i have a set of kyb struts and ground control coilovers. when i installed them about 6 months ago i didn't have any problems. then a few months ago i lowered the car almost as low as the coilovers would go. a month later my springs started to pop when going around courners. i raised the car and saw that the plastic piece that went between the, silver cap above the spring, and the gold piece that bolts to the frame, had cracked apart. is this what is causing the problem? if so where can i get new ones and what are they called? thanks for any info.

 

strut bearings are binding up. make shure there lubed and alligned on the GC's top hat and strut or else they will bind up and cause the springs to twist when you turn

 

do you know of a web page with pics so i can make sure there put together right?

 

Sounds like your Ground Control Coilovers have distroyed your strut bearings.

That doesn't suprise me either.

 

Yeah i destroyed one of mine but i think it was more my fault then the GCs because when i installed them the bearing feel on the floor in two pieces and i snapped it back together instead of just getting a new one because it was obviouly messed up. But whatever cause now when i get my illuminas i am gonna replace both of them and then my car will be one handling(and quiet) machine.

 

so that piece of plastic is called the strut bearing? when i hear bearing i think metal.

 

That piece of plastic is the strut bearing and it runs about $40 too. It should have some nasty grease in the middle of it. I know when I lowered my car I used the 'this is about right' method of torquing the nuts on top of the struts - bye bye strut bearings. If you cranked down any harder than spec, that's your problem.

 

are you talking about the 3 nuts that hold the strut to the body, or the center nut that holds the strut assembly together?

i'm asking because I can't for the life of me tighten the center nut enough with a ratchet so that my springs stop making noise. i know that thats the problem because the strut on the other side was tightened by a mechanic and its absolutely silent.

 

The center nut. Cranking down on it crushes the strut bearing, which doesn't allow the spring to turn freely. The result is the spring builds tension, and at some point uncoils forcefully making the popping noise. the trick is to replace the strut bearing, and tighten down to spec, which is probably less tight than the way it is now. It is kind of counter intuitive (I found out the hard way), but that's the scoop.

 

That not correct. The strut bearing sits between the upper perch and the lower part of the strut mount. The center nut only holds the strut piston up against the mount. The load the strut bearing sees comes from the springs force and the weight of the vehicle which it's supporting. With an H&R setup, you can actually dislodge the bearing just by pressing down on the upper spring perch. Same applies to Ground Contorls. Jacking up your car while your set very low can dislodge the bearing and totally screw it up if it doesn't seat right when you come back down. It's not held in place by any nut or bolt, but rather the force of the spring and the weight of the vehicle.

The strut bearing can be taken apart and regreased with wheel bearing grease when you change your suspension. It's wise to either change it or regrease it so your suspension turns freely.

 

No matter what, I know I cranked down on the center nut to tightly on one side after my torque wrench stopped reading. That side had a crushed strut bearing.

I assumed (keyword!!) a cause-and-effect relationship, since everything except that was the same as the other side, and the other side was not damaged.

 

Any way to get them cheaper than 40 dollars?

 

I have a few bearings I could let go really cheap.

PM me for details.

 

I PMed you. Are they new?

 

well its all finished and in. i've come to the conclusion that i lowered the springs to much. as njmax said, the bearing is held in there by force only. if you jack your car up and the springs don't touch the top hat that can be a problem. cause when you hit a bump in the road the springs actully bounce around and when it re-seats the bearing gets crushed. it also tore up my top hat when the bearing went cause then it was metal on metal. so if ya have ground control i wouldn't lower them too much, unless you have shorted struts.