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logos22
02-09-2013, 04:05 AM
Hey, everybody. So I had some K-Sport Kontrol coilovers installed about 6 months ago, and then immediately had the car aligned. After the alignment, I had an occasional popping noise when I turned my wheel, but it only ever happened when my car was on an incline.

Two days ago, I had rear adjustable camber arms installed in the rear to fix my -2.5 camber. The shop also told me that there was "play" in my front tie-rod ends. They where cheap so I just had them replaced. The mechanic also told me that there was some small "play" in my strut or like something was loose. I forget the exact words he used, but he made it sound like there was something wrong with my two front coilovers. He said it wasn't life threatening, so I didn't think much of it.

Today, I noticed that I get a pretty noticeable clunking noise along with a rubbing/whirring noise coming from the left side of my car when I take hard right hand turns, such as on freeway onramps. However, the sound is not there when I turn left. This leads me to believe that there is a problem with something on the left side of my car as the weight is transfered to that side on a right hand turn. It's worth mentioning that I adjusted the dampening on all 4 coilovers to make them softer. I'm not sure if that would cause the noise, but I didn't have the noise when they were set at full hard.

I'm not sure what I can do. The shop I took it to is reputable and the alignment print out showed all green. I'd hate to think that I have faulty coilovers. Is it possible that the new parts (rear upper camber arms and front tie-rod ends) need to be broken in? What else can I do to fix the problem?

Any input would be much appreciated!

WadeJdm
02-09-2013, 08:46 AM
I had the same trouble with my Blackworks Coilovers, jack up the car take your wheels off and then get your spanner wrench out. Make sure that the bottom locking spanner is as tight as it can be on the coilover. That should help you out. At least it did me, & I had the same symptoms. Good luck!

captaingamez
02-09-2013, 10:02 AM
welcome to the wonderful world of crappy coilovers,

you can try tightening everything on the strut up, but if theres play in the seal/shaft, your screwed, they will last a while, but will continue to get worse.

ksport is unfortunately made in taiwan IIRC, and their quality control has much to be desired, I wish I could say I didnt have experience with Ksports wearing out, but I do, same with skunk, and d2, but I unfortunately do. their all junk. I have skunk 2 pro s and I think they are garbage as well, they are exhibiting the same play I assume you are talking about.

ksport is actually on my "never buy " list.
if you throw them on a suspension dyno
each damper will have totally different compression and return rates, same with the springs.

danito321
02-09-2013, 11:12 AM
Is it a clunking noise? There is a DIY for racelands if they clunk. I tightened mine and put loctite on them to prevent the nut from loosening. Not sure but sounds similar to that. 3 of my struts were blown so I got racelands. I was clunking all over the place.

logos22
02-09-2013, 04:53 PM
Yeah, it's a clunking when I go over larger bumps. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's there. It's so weird because I didn't have any of these sounds before the rear camber arms and front tie-rod ends were installed. Maybe it's just a coincidence.

The clunking doesn't even bother me that much. The metal-on-metal scratching/rubbing sound when I take hard right turns is what concerns me.

@captaingamez - How long is "a while?" I've heard that budget coilovers have issues, but I didn't want to believe it. The idea that something that costs over $1k can be considered "budget" sickens me. However, it is at least a little comforting to know that I'm not the only one with coilover problems. I guess I can call this a learning experience. Once they are completely shot, I think I'm just going to go with a nice strut and spring combo. I only ever DD my car anyway.

captaingamez
02-09-2013, 05:48 PM
what kind of camber arms and tie rods?

well on the skunks, what happens first is they get alot of play in the shaft, then eventually the piston/plunger actually snaps off the end of the damper rod, inside the shock body, that happened to me at 1.5 years with them installed, but the dampening got worse all the time I had them on, I am on my second set now and I just inspected them and they are getting alot of play, I have had them for a bit over 1.5 years. again I wish I was joking about that, but no, its what happens to the pieces of shit. Mostly my experience with ksport is leaks and pitting and rust., but it could be any number of things.

I replaced my rear with Koni over 1.5 years ago, they still perform like brand new shocks. I just bought Koni for the front and Sprint springs, the combination should be really good, though I wanted a slightly stiffer spring in the front, unless I find a set of eibach fronts for cheap, the sprints are whats going on.

as far as being budget, coilovers, realistically Koni with Ground Controls are the only good "budget" coilover.

my dream coilovers are the Ohlins, but they cost retardo money. I just try to avoid skunk, d2, megan, ksport, raceland, all that jazz.

logos22
02-10-2013, 01:48 AM
*update*

So, I've been driving the car around pretty much all day and I've isolated the noise to just the rear, driver's side area. I took everything out of my trunk to make sure it wasn't just junk flying around making noise. The sound is like a metallic clunking, grinding/rubbing noise when taking hard right turns and going over large bumps. It almost sounds like someone left a tool or a large rock under my car or something. I also noticed that the sound increase in both volume and frequency with someone sitting in the back seat.

I'm going to take the wheel off tomorrow and have a look. The right side doesn't seem to be making any noise, so I guess a comparison of the two might reveal something. If not, I'll probably take the car back to the shop where I had the alignment and explain the situation.

@captaingamez - Specialty Products rear adjustable upper camber arms and Moog tie-rods.

logos22
02-10-2013, 10:56 PM
Ok, so I took my friend for a ride today and he apparently was able to identify the sound almost immediately. He said that my tire was rubbing the inside of my fender, which explains why the noise happens around hard right turns and when someone sits in the back seat. Sure enough, I'm missing about an inch or so of paint along the inside lip of my rear driver's side fender.

The only thing that concerns me now is why only the left side rubs and the right doesn't. I think the alignment sheet shows that the right side is like 0.1 negative more than the left. Is this enough to make a difference?

WadeJdm
02-12-2013, 10:35 PM
Ok, so I took my friend for a ride today and he apparently was able to identify the sound almost immediately. He said that my tire was rubbing the inside of my fender, which explains why the noise happens around hard right turns and when someone sits in the back seat. Sure enough, I'm missing about an inch or so of paint along the inside lip of my rear driver's side fender.

The only thing that concerns me now is why only the left side rubs and the right doesn't. I think the alignment sheet shows that the right side is like 0.1 negative more than the left. Is this enough to make a difference?

Because its on the left side. Left=driver side. The driver side usually sits a bit lower just from you getting in & out of the car so often.
Bad lca bushings can also cause your car to sit uneven. This happened to me.