Clunk in OBXT with coilovers

So, I was helping my parents move into their dream house over the 4th weekend, and my father needed to move my car to get his out of the garage to make a "dump run" with all the empty boxes. We head for lunch, but take my car...2005 OBXT with Cusco Zero2 Coilovers, lowered about 3" total from stock OBXT height. I also have sway bars, underbracing and end links. as we are driving the car, I notice that there was a loud "clunk" almost a popping sound from the front while making a left hand turn....something I have never heard before. The more I drove it, the worse it sounded. So, that ended my day of helping them move and unpack and I headed home to get the car up on stands to see what could be loose. The bad part, I have a massive torn muscle in my lower right back, so I can only do so much:( . Anyway, I get the car up on stands, pull off the front wheels...and cursing in pain as I do it. I check all the bolts I can get to, everything is tight. Top hats are torqued to specs, so are the shock bottom bolts and alignment bolts. I then take a gander at the sway bar, those are all tight. I also look at the h-brace, all is good, no visible movement and the bolts are all to torque specs. End links are tight, and all seems good. I then turn the wheel from side to side just to check if my sway bar (perrin adjustable with AVO endlinks) is somehow hitting the tie rods...Nope. all is good there. I am in extreme pain now after crawling under the car a couple of times, but I can't let something like this go...so I keep looking. I decide to put the sides under load to see if something pops there. I put the passenger side on load with a jack then go over to the driver side...as I jack up the assembly, I hear a "pop/clunk" as it goes to full load and compression. I am not limber enough with the back pain to get in there and see what is wrong, but this is my guess....either I have a blown out driver pillow ball in the top hat, or I have blown out a bushing in the lower control arm...or A arm (not sure what to call it, but you all know what I mean.).

 

So, my question is for those that have lowered either their LGT's or OBXT's, did you have to "reset" your bushings in the lower control arm after lowering? I know this was a necessary evil in my VW's and Audi's...as some said that without resetting these (they were kinda like they were spring loaded) they would fail since the ride height was changed. I however did not think of this when I lowered the OBXT...and I fear the worst now...a blown bushing...meaning entire control arm replacement....or a destroyed coilover top hat.

 

The hardest part...I know everything is tight, at least what i can see, and I can not find the clunk on the driver side front. Sore back, and working 4 call nights in a row at the hospital have kept me away from the car...sitting on stands in the garage.

 

Any suggestions? Anyone else reset their bushings? Did I overlook something when I took on this venture to lower the OB? Nothing is obvious to me, but he noise is sooooo loud and was getting worse as I drove home...people in my neighborhood were jumping and looking as I drove past them...NOT a good thing.

 

BTW...the car handles fine...corners like it did before, no wobbles, no popping feeling through the steering wheel, no vibration...only issue is the sound...and my fear to drive it to the dealer to have it checked out. If I can not figure it out by the beginning of the week, I think I will get a flat bed and tow it to my dealer for them to give it a look over...knowing warranty is not an issue since I changed everything.

 

any help would be appreciated.

 

cheers

jon

I don't know, but talk to Drewster, he also had some noise problems with his lowered XT, something to do with hitting the stops I think.

I vote for a problem with the top hat.

 

If you are lucky the spring is not set properly into the top hat.

 

There is no "resetting" of the bushings.

 

3" is a lot of lowering, but the sound you are describing does not sound like any of the CV joints.

 

Good luck.

I don't know, but talk to Drewster, he also had some noise problems with his lowered XT, something to do with hitting the stops I think.

 

I know about Andrew's problems, we PM'ed at length about it...this is TOTALLY different. There are no bump stops in the front to hit. My rears clear more than enough, and that is what I helped Andrew with.

 

The problem is specific to the front drivers area....either the coil over or the bushings...I doubt it has anything to do with the CV joint ...not what I was talking about, the control arm that attaches to the sub frame, there are 2 bushings there, those are what might need to be "reset". And by that I mean that they may need to have the pressure released off of them by loosening the bolts, while under load, then tightened again. This in effect re-centers them to the new ride height...but I am not sure if their function is the same as other cars I have worked on....that is my question.

