Hey all. I installed H-sports and Alta lower arms about a month ago, then FSDs a couple weeks ago. Right after the shocks, I started getting the strangest sound out of the rears. The best description I've found is a 'pop'. It doesn't seem metalic. It happens most after the car has been driven for a while. It happens over uneven road surfaces, and seems to be unrelated to suspension load (neither extra weight nor cornering). It seems to happen most when the rear wheels hit bumps at different times. It's pretty loud. My passengers tell me that it's not coming from a specific side. It doesn't sound or look critical, and there's no perceptible handling problems, so I've been living with it for a while.

Here's what I've done to troubleshoot:
-Visual inspection, looking for rubbing, contact, etc. Coils don't seem to touch each other. The plastic rock shields aren't distorted or hitting anything. Sway bar and end links aren't making contact with anything. Cables and wires are all in the correct places. Nothing else noticed.
-Torqued all three bolts on three different occasions. No problems. I've been tightening them without any load. Correct?
-With wheels off, compressed each side with a jack, watching carefully for any contact. No noise or visible contact except for the e-brake cable hitting the headlight leveling sensor's connecting arm. No damage. It's only on one side, so I don't think that's it.
-When I installed the FSDs, I thuroughly inspected/cleaned all the parts in the strut assembly. All the bits are lined up correctly. No damage, everything fits fine. I wasn't able to use a torque wrench on the nut at the top of the dampers, but it is tight and my method worked fine for the spring install.
-Alignment made no change. Tech couldn't see anything either.
-The last thing I'm trying right now (out of desperation because it isn't a squeak) is spraying some silicone lube on the dust cover/bump stop.

This problem is now beyond my troubleshooting skill. Anybody have a similar experience or suggestions? I'm tired of messing with this.

Thanks in advance.

 

Lube didn't do anything... But it has been a bit different today. It makes the same sound, but sometimes in rapid succession, more like a rattle. It's pretty rare. Only over mildly imperfect surfaces.

Just to clarify a bit, it seems to happen with vertical motion of the wheel only. Little to no correlation to lateral movement. Sometimes I can trigger a pop by stepping on the brakes or gas quickly, but not consistently.

Thanks.

 

> I've been tightening them without any load. Correct?


you have to tighten the bolts for struts with load.
that might help.

 

Forgot to mention that I did that this time. Still there.

I'm thinking I may have gotten bad rear shocks. I can't imagine what else would be doing that. I might be feeling sadistic enough today to swap the rears again...

 

... it's not your rear hatch?

 

nope...

 

Could be your springs are binding up and releasing due to excessive bushing wear, thus allowing the shocks to move out of their intended positions and causing unequal spring tension/binding.

 

^ yeh, or he used something gooey on the spring coils an it's sticking
to each other...

 

Springs are clean. It's an 05... I wouldn't think it would be bushing wear. How would I check for it?

I'm about to go swap the rear dampers back to stock. If that fixes the problem, do you think it would be safe to drive with mismatched shocks for a while? I could see major problems with mismatched springs, but dampers... I'm leaving on a shorter road trip monday. Unfamiliar roads, so I'll be taking it easy the whole way.

 

check the sway bar linkrods, specifically the nuts that hold them to the swaybar and the control arm. it only takes one of these not being tight enough to cause a loud POP everytime you go over an uneven surface or lean the car over.

 

When you drop your struts, look for these puppies. They will be semi-hard rubberized pieces, commonly in carmel or black color. Look for wear from the strut piston. The attached link is for polyurethane replacements. HARD, HARD, HARD, but at least your suspension will thank you.

http://www.mini-madness.com/index.as...ROD&ProdID=260

 

That's exactly what I was going to say. Check the sway bar & tighten everything down again.

 

Ok. In case anybody is still watching this thread aside from me...

It was actually two things going on. I retorqued the lower control arm bolts and all of the drop link bolts. That eliminated the popping sound competely, but there was still a bit of a rattle. It went away on the road trip after my friend slammed the rear hatch (cringe-hard). So yeah. Lower control arms AND hatch.

Annoying problems fixed. Thanks to all y'all for your input. Cheers.