After my koni/sprint install, I'm getting this loud clunking sound only when I turn. It was fine before the alignment, but now it's making this noise. The alignment tech guy said the strut bearing is binding. It's only coming from the passenger side. Did I tighten the nut on the top of the strut piston too tight? Not tight enough. Anyone have experience with this?

[Edited by 1MAX2NV on 02-27-2001 at 12:30 PM]

 

Hmmm did you install the bearing right side up or crooked? If you did not tighten the upper strut nut enough, it will make a clunk sound.

 

I'm pretty sure I have the bearing right side up. Maybe it's crooked. Damn it, I don't feel like taking the strut assembly off again. Will it mess up the alignement again?

 

They say everytime you mess w/ the suspension, you should have it aligned but usually the alignment gets changed due to the lowering(changes the toe settings) So if you have to take out the strut to check it, it shouldn't change the aligment too much becuase you didn't mess w/ the toe adjustments. If it drives different or tracks funny, then yeah have the alignment checked again.

 

check to see if there's a warranty on the wheel alignment..like 30 days or something. so fix the strut and go back to them and get the alignment done again.

 

on my passenger side when making a left turn over uneven pavement. On smooth pavement there's no noise. Had the nut at the bottom of the strut retightened but it didn't help the second time around. Last time I took off the wheel I banged my fist against the strut housing and could hear the Koni shock inside bounce off the original strut tower housing.
I figured that must be where the noise is coming from. I guess inserting shims into the spaces around the Koni shock should help but I haven't had time test that theory out. Remember that the original struts were liquid-filled. Once the liquid was drained out the shock could move around inside the strut.
If you have the opportunity to check out my shim idea please let us know!

 

You shouldn't have to take the suspension off for the two things that you want to do.

First this the center nut at the top of the suspension. Torque it to 50ft/lbs and that's
visible throught the strut tower.<BR>
<IMG SRC=http://integra.vtec.net/geeser/megamax/images/front_stb_mount.jpg><BR>

Second is the bushing. Since you have ground controls installed, mark the location of the bottom
collar and then lower it. The entire assembly will drop, reset the bushing and the raise the lower
collar back to it's original location.

You will find that if you car is lowered more than 1" this will happen more and more. The car is
not designed for the coilovers and that's a problem with these crappy east coast roads. If you
hit a bump or pot hole the same thing will happen...loose bearing. Bill-n-Philly was the first one to
install GCs and I had to remove then and install H&R springs to fix all the noises and problems
he was having.

I hope you kept all your stock parts from your suspension because I know you will be needing them
in the future.

[Edited by Jeff K on 02-27-2001 at 02:17 PM]

 

I didn't have an impact wrench so I tighten it as much as I could. It's probably around 20ft/lbs or less. I told the alignment guy at the shop to hit it a few time with an impact wrench, but he said it's already tight enough. With Stillen camber plate, you can't tighten the piston lock nut without turning the strut piston rod. On the stock setup, as soon as you put a load on the strut, the piston rod will not turn because the stock spring mount isolator and the spring mount bracket hold it in place some how. Probably by the weight of the car. This doesn't happen with Stillen camber plates because the load on the strut will press againest the mono ball. The mono ball will turn inside the stillen camber plate with the piston rod and does not stay in place.

[Edited by 1MAX2NV on 02-27-2001 at 02:47 PM]