Hey guys,
Been trying to find out some info on this but I haven't found any answers to the questions I have so I'm gonna try my luck with a new post. Anyways, I just lowered my S with the ST suspension and now I want to get it aligned. But before doing so I want to ask you guys what other suspension related items I might need to take care of before going in for an alignment and corner balancing (read that this is a must from a few post on here). The car also developed a popping noise in the front driver side when I pull forward or backward while turning. Could this be related to the stock front end links? Thought about upgrading to the nm eng. front sway end links. Any other suggestions? This will be a daily driver car and probably won't see more than a handful of times at a track or anything. Give me your two cents please. Thanks!

 

For a dd with little track, you do not need end links or corner balance. Of course, get it if you want it.

Can you describe the popping noise more. It sounds like a bolt/nut is not tightened enough.

 

Forgot to mention, you should get it aligned as soon as possible. Don't drive it around too much.

 

So when I usually turn and back out of my driveway or pull forward while turning I'll hear and feel a slight popping. Once I've driven a few feet forward it seems to go away. I don't know how else I can describe it. Looking at the upper portion of the coil it seems to me to be ok. But I'll have to double check and make sure it's not the end links that are loose. Will let you know how it all goes! You think with the drop in the rear that I won't need the rear lower control arm to bring some of that camber back? I dropped about 1.5 inches and the alignment place said I might s well get them installed before bringing it in to them. What you think?

 

As others have stated, I would suspect:
1. End Link bolt/nut is slightly loose.
2. The top strut nut did not tighten all the way down so the strut/spring can move a little.
I have had both these problems after spring replacements.

 

You might be able to recover the camber in the rear with the stock rear control arms if you don't lower a lot. I think you can probably get pretty close if you only dumped it down 1.5". Any lower I would get some H-sport arms.

I would also check to make sure the front end-links are not impacting the front control arms. When I had H&R lowering springs, I got away with the stock front links. However, when I dropped down to about 2.7" lower than stock, the front end-links did impact the front control arms and I had to get some new ones from Way Motor Works. Other than that, make sure everything is tightened to spec to combat other possible knock noises. Might be a good idea to make sure the inside of your front tires are not rubbing on the springs. A lot of people including me using progressive conical springs on their coilovers need to run wheel spacers in the front to prevent interference issues.

I would not get end-links for your day to day driving. Big waste of money including the corner balance. I would only recommend an upgrade if the driver was very experienced on the track and is looking for the perfect balance of the car. If you're not that guy, don't bother. A tape measure is your friend for setting up the coilovers for daily driving

 

Thanks guys for being honest on not needing the rear control arms or the front end links. I will try and tighten all the nuts and bolts but in the mean time can you tell me if the install seems right? I just want to have a second opinion on this since I didn't get a chance to see how it looked before the install took place. Is the shock sitting correctly on to the mount? I noticed that one of the tabs is just sitting right on top of the metal arm. In the second picture I just want to see if the Front end links are installed in the correct position. Thanks again!

sorry for the sideways pics...it's oriented correctly on my computer though.

 

The front swaybar end link is installed in the correct place. Spring is sitting correctly on strut.

Can you see any rubbing marks on the bottom of the end link or on the front control arm indicating any interference?

In the second picture, it looks like something is positioned very close the the slot where the rubber brake line bushing is. What the heck is this? I don't have my own car up on jack stands for reference right now, but there should be nothing interfering near that location.