Questions about suspension

[Muckafutha]

I have set of apex racing suspension installed on my car. these are height and damper adjustable. for a while now i have weird sounds coming out of them. my friend says i may have leaking shocks but i didnt see any oil when i jacked the car up. the sounds that i hear are like clunking noises when the car moves.

any ideas anyone???

[luzinit]

moves over a bump or wot?? what type of springs are they? progressive or just the normal ones

[Tofu]

loose bolts?

[Coolies]

front or rear?

[bennjamin]

Are they actual coilovers , or simply springs upon damper/height shocks ? Pictures ???

Could be just the springs settling in...Or if the springs are not the correct hegith for the shocks - perhaps the springs are not held entirely captive, moving about while cornering etc.
More info for us all pls !

[Muckafutha]

these are actual coil overs with like two springs on them - one shorter and one longer. the springs are quite soft and i can compress them with my hands.

i have no idea where the sound is from, whether front or rear as there is too much.

if it were some bolts that need tightening would these be on the suspension itself or on the car.

there are sounds especially when i move off and when i stop. sometimes over bumps so that means pretty much all the time.

how can the springs be secured further when they are already on the shock itself?

[SPEEDCORE]

:shock:

You can compress the springs with your hands???

Either your springs are well and truely shagged or you have been wanking too much :P

Don't pillow ball upper mounts also make clunking noises?

Dude like Bennjamin said..... the springs seem to be the problem now that you have mentioned you can compress by hand.

[Jus-10]

I would have though just the helper springs would be able to be compressed with your hands. They are only there to help the main spring sit in place....

As fort he noise, I was going to say the same thing as Speedcore....I would say it could be your pillow ball upper mounts. They are known for their unfriendly noises when cornering or under load, etc., but it isn't a bad thing. They are supposed to be noisy.

Pics or a link to the coil overs you are using would be good...

[Muckafutha]

ok will try to get some pics out. but i tink i dun have pillow ball mounts, at least not the ones from apex. if i am not wrong i am using the strut covers or caps from my stock suspension

[Muckafutha]

erm....was gonna take some pics but dun know wat is needed. izzit just to show wat sort of coilovers they are? or how they sit? or the car jacked up or on all four wheels.

[EG5]

does it bounce alot ? ur seals might be gone if its leaking.
maybe it needs a rebuild

[VTEChnique]

ok will try to get some pics out. but i tink i dun have pillow ball mounts, at least not the ones from apex. if i am not wrong i am using the strut covers or caps from my stock suspension

BINGO..

u neet to change the bushings on your stock top-hats.. if you retain your OEM bushing, the top thread of your shock, will just rattle and clunk around in the top-hat.

I've done the same thing, when I installed my coilovers, I had used a mate's top-hats that had the RIGHT bushing - that had a metal spacer insert (OEM is just rubber) then a mate needed those top-hats back to I installed my OEM ones thinking there was no difference, but now the top of the shock clunks around a little bit. Is not very detremental to handling etc.. but it prob is killing the OEM bushing..

I've been driving around with my OEM bushing for 6 months - clunking around HAHA.. not recommended, but i havnt had time to sort itout properly..

[Tonkotsu Flavour]

jack the car up, if the helper and the main spring slap around then most likely the clunking is from a non-captive spring.

or take the full shock assembly off and check to see if the upper mounts have worn spherical bushes or just the oem rubber has gone.

i spose you can replace with pillowball topmounts, but a lot more expensive than the oem honda mounts.


performance is minimal on the street with the two.

[Muckafutha]

VTEChnique...er so you think its the top hat thingie causing the problem??? I have another question though. I have put back standard shocks when i got a defect notice and it was still making that same noise. so does that mean no matter wat i do the stupid sound is gonna irritate the hell out of me...except of couse replacing the bushings?

hehe...can u let me know wat u meant by sorting it out?

[Muckafutha]

tonkotsu...if the springs are slapping around like u said...isnt that dangerous. cos i have a feeling my problem is a combination of the worn bushing and the bitch spring slapping around. like i said when i corner gently, i can sometimes hear a rattling sound as if the slut wants to jump out. not sure if im doing it rite but when i tried to slap it, it doesnt really move although i am able to rotate the spring if i try real hard. the grub screw that holds the the ring at the bottom is tight as, so not sure if that means its tight enough

[Muckafutha]

eg5...if my seals are gone, doesnt that mean i am drivng as if i had no suspension. i have thot of rebuilding them if that is the problem, but wun the cost be the same as buying another set of coil-overs. anyway i heard bike shops do a better job at rebuilding suspension...is that true. How much would a rebuild cost?

[Tonkotsu Flavour]

If you jack the car up fully (wheel has to be off ground), then the shock is at full extension. The spring should not be able to move, maybe only slightly rotate, but definitly not have not any gaps in between, and its very hard to compress a 4-5kg spring with your hand, even a few millimetres.

You could take off the whole shock assembly, and then just tip forward and back the upper mounts and see if there is resistance or of there is a clunking sound, you could tell straight away if the bushes are gone.

The clunking could also be from worn shafts, so you have some free play in between which clunks on compression and rebound.

If you have time and right tools then take off the spring off the shock assembly, then check the bushes by eye and also the shaft, but be very careful of preloaded springs, as it can injure you. If unsure always to to suspension shop to check it out thoroughly.