H&R Noise

[ViViDPeArL]

anyone have H&R springs and expereience 'noise' while driving on the road? it feels like something is loose but everything is tightened to spec.... I was in someone one elses Si with Tein S.Tech and it's nice...thinking about changing springs...

[chubbychu]

Im not suprised, When i got mine, they squeaked and creaked too. Just make sure you lube everything up, and get some coil isolators if they didnt come with them. I really like my drop and ride now. Some people say the s. tech are way too soft.

[ViViDPeArL]

i hear that...i heard the s techs are super soft too. ahhhhh...when the hell is H&R coming out with their coilover kit...tired of this waiting...

[DrtyTexan]

pm me if your wanting to sell your springs

[chunky]

no squeaks on mine with over 30k miles on them .. . .

[DeadMonkey]

Originally posted by ViViDPeArL
i hear that...i heard the s techs are super soft too. ahhhhh...when the hell is H&R coming out with their coilover kit...tired of this waiting...

Coilovers are due out before the summer.

[Peking]

Originally posted by ViViDPeArL
anyone have H&R springs and expereience 'noise' while driving on the road? it feels like something is loose but everything is tightened to spec.... I was in someone one elses Si with Tein S.Tech and it's nice...thinking about changing springs...

Not driving, did have the "noise" when turning. Not anymore though :D

[ViViDPeArL]

you hear mine when you turn at a dead stop, or when your going like under 5 mph and you make a u-turn. also, it just sounds like something is loose...doesn't botter me too much cuz the music is always on, but my gf hates it.

[chunky]

Originally posted by ViViDPeArL
you hear mine when you turn at a dead stop, or when your going like under 5 mph and you make a u-turn. also, it just sounds like something is loose...doesn't botter me too much cuz the music is always on, but my gf hates it.

re-torque your front lower strut blots. that is a common point of slippage. Don't over torque them, but just periodically re-torque them to deal with any noise issues.

In my car, the front right is more of a problem than the front left.

[Zero Three Si]

H&R springs on for the last 10,000 miles....not a problem at all...

[ViViDPeArL]

they've been on my car for 5000 or so miles...no problems either...it's just noisey...i guess it's just road noise

[DeadMonkey]

You need to make sure that everything is indexed properly. The damper mounting base and the upper spring seat are designed to fit correctly only in one configuration. The main noises that I've had to diagnose are as follows:

Metal on metal clanking noise: Spring coil isolators are either absent or not placed properly. You can take the stock isolators off of the stock springs and place them on the new springs in the same placement. Also, adjust the tubing that comes on the H&R sport springs to the place where the dead coils open up into the active coils. These do not necessarily come from the factory in the correct place, so adjustment may be necessary. The dead coils are the coils on the spring that are closer together and are designed to collapse at load. They essentially act like a spacer when the suspension is uncompressed and keep everything in place. When the springs are installed, these coils touch each other and the last set of dead coils can hit on the first set of active coils if the isolator isn't placed properly, making the metal on metal noise.

Loud popping noises when turning: I've posted on this one a number of times. This is caused when the bolt at the top of the strut is overtorqued, causing the strut bearing to bind. (This is most typical when the installer uses airtools. You NEVER want to use airtools when installing the suspension. Always use a torque wrench and hand torque the bolts to the factory specs.) The strut bearing is what allows the spring and strut assembly to turn as one unit when you move the steering wheel of the car. If that strut bearing is bound, it will not allow the spring to turn with the strut and put a tremendous amout of twisting force on the spring. The popping noise that you hear is the spring releasing and popping back into place. Many people have said to use lube to fix this issue, but that is strictly a band aid to cover up the problem. You'll get rid of the noise temporarily, but the undelying problem is still there until everything is loosened and then retorqued to factory specs.

Finally, while not necessarily as much of a noise related issue, You have to note that you absolutely DO NOT TRIM YOUR BUMPSTOPS with these springs. A lot of people do this out of habit. A lot of people believe that the bumpstop is just a slug that prevents the shock body from contacting the chassis when the suspension bottoms out. This is absolutely not the case. The bumpstop is a foamy progressive spring and is a working part of the suspension. Believe it or not, on the Hondas and Acuras, the bumpstop is engaged even at normal ride height. It adds rate to the suspension of the vehicle and WILL affect ride height if altered. Having an active bumpstop allows the designers of the car to use a softer spring and give a more complient ride, and also the bumpstop is the source of some of the progressiveness of the suspension.

I hope that helps clear up some of the questions that people have been having. Have a good one. :D

*Moderators - is it possible to get a sticky on this post? I've seen a lot of people asking these same questions and I think this will help with a lot of the confusion. Thanks.