A week after putting in my Eibachs on the front struts the drivers side suspension is making clunking noises when I go over rough road. The passenger side is just fine. I took the wheel off and made sure the lower bolts at the base of the strut are tight as well as the 3 tower bolts and center bolt. I grabbed the spring and tried to give it a shake but its pretty secure. Once I remounted the wheel and drove over rough pavement the clunking was still there. I know that the top of the strut has the 'Out' facing the right way but is there something else to consider?

 

are your koni inserts tight in the housing?

 

I had the same symptoms on both front struts. My noise came from the D-shaped hole in the upper strut mounting bushing (the rubber/metal piece just under the piston nut). When I replaced my struts many miles ago, I did not ensure that the piston nut (the one at the top of the strut) was firmly seated. What happened over time is that the strut piston was free to move and gradually smacked up against the D-shaped hole and wore it to a larger hole. The clunking noise is the strut rattling around in this oversized hole as your drive around. I always got more of this noise when I first drove the car for the day and then it quited down a little bit. I was able to fix one side using with my existing strut by making sure that the piston nut was seated (ie I had figured out a way to get that nut to the appropriate torque level). Unfortunately for me on the other side the piston, the wear had so destroyed the threads on the piston, that I couldn''t get the nut to go down any further. This lack of proper seating of the piston nut may be the source of your noise. Good luck, Rich

 

he has konis so the d shaped holes have been enlarged to circles. but that could be the issue too.

 

JSutter: Too bad I didn't check back here after work before taking out the strut and reinstalling it! I didn't even think about checking the bolt that holds in the insert.

rocketrich: good thought there but the piston nut is in good shape.

I'll have to remove the whole strut again after work today and check the bottom to see if that bolt is still there. Hope it didn't fall out!
Thanks guys!

 

My bottom bolt is a 19mm IIRC and I can fit a wrench in between the outer axle shaft and strut housing without touching a thing. Hopefully its an easy fix.

 

If thats the case then I won't have to get all dirty again! Thanks!

I just hope that the bolt is still there!


Update:

Yes! Thanks JSutter!
I retightened the 19mm bolt holding in the Koni cartridge and all is well again! This will mean that my passenger side bolt will become loose some time soon.

 

sweet! do you have lock tite or a lock washer on there? that makes me want to check mine even though i went through them a few months ago.

 

I just a few quick zaps it with my impact wrench and then I thought of locktite after I remounted everything. Btw, the Konis were installed almost 7 years ago.