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paimon.soror 11-11-2010 06:49 AM

Need some help finding root cause
 
Hey guys. Lately I have been noticing some strange noises coming from the tail end of my car, and it only seems to be coming in at low speeds hitting some bumps and stuff. It makes a noise as if there is something in my trunk moving around on a bump. I recently put on my winters, and i dont recall hearing the noise before then. The winters i put on with the tire have pretty much the same total diameter as my OE setup, so as far as camber and such goes, no drastic changes, same with the actual car height and wheel gaps. I checked the torque on the wheels and also checked the torque on the endlink (actually now that I think about it, I only checked the torque of the endlink's connection to the rear tie bar, when the car was on the ground)

Anyone else have any tips on what I can try checking for?

And just to mention, no - i dont have anything in my trunk moving around :p:

paimon.soror 11-11-2010 01:24 PM

*chirp* *chirp* *chirp* *chirp* :dunno:

DarkBrew 11-11-2010 02:21 PM

Do your wheels require hub centric rings?
Did one get messed up and prevent your wheel from seating properly?

When you put winters on did you use the jack from the trunk?

dannobre 11-11-2010 02:42 PM

Most likely...endlinks..Especially if you car is dropped much. The OEM links are too long on a lowered car

Less likely...shock...check them out for leaks...or seepage

Check the spring perch on your coilovers.....

Check the rear suspension links as well...especially if you have hit a curb or anything

paimon.soror 11-11-2010 05:29 PM


Originally Posted by DarkBrew (Post 3781065)
Do your wheels require hub centric rings?
Did one get messed up and prevent your wheel from seating properly?

When you put winters on did you use the jack from the trunk?

They do require the rings and I did use them. I dont think i messed one up, i was pretty gentle putting the wheels on since they are brand new and i wanted to do everything right the first time. They are from tire rack so its the plastic rings. I did use the jack from the trunk. I have a 2 ton jack but i didn't want to lift the whole car up so i just popped one side up with the scissor jack enough that the wheel was off the ground (coilovers so my suspension doesn't sag, didn't take much to get the wheel off the ground). Torqued to 85ft/lb


Originally Posted by dannobre (Post 3781096)
Most likely...endlinks..Especially if you car is dropped much. The OEM links are too long on a lowered car

Less likely...shock...check them out for leaks...or seepage

Check the spring perch on your coilovers.....

Check the rear suspension links as well...especially if you have hit a curb or anything

I thought it might be the endlinks, but i have aftermarket and they are short. When my car is off the ground my sway bar is at 0 degrees. Torqued those down to 44.

I will have to check the shocks, but the suspension doesn't seem to be responding any differently so i dont think its that, but its worth a check.

Thanks for the tips guys, keep em comin

DarkBrew 11-11-2010 06:50 PM


Originally Posted by paimon.soror (Post 3781330)
They do require the rings and I did use them.

Are the wheels tight against the hubs?


Originally Posted by paimon.soror (Post 3781330)
I did use the jack from the trunk.

is the jack and everything secure in the back?

jasonrxeight 11-11-2010 07:35 PM

maybe just gas in the tank moving around. mine does that all the time.

paimon.soror 11-11-2010 09:55 PM


Originally Posted by DarkBrew (Post 3781408)
Are the wheels tight against the hubs?



is the jack and everything secure in the back?

Wheels are nice and snug all the way around. Last I checked the tools were all secure but I will check again tomorrow morning


Originally Posted by jasonrxeight (Post 3781447)
maybe just gas in the tank moving around. mine does that all the time.

Hrmm, maybe? But i swear i didn't hear it until recently. Maybe they started putting shards of iron in their gasoline at the shell station lol :lol:

paimon.soror 11-12-2010 08:12 AM

Tools were all secure. Next thing I will check after work is the condition of the shock body. If that looks fine, maybe I should lift the car back up, and remount the endlinks to try to rule that out?

paimon.soror 11-13-2010 04:14 PM

Shock body is fine, no leaking, no grease, just the usual dirt. Remounted endlinks today to see if that would help/hurt ... no dice ...

I took some video, maybe you guys can get an idea of the sound ... sucks but it sounds muffled, but maybe someone will know, running out of ideas here. It almost actually sounds like it is coming from the middle of the car, as if the body is flexing or something. And it only happens when i am going 5 - 15mph

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=392vHRTXNfs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoZOAPJuC7o

FYI, its not super loud like the video makes it out to be

paimon.soror 11-13-2010 06:05 PM

If it helps any, if i open the trunk and start to really bounce on the rear end, i dont hear any noises..... not sure if that helps

paimon.soror 11-14-2010 12:36 PM

Voice0001.amr - 0.17MB

Voice0002.amr - 0.23MB

Some sound clips that might help. Pullin my hair out here. I've checked the bolts on the sump guard. The connecting bolts on each rear shock assembly. Sound is only there between 5-15mph. I even drove at 10mph and really jerked the wheel side to side, no noise whatsoever. Bouncing the car through the trunk and the front frame makes no noise either.

FYI its an AMR file from my android phone so you need quicktime if you dont have the wmp codecs.

