Have you encountered increase squeaks and rattles in the interior since installing the springs?

Thanks
AL

 

Lime did an elaborate thread describing these strange noises from H&Rs. I have them, too. They are only noticeable once starting off, at least in my case. On the road, they're quiet. Basically, the coils are so close to each other that they touch on occasion while tuning in their seat, so to speak. I tried to find the spiral wrap at home depot and radio shack and only found 1. Search for her thread for more detail.

DW

 

Noises from the interior of the car. Stiffer springs would cause more chassis flex and decrease ride compliance. I was wondering if the squeaks and rattles in the interior increased in frequency.

 

I think he's talking about increased rattles due to stiffer ride.

Albertt, it's been almost a year since H&Rs were installed but I haven't noticed any increase in interior rattles.

 

Oh, OK. Well, let me tell you this, I just found and fixed an incredibly annoying creek that developed in my car. It was in the rear left side. I was convinced it was in the suspension. If you push down on the trunk on the left side, a noticeable creeek happens. It drove me nuts. Made my car feel like junk, especially to passengers in the rear seats. One day, I decided to do open heart surgery on the left rear shock assembly. I take out the covers to the trunk as start probing. Lo and behold I see that the creek was never the suspension at all! It was the metal plate that the back seat sits on, the one with a hole thru the middle for the pass-thru. On the sides of that metal plate, that metal plate pretty much being the wall between the back seat and the trunk, it is welded to the wheel wells on the left and right. THAT's where the creek was. The welds had worked themselves loose a bit. I blasted it with WD-40, and creek cree cre .. . . .gone! I drove around with the radio off for a while just to verify. The silence was golden


Sorry for the long reponse. Hope you find it worthwhile.

DW

 

DUDE! Freaking A man! I have the same problem. Rear Left. Faint but ever noticeable creeking that made me feel like I was driving a POS. I thought it was the suspension too. Got the wire wrap but when I found out that I neede to take down the springs to put them on, I said forget it. Not being sure that was the source, I also lubed up the bushings of my addco. It still creeks. It almost sounds like it could be from the rear seat at times but I blew that off saying "what about the seat would do that?"

Man DWAPENYI, I am off now to try out your tip. I will owe you big time if it works!

 

A friend of mine had Eibachs (with Tokicos) in his '99SE, said it made everything rattle inside. He has since then went back to the stock setup. I think I'll be getting the Warpspeed SFC Stage 1 before I consider going with lowering springs.

 

I think you are well on your way to a much quieter, and more refined. ride

DW

 

nope
notice nothing out of the ordinary after the initial bugaboos (incorrect installation of right rear shock).

The wrap probably helped...I dunno. It's a nice ride. My mom's 96 SE makes more noise with stock suspension.

Sometimes I notice the little vents for the air system can creak in her car...once and a while in mine but not as much. I guess they are coming loose...smack those puppies in.

 

Going from stock SE to Eibach's was a big change in ride. He should have done the H&Rs. Only slightly more firm than a stock SE. I went from SE to H&R. Haven't looked back. There are those who may have said that Eibach's aren't harsh, but I also bet they live i an area where the roads are damn nice. In NYC, I'm sure Eibach's aren't too popular.

DW

 

Amen to that. The roads in new york will make you think your car is falling apart around you if your springs are too stiff or your car is extremely lowered. I went with H&R and don't regret it. I had Eibach's on my Integra and i would have to be dodging every little infraction i see in the road, it was nerve racking at times. I am used to the ride but i bet my passengers were like this car looks great but it really makes you feel these N.Y. potholes and raised manhole covers.

 

H&Rs are definitely softer than Eibachs. The primary reason why I went with H&Rs is crappy Boston roads. Sometimes I feel that even H&Rs are way too stiff for me while driving in Boston, however Koni shocks contribute to a stiffer ride as well.

 

H&R aren't super-soft or anything...they're nice; they give a firm ride, but they aren't JOLTING you. Also depends on your shocks and struts of course. If you have adjustable struts/shocks, your ride is obviously more adjustable. I have H&R and Tokico...softish, but handles well around curves and such. A good combination, but I wish I could have waited for adjustables.

 

Doh! All the metal behind the rear bench and in the trunk near the wheel wells looked pristine, especially considering the car is 7 years old. Don't think that was the problem, unless I'm reading your description wrong. Sprayed liberally in that area where possible metal-metal contact could be the source of noise, but the squeeking/creeking is still there sadly. Sounds like an old creeky mattress or sofa. It was worth a try though...

 

Wouldn't it be better to drive down to a muffler shop with the rear seats off and have them reweld those spots?

BTW - you don't need to remove the springs to put the spiral spring wrap on... Just jack the vehicle up in the air and slip in on and 'work it up' from the coils below it.

 

I'll give another try this spring, but I think I tried to do that already. It seemed as if the spiral started to bunch up and was hard to advance up the coils. I even cut shorter pieces for less resistance but it still was hard to advance... Maybe I'll spray WD40 on the coils as I'm pushing the spiral wrap up. Number one on my hit list is still the suspension.

 

Bummer My welds looked perfect, too. But it was there.

DW