Ok, folks with Cattman coilovers... What kind of noise are you getting? I'm a bit concerned... I'm hearing a muted thunking noise when I go over small bumps, kinda like a heavy piece of metal rattling between two other pieces of metal slightly. Recently, I've also started hearing a groaning/creaking sound from the left front at low speeds, especially when turning... All these noises seem to be coming from the left front. This has me a little concerned... Of course, Aaron (Blade99SE) did the fronts, so maybe he didn't tighten something enough, but I doubt it. I'm going to go make sure everything is properly torqued tomorrow. Any other ideas, assuming it's all tight and good? Bryan said these would make more noise than stock, but I don't know what's normal and what indicates a problem... And I can't see any way it's making these noises if everything is tight and working properly... The only thing I can think is that maybe the spring is turning on the perch, but given the weight of the car, even when it's lighter after luanching up over a bump, this seems unlikely...

 

ahhh behold the downside of the cattman coilovers... everyone has experienced this sound. what does it? well its because there is direct metal on metal contact springs and perch. only way to fix it.. never turn.. muuhhahhaha no just kidding.. might want to try some neopropelyn (sp?)

phil s

 

car too. I get these thunking noises over bumps, it sounds like metal to metal. But I have Intrax springs, strange. I think it might be a worn bearing in the strut. I have taken to 5 different shops and no one knows what it is. I have taken apart the suspension twice already. Its actually gotten better after i took it apart but over hard bumps i still hear it. Anyone with ideas?

 

Cool, I might explore ways to quiet it down, but like Bryan said, it's pretty close to a racing setup so... I was just worried these weren't normal and that I'd installed something wrong...

 

How many times do I have to tell you? Its neoprene! Stuff they use in scuba diving suits. Just stay the hell away from the neoprene kneeboarding vest I'm getting

 

Man and this is right now a hot subject being discussed on the SE-R list about Ground Controls. Hehehe....There is alot of fixes that the SE-R guys have done in the past. You might want to look at there archives Chad. http://www.se-r.net then mailing list, then search archives and look for info on that. I know alot of them talk about rubber or urethane washers, and a whole bunch of other stuff that work fine. After there fixes they said there quiet. If you want me to, I can post your post over there, but let me know.

 

a vest huh?? when do you want me to show you the s/c again? hehehe

 

Sound like your car is falling apart when turning? Passengers a little worried your car is not going to make it? I guess it's the price to pay for handling. Brian is working on a possible solution, shorter bushing in the mono ball housing (thinks the nut on the piston is clamping the bushing). If anyone has the inclination to try and grind down the bushing (.05" intervals), I'm sure Brian would appreciate the research. There should be some snap, crackle & pop to quote Brian, but i've even had the ping accelerating straight from a standstill.


PHIL, Any success with Neoprene and where do you get it?

RUSS, can you post on the SE-R boards for some possible solutions?

So, Deathwish, you are not alone. Handles good though?

Brett

[Edited by Confused on 08-25-2000 at 11:05 PM]

 

First, I discovered that the clunking/popping sound (also from my left front) is from improper alignment causing the ball joint in the pillow mount to bind, then the tension from the spring would finally unbind the ball and pop it back into place. Realignment fixed this. Check the position between your left and right camber plates, you will probably find they are different, maybe a little, or maybe alot as if the ball joint has slipped.
As for the metal on metal squeaks and groans, I went to the plumbing department at Home Depot and asked for gasket material. They showed me some stuff and what I wound up getting was rubber that is kind of orange in color, and a little less then .25" thick, and comes in squares about 8" x 8". I placed this between all sections where metal contacts metal by cutting out donut looking circles. Quiet as a church mouse now! Let me know if you need more info

 

For one, from what data I could get from most people, the Maxima if lowered more than 2.25 inches, may overbind the joints on the spindles, which would cause noises with the joints slipping in and out(very bad and dangerous in corners). Must absolutely have camber plates to help prevent this. Also without camber plates, you can still add a coilover suspension to the original strut tower bushings, but may allow a certain amount of play that can create noise, camber plates once again fixes this. Also for regular lowering, keeping these bushings will give you a nicer ride, but camber plates will tighten your turn in, in hard turning in tight corners with regular lowering. If you notice from the install and from other replies, the coilovers are metal to metal. The guys from CCR out here in Vegas found that Suspension Techniques makes polyurethane washers in almost any size. They are .25" thick, but after install they only make a .2mm difference in ride level. Just make a measurement on how big for the outside diameter and the inside diameter, give em a call, and for about $20.00 you get four for the bottom of the coilovers. You do not want to place these on the bottom and top, due to the fact that the tops are usually the adjustment side, and need to turn pretty easily to adjust the ride heigth. I do not recommend polypropeline since it is able to tear easily! For the top part, again Suspension Techniques makes a coiled plastic piece that wraps around the coil, just give them the diameter thickness of the spring, this will cost about $28.00 for all four corners. You now have bushings that eliminate metal to metal contact, and the top plastic bushings are so firm that the tops of the coilovers can be easily twisted for adjustment. The top pieces will increase ride heigth by 5mm. Anyone with a lowering should have bushings like these. They are on the original springs that you take off, and can be swapped to the new springs for regular lowered cars. Everyone with coilovers that have these have no noise complaints. I personally don't think that the coilover is much better for the price on the Maximas, except for the adjustable heigth control. Coilovers have been found to do wonders on cars with double wishbone suspensions that do not rely on the shock to be a vital part of the suspension.

I hope this works for you!