Edit:

Not sure if it makes any difference, but the wheels are 17inch @ 7.5 w/ 215/55 blizzak tires. Hubcentric rings were used, and torqued down to 80-85ft/lb

Edit2:

Converting the AMR's to MP3's ... will upload soon

http://www.wikiupload.com/1LJ1KE5XA22CHJ2

http://www.wikiupload.com/26R1XSZ840120C9

paimon.soror 11-14-2010 07:00 PM

a bump for good luck

jasonrxeight 11-14-2010 08:57 PM

you have anything inside the center console?

paimon.soror 11-14-2010 09:19 PM

Nope just a key for the mailbox. Bte the first audio is my phone in the trunk

Easy_E1 11-14-2010 09:40 PM

Gremlin.

paimon.soror 11-15-2010 06:01 AM

At this point I am willing to believe anything...this is killing me. I go over speed platforms at work with no noise. It just these stupid little bumps in the road.

paimon.soror 11-15-2010 06:47 AM

Something I found on the Stance website:


Please be aware that pillowball bearings and solid mounts create a metal-on-metal contact so NVH will increase compared to OEM style suspension. It can also exacerbate existing noises that were masked by OEM suspension. However, if the coilovers are unusually loud, there may be a few reasons why your coilovers "clunk." The most common problem is the top locking nut is not torqued properly. The torque spec for the top locking nut is 55 ft/lbs for inverted type and 35 ft/lbs for non-inverted type. An impact gun on the low impact setting can be used for the inverted type damper only, otherwise hold the shaft in place so it does not rotate while torquing the top nut. Please make sure the shaft is protected so it does not become scratched.
Question is, can the top locking nut become loose as the shocks start breaking in? I never touched them before.

paimon.soror 11-15-2010 03:34 PM

So i dont have anything to hold the shaft while i try torquing the nut down. I tried today but couldn't find anything that would be safe to use. I might have to go to the store this weekend and get a strap wrench or something since i dont have an impact gun.

Other than that I checked the bushings and clamps that hold the sway bar in place to make sure thats not making noise, and those are on there nice and snug.

I am really running out of ideas folks, any and all help will be appreciated

Benjamz 11-15-2010 07:50 PM

maybe its the top bolts that hold your suspension in the trunk. good luck.

paimon.soror 11-15-2010 07:56 PM

Tried that as well. Torqued the large two bolts at the top hat to 44 and the smaller nuts to 34. I also re mounted the bushings and brackets. Thanks though, if you think of anything else please don't hesitate.

jasonrxeight 11-15-2010 08:20 PM

license plate?
tool box?

paimon.soror 11-15-2010 08:39 PM

Nope and nope :( I wish it was something that silly. Keep em comin though. Its definately a clunking noise, like as if the sway bar was hitting against the lca or something, that kind of noise. And its weird because it mainly comes from the rear, then when i turn into my driveway it almost works its way up to the middle of the car. Its so obnoxious. Someone in another thread was saying that AM sways and endlinks make a good amount of noise.

elysium19 11-15-2010 09:29 PM

1- I believe the revised spec for the wheel lugs (at least the OEM ones) is 108ft-lbs? not 85.
2- I was going to suggest the top locking nut on the shock tower, and was amazed to see that it already came up here. I DONT mean the four bolts in the trunk you wrote about, I mean the single nut on top of the tower, assuming your setup has one of those. I just had essentially that same problem a few weeks ago. Note that mine was just on a spring+shock combo I put together myself, which I assume is more vulnerable to this than a true integrated coilover. It was a loud "cracking" sound from the rear corner (sounded like it was coming from the rear stereo shelf) when going over bumps fast. If this IS the cause, remember it will only happen when going over a bump hard enough to compress the shock and free tension from the assembly for a split second, before the springs re-compress the assembly. Pain in the ass because you have to take the whole suspension corner out...

Was driving me crazy as well. Have someone sit in the rear seat. If it sounds like it's coming from the rear speaker, then you've found the problem. (I took the whole rear shelf speaker out trying to find the noise! For some reason the sound travels directly up there.)

paimon.soror 11-15-2010 09:34 PM


Originally Posted by elysium19 (Post 3784926)
1- I believe the revised spec for the wheel lugs (at least the OEM ones) is 108ft-lbs? not 85.
2- I was going to suggest the top locking nut on the shock tower, and was amazed to see that it already came up here. I DONT mean the four bolts in the trunk you wrote about, I mean the single nut on top of the tower, assuming your setup has one of those. I just had essentially that same problem a few weeks ago. Note that mine was just on a spring+shock combo I put together myself, which I assume is more vulnerable to this than a true integrated coilover. It was a loud "cracking" sound from the rear corner (sounded like it was coming from the rear stereo shelf) when going over bumps fast. If this IS the cause, remember it will only happen when going over a bump hard enough to compress the shock and free tension from the assembly for a split second, before the springs re-compress the assembly. Pain in the ass because you have to take the whole suspension corner out...

Was driving me crazy as well. Have someone sit in the rear seat. If it sounds like it's coming from the rear speaker, then you've found the problem. (I took the whole rear shelf speaker out trying to find the noise! For some reason the sound travels directly up there.)

1. True but with my OEM i never had a problem @ 85, and now I have winters on @ 85. I guess i can try going up to 100ish. Mind you that my winter's are hubcentric and they actually use deep conical lugs unlike oem that uses not-so-deep ones.

2. I was thinking that, and actually called Stance about it, but i dont think this to be the case here. Mainly because at a high speed I can hit bumps and road imperfections and dont hear a thing. It is actually when i go over minor imperfections in the road at 5-15mph that i actually hear this noise.

Haha see how frustrating this is becoming for me:Eyecrazy: I am close to just accepting that this noise is normal with aftermarket...

Btw: if it was my wheels, wouldn't i feel any vibrations or something in the steering?


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