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Bad Strut? ** Video Added**

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Old 10-01-2011, 07:30 PM
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Default Bad Strut? ** Video Added**

So I swapped out to Eibach springs a few weeks back and as of last week im getting REAL bad creeky from the front driver side.

It started last week during the H2oi in ocean city when they had record setting rain and I was driving around all weekend. I'm thinking it's the strut, or potentially the rubber bushings up at the top.

Anyone have any thoughts?

**Edit Video added**


Last edited by dr.duct_mossburg; 10-02-2011 at 02:13 PM.
Old 10-01-2011, 07:38 PM
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my gc kit; which has eibach's creaks really bad when I go slow over bumps. It's quite embarassing actually. I threw some grease on the top and bottom of the springs and it went away somewhat. I'd say 60% of it. I dont have a lift so it's hard to get in there and work on it
Old 10-01-2011, 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by wcryan
my gc kit; which has eibach's creaks really bad when I go slow over bumps. It's quite embarassing actually. I threw some grease on the top and bottom of the springs and it went away somewhat. I'd say 60% of it. I dont have a lift so it's hard to get in there and work on it
It started only when I went over bumps, now it's horrible. Even the radio up I can slightly hear it. It's not as loud outside the car but it's horrible inside and I'd be embarrassed if anyone rode in my car. I may take it out tomorrow and grease the hell out of everything and see how it goes, but for the cost I'd rather just change it out if im going through the effort of removing it.
Old 10-01-2011, 08:09 PM
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grease should help a lot
Old 10-01-2011, 08:53 PM
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moss, could be a strut... I had one that had failed and seized, clunked pretty bad. It could also be that you haven't tightened down the nut on top of the shock enough and there's play..

wcryan, you have different springs and mounts/perches than moss.
in regards to your ground control, if not loose mount points, it's probably the metal on metal/aluminum where the springs meet the perches, especially on bumps and steep angles like going into a driveway etc. The spring tilts and rubs the perch.

when I reinstall my kit along with my qa1s, I plan to add energy suspension (or some other similar brand) isolators to the top and bottom of the springs, which should remove all clunking and rubbing/squeaking.

grease etc is just a band aid...

think of the stock suspension you took apart...and all that damn rubber at the top and bottom of the springs....
Old 10-01-2011, 08:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Cadzilla
moss, could be a strut... I had one that had failed and seized, clunked pretty bad. It could also be that you haven't tightened down the nut on top of the shock enough and there's play..

wcryan, you have different springs and mounts/perches than moss.
in regards to your ground control, if not loose mount points, it's probably the metal on metal/aluminum where the springs meet the perches, especially on bumps and steep angles like going into a driveway etc. The spring tilts and rubs the perch.

when I reinstall my kit along with my qa1s, I plan to add energy suspension (or some other similar brand) isolators to the top and bottom of the springs, which should remove all clunking and rubbing/squeaking.

grease etc is just a band aid...

think of the stock suspension you took apart...and all that damn rubber at the top and bottom of the springs....
Ill take it apart tomorrow and crank on the nut at the top of the plate a little more and also add grease. I just need it to stop at all cost. It's driving me nuts. If this doesn't work I'm going to just order a whole new assembly and be done with it.
Old 10-01-2011, 09:26 PM
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the thing I dont like about the grease is that it attracts so much dirt. Even though i dont drive my car much and also store it in the garage; you can tell
Old 10-01-2011, 09:57 PM
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Most likely unrelated but I chased a clunking noise in my front end for MONTHS! Mine turned out to be the knuckle on the rack and pinion. I changed sway bar bushings, was told that my brake caliper was "not right"...No further explanation other than I needed to buy a new one. My car would creak and squeak like the strut/spring were binding up, then sometimes it had the feeling as the driver's front wheel were honestly going to fall off. If I hit a pothole, bridge strip, or speed bump with both front wheels it was smooth as butta....BUT if I took on the smallest rough spot with the d/s front wheel it would reappear. The parts were around $400 and $200 labor, but it also cleared up the stability system issues that were becoming more prevalent.....Best of luck chasing down your gremlins.
Old 10-01-2011, 10:35 PM
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Originally Posted by dr.duct_mossburg
Ill take it apart tomorrow and crank on the nut at the top of the plate a little more and also add grease. I just need it to stop at all cost. It's driving me nuts. If this doesn't work I'm going to just order a whole new assembly and be done with it.
Make sure you don't turn the shaft of the shock at the same time... Of course it's very hard to get an allen on the top while you turn the nut down in that hole.. One trick you can do is put the car on a jackstand, and use the jack under the lower control arm to compress the strut assembly, which can easily expose those last few threads. When you wrench down the nut for that last bit, do it quick and angle the wratchet.

Bamacaddy, what exactly did you have replaced?

I didn't even think to mention tie rod ends, sway bar endlinks, sway bar bushings/bracket bolts, also check the 2 bolts that hold the steering rack to the frame, and also (a long shot) the bolt that holds/mounts the power steering hose to the rack..
Old 10-02-2011, 09:13 AM
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I'd grease one thing at a time til I found the culprit. My first thought would be sway bar bushings. After installing a new strut on my car yesterday I don't really see much that would be squeaking in that assembly.

On a side note I noticed energy suspension was mentioned earlier. I will NEVER put poly on my DD again.
Old 10-02-2011, 09:25 AM
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It's 100% from the top of the assembly.
Old 10-02-2011, 02:25 PM
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Bump. Car is apart. Should I even bother greasing? or just buy a new shock? Sounds like its coming from the shock stem.
Old 10-02-2011, 02:50 PM
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How many miles are on it? I just replaced my 95k blown FE4 yesterday night and the ride is so much better even with one side new now. I may end up replacing the other 3 soon.
Old 10-02-2011, 02:51 PM
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hmmm...... that is pretty loud and annoying. I cant see exacly what ur doing though. Any way you can take another video and show how and where you are pulling. it could be more than 1 thing
Old 10-02-2011, 03:07 PM
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65k miles. I was pulling on the down on the suspension just about an inch. Thats the only time it makes the noise while the suspension is not under load. I think the top nut may have been a little too tight. Im going to grease the bushings up top, reset everything and tighten it a little less with some lock tight.
Old 10-02-2011, 03:29 PM
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make sure they arent too far away from the torque specs though
Old 10-02-2011, 04:25 PM
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Ok, the video helps. Thats metal on rubber, or in a rare case, unlubed rod in and out of the shock body. But, you didn't mention the shock leaking so the assumption is that part is ok. Regardless, first hit the shock rod where it goes into the shock with some grease.

Btw, You cant overtighten the top nut, there is only so much threads on the shock rod and you're supposed to use them all. You can however twist that rod too much trying to tighten the nut.

I'm not sure how the stock perches go back together with the regular eibach springs, but that sounds exactly like a) the inverted metal washer just under the nut rubbing the rubber under it...or b)possibly the dust boot rubbing the rubber above it.

In the case of a), I had to spray lithium grease between the two surfaces. I didn't want to have to remove the while assembly to do so but you have to get lube between there somehow, so I performed the process I mentioned above to jack up the lca and removed the nut/washer, lowered it just enough to shoot some grease up and down in there, added some between the washer and the top rubber, buttoned it up, and it was gone. This happened when I reinstalled my stock suspension.
Old 10-02-2011, 07:00 PM
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I did what I said in my post above and she is good to go!



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