 

would probably be a pretty good idea, as I'm sure the pieces I made will eventually wear out. Unfortunately, on the Cattman springs, the tip of the coil is welded back to the next coil down so we cant use the other S/T coil wrap piece here, but I'm sure one of their washers would work here as well. Thanks for the tip!

 

Which part is the Pillow mount? What does it look like? How do I know if the ball joint is binding? Thanks.

 

Argh, handling is great, haven't done too much since I've been afraid something would break... Tomorrow is the autox though, we'll see how they do. Of course, now I've screwed it all up, I had originally used the stock rubber spacers on the rear. Talking to brian, he said that can cause the top perch to get out of whack at an angle and wear. Sure enough, happened on both sides so I took them out and put in the aluminum spacers. Since doing that, the fronts are very quiet but now the rears make a lot of noise from those spacers! I can't win... I figure the fronts are quiet now due to the height change (since the metal ones don't compress like the rubber). I think also taking an impact wrench to the rear nuts on top of the struts will help keep the spacers from moving so much and making noise, but I don't have one so I'll have to see if they'll do that for me when I get it aligned.

All else fails, I'll probably throw some gasket material in between the spacer and metal. I'll probably try the ST poly seats too, Brian said if they work well he'll probably include them with future orders.

 

i've been having wierd sounds since day one... i've noticed lots of wd40 up at the top perch eliminates some noise for a week at a time, but what a PITA.

when turning at low speeds (i.e under 10 mph) i hear from the front suspension: ping, ping, ping, or something similar. i do not get any noise in a straight line over bumps unless the shock bottoms out (which does happen occasionally).

You have to remember, we're putting on a race suspension. So either you want a nice daily driver that is quiet (i.e. go H&R and some shock) or a racer that makes noise (cattman).

personally, it handles wonderfully...but i'm getting sick of the whole maxima thing...i'm pulling off the cattmans early before i sell the car (i'm taking them off this week).

everyone keep your eyes open, they're gonna be up for sale early september.

Robert

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Confused
[I]Sound like your car is falling apart when turning? Passengers a little worried your car is not going to make it? I guess it's the price to pay for handling. Brian is working on a possible solution, shorter bushing in the mono ball housing (thinks the nut on the piston is clamping the bushing). If anyone has the inclination to try and grind down the bushing (.05" intervals), I'm sure Brian would appreciate the research. There should be some snap, crackle & pop to quote Brian, but i've even had the ping accelerating straight from a standstill.

nope....i have these new pieces on my car and while the pinging is much less, it's still there...makes my parents nervous for sure! same w/ my wife... so it's better w/ the shorter sleeves on the piston but not gone by far...

Robert

 

ok, i was gonna strip mine off for good but after reading this thread and going to the Depot I decided to try one more time to get them working right.

SO i got the rubber gasket material 6" square mentioned above...i'm gonna cut gaskets to fit between perch and spring at top and bottom for both fronts.

That should eliminate the noise when turning at low speeds i hope.

also my camber plates aren't holding..the screws are turning and the nut can't get down tight...since i adjust these things monthly...i'm going to take them off and weld the screws to the monoball piece as suggested by brian catts...personally i think they should be welded in from factory.

just a word to the rest of you...will let you know later int he week how it goes.

Robert

 

bushings but he isworking on a solution to better the situation... He's working on it with Curtis and won't order anymore until they solve it... Did you get the same?

BTW, went to h.d. also, did you get the orange/gold color gasket (plumbing)?? Hard to find answers there.

brett

 

rob let me know if those gaskets clear up that pinging noise.. its driving me and everyone else with coilovers nuts.. other wise its off to mikey's house to borrow his vest.. heheh

phil s

 

yeah, they were in plumbing...6x6" square, 2 sheets 3/32" thick (i think). kinda orangy/red.

2 somethin + tax

will put them on this week sometime.

will let everyone know.

btw...as for e-mails from brian catts...only a while ago when i tried out those new sleeves that go on the piston and thru the monoball that he thought were too long....not the main problem IMHO...may have made it a little better but lots of pinging still.

Robert

 

Can anyone give me some more info on the gaskets from Home Depot that seem to help out with the front end noise? I have a 95 SE, with stock springs and struts, that is also making the kinds of noises that were talked about in this thread. Pinging, and creaking...it's driving me NUTS!! I don't even want to drive it anymore. I'm actually trying to sell it, and you can imagine that the front end sounding like it's gonna fall off is not a real turn-on for most prospective buyers. Anyways, about those gaskets. Does
anyone know what their real use is?? I was at our Home Depot tonight, wandering thru the plumbing dept, and didn't run across anything looking like that, and didn't really
know what to ask for. Any help would be appreciated...

 

I don't think a gasket will help you, if you could even get it on... The problem with the coilovers is that the metal spring sits on the metal perch and the metal hat, with nothing between causing a lot of metal to metal noise. The stock exhaust doesn't have this, there is rubber/poly/something between the spring and the seats and the spring can't freely turn like the coilovers. There'd really be no point in tearing it apart to put in gaskets when there's already stuff there. I dunno, but I doubt that material is worn either. If you got the time though, might as well rip it apart and see if anything looks odd. I'd probably swing it by a shop and see what they say though...

 

clank clank clank

 

Phil asked questions?

 

Dude,
I thought you died and went to GS400 Heaven?

Did ya ever get that car?
Still checking max.org ha?
Delta must be slow! haha
With that many cut backs, ya should be short handed. wtf?

Good to see you active man.

This week will be a real ***** since two guys are out.
Give me a call next week, we'll do lunch. cool?
678-553-2530 is my new wk #
later.
ming

 

Posting to keep track of this.