another month or so goes by and my front tires are bald ass hell on the inside with -.8* of camber and 0 toe on the front. I buy new tires and take it to cobb tuning who did my last alignment, it was horribly out of alignment. had like 0 camber on my left tire with a bunch of toe. had them put -.4* and 0 toe on the front this time with pretty much the same results, accept the clanking stoped for about a month after alignment and slowly came back. have had front tire wear issues ever since, tried diff kinds of tires, diff alignment specs, tried to talk to the guys at cobb tunning about suspension geometry and what i can do to correct the problem with no luck.

that was over a yr ago, recently i hit a deer. whole new front end body work, they aligned it aswell to my specs. i dunno if they guy who aligned it just sucked or what, he seemed fairly knowledgeable about suspension dynamics. anyway since then the clanking has gotten worse, and i havent had time or money to really look into it.

PatrickJamesYu
12-05-2011, 03:08 AM
I dont have any kind of solution but im curious to see if yall figure this out cuz i think i may be experiencing the same thing. I have an eibach sportline kit for the ep3, front and rear eibach camber kits and tokico hp dampers. i had it all installed at jotech in garland, tx. ofc had it aligned right after installation. about 2 months go by and i start hearing some clanking/poping sounds coming from what sounds like the front and rear passenger side. i dont really think much of, iv read about ppl having issues with clanking and such after lowering rides. So another month or so goes by and my front tires are bald ass hell on the inside with -.8* of camber and 0 toe on the front. I buy new tires and take it to cobb tuning who did my last alignment, it was horribly out of alignment. had like 0 camber on my left tire with a bunch of toe. had them put -.4* and 0 toe on the front this time with pretty much the same results, accept the clanking stoped for about a month after alignment and slowly came back. have had front tire wear issues ever since, tried diff kinds of tires, diff alignment specs, tried to talk to the guys at cobb tunning about suspension geometry and what i can do to correct the problem with no luck.

that was over a yr ago, recently i hit a deer. whole new front end body work, they aligned it aswell to my specs. i dunno if they guy who aligned it just sucked or what, he seemed fairly knowledgeable about suspension dynamics. anyway since then the clanking has gotten worse, and i havent had time or money to really look into it.

Right away I noticed something.
Springs need time to settle.
You aligned your car right away, but the geometry moved around as the springs settled over time.

Do you have an idea where the clanking has coming from?
Try to pin point it.

doubledouble
12-05-2011, 04:35 PM
Maybe my strut is bad . . . ?

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn21/simply_dave/IMAG0050.jpg

Are these the LCA bushings? They look dead:

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn21/simply_dave/IMAG0051.jpg

The rubber bushing that contacts with the tie rod is covered in grease/oil:

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn21/simply_dave/IMAG0048.jpg

AttarixEp
12-05-2011, 05:37 PM
Popping when going from a start or to a stop is usually lower control arm bushings. Theres a vertical and horizontal bushing for each side. You can test by putting a breaker bar on a lug nut and jerk it clockwise(without tightening the nut) the wheel should not shift. If it shift forward, then your LCA bushings are well worn out, add a couple thousand pounds and that will make a noise.

The pic of the strut, looks like its pretty wasted. Happens over time and def exagerated by lowering springs.

Grease around the tie rod ends is fine. if they aren't loose don't worry about them

Sway bar/stabilizer links will pop over bumps. Grab them while the wheels are on the ground and shake up and down. You will feel a pop if they're bad.

Bradk20
12-06-2011, 01:06 AM
Right away I noticed something.
Springs need time to settle.
You aligned your car right away, but the geometry moved around as the springs settled over time.

Do you have an idea where the clanking has coming from?
Try to pin point it.

Well first they were used springs, told they were a yr old. and iv had it realigned several times in the past about 14 months. it wont hold it. very well may have to do with where i live too. im in the country, bumpy backroads.

I wish i could pinpoint it exactly, honestly i think the only wheel that doesnt make any noise/clanking is the driverside rear. it happens over not necessarily hard but sharp bump, diff in pavement gradients, tar strips.... ive heard it to when tirning but usually when i hit a bump of some kind. seems to be worse on the passenger side.

doubledouble
12-07-2011, 09:31 AM
Popping when going from a start or to a stop is usually lower control arm bushings. Theres a vertical and horizontal bushing for each side. You can test by putting a breaker bar on a lug nut and jerk it clockwise(without tightening the nut) the wheel should not shift. If it shift forward, then your LCA bushings are well worn out, add a couple thousand pounds and that will make a noise.

The pic of the strut, looks like its pretty wasted. Happens over time and def exagerated by lowering springs.

Grease around the tie rod ends is fine. if they aren't loose don't worry about them

Sway bar/stabilizer links will pop over bumps. Grab them while the wheels are on the ground and shake up and down. You will feel a pop if they're bad.


Thanks for the input. There wasn't any noise when I held the endlinks and shook them. Would this normally produce a noise? I've read that struts should be replaced in all fours OR at least both fronts or both rears. This blows. I cleaned the strut down, I plan on looking at it again once finals is over, let's see if there's anymore oil leaking. . .

Bump for more input.

AttarixEp
12-07-2011, 10:39 AM
When checking links. They won't make a noise but you will feel them pop. I would start with struts. Tokico make a good set all four for around 300. Meant to be used with drop springs. Links are dirt cheap. Don't need anything crazy just cheap ones are more than fine. 10 or so a link if that.

As for struts being replaced. With suspension always go by what you do to one side you do to the other. Front to rear doesn't matter. But always replace the same axle at the same time.