Jon - that sounds like no fun to deal with. I have spring noise in the RF and a similar clunk in the rear after installing the Perrin bar and brackets. I'm tired of crawling under the car....

hey jon, sorry to hear about your suspension prob. I'm pretty sure I didn't experience anything like what you're describing. My front clunk would appear after driving a bit of distance and the first time i applied the brakes hard, i would hear a clunk in front and feel it through the brake pedal. It would be a single occurrence until i drove a bit more and then re-applied the brakes. Never had it when turning. Last time my car was at GPMoto they solved the clunk just by super-tightening all the threaded coilover collars. I don't think i've experienced anything that you've described. oh yeah we didn't change any preload or ride height so i don't think it was like a spring reseating itself.

Indigo, do you know what would be the least amount of lowering you could get away with on those Cuscos?

 

I want to upgrade to coilovers by I'm trying not to lower by more then about 1.5"...

Indigo, do you know what would be the least amount of lowering you could get away with on those Cuscos?

 

I want to upgrade to coilovers by I'm trying not to lower by more then about 1.5"...

you may want to contact gpmoto and see what they can do for you if you don't want the big drop in ride height. At one point they attempted to use longer Evo coilovers in back but it would have given me a much higher ride height that i didn't want. It might be the answer for you if you're wanting to keep most of your ride height.

 

http://www.gpmototech.com/contact.htm

Indigo, do you know what would be the least amount of lowering you could get away with on those Cuscos?

 

I want to upgrade to coilovers by I'm trying not to lower by more then about 1.5"...

 

as I have stated in many of the threads regarding these coilovers, I am at the max ride height with the cusco's...so no, they won't meet your needs without modification or a custom set up.

Jon - that sounds like no fun to deal with. I have spring noise in the RF and a similar clunk in the rear after installing the Perrin bar and brackets. I'm tired of crawling under the car....

 

Dan, I did the perrin rear bracing as well, just make sure it is all aligned and tightened down to specs...it is a SERIOUS pain to make sure it is all straight, but the sub frame takes a lot of stress, and has to be just right to stop it from clunking. I spent a lot of time getting those things in there, I did not want to do that twice.

 

hopefully my back will feel better and Tuesday I can get under there and see what is going on, or might be not as tight as I think it is...I need to check the Coilover collars like Andrew mentioned (thanks Andrew!!! ). i am hoping it is a simple fix like that, if not, I am going back to stock until I can spend the time to problem solve.

I get this noise occasionly in my OB with completely stock suspension except for a rear JDM sway. I have read other threads where people complain of the same noise on stock setups. Might not be a problem at all... I dunno

I get this noise occasionly in my OB with completely stock suspension except for a rear JDM sway. I have read other threads where people complain of the same noise on stock setups. Might not be a problem at all... I dunno

 

good to know, the only thing is, this is REALLY loud, and on the way home, about a 12 mile drive from my parent's new house, the frequency to which the sound occured increased. I know something is wrong, not just an average clunk like you are describing....it is for sure something not good, now only to find what it is.

 

Thanks for the info though.

I have a small clunk sometimes too...but I think it has to do with solid metal tophats...

I have a small clunk sometimes too...but I think it has to do with solid metal tophats...

 

 

I also experienced that but took some bike tire tube sections and placed them between the 3 bolts on the top hats, that solved that issue....this is much more pronounced than the small metal on metal issue....and is coming from a lower portion I believe...

 

If you want, I can take pictures and post them of my home made rubber top hat sections...made a world of difference in the small rattles and noises.

If there is anything I can do for ya Jon - i.e. moral support - lemme know.

If there is anything I can do for ya Jon - i.e. moral support - lemme know.

 

 

Thanks Jer....I did more damage to my back last night, not moving well at all today. So, I am gonna just have to look at my car up on stands for a while longer. Even putting on socks is a major challenge today

anyone know what a busted AVO end link sounds like? I suffered through some pain and got under the car and noticed the passenger side end link bolt, the one that attaches to the frame, not the bar, was a bit loose. I was able to turn it 2 times before tight. (When installing them, I had some friends over, and I never checked those, as I thought my buddy was tightening them down while i was working on putting new grease in the rear sway bushings. Guess I should always check things myself ) I then drove the car, and the larger clunk was gone, but I can hear a clunk near the passenger side front end now. as far as I can tell, everything is tight and secure. This clunk is like the one before, only not as loud. It happens when I turn, going straight, etc...but only over bumps....while accelerating but not while braking as far as I could tell. It also seems to rattle/clunk at lower speeds, but is a loud deep clunk, not really a rattle.

 

Has anyone busted a bushing in the AVO endlinks and had a similar noise?

 

It is either that, or something else, but too sore to take it all apart again just now. Sucks having a pulled back muscle when you want to fix your car.

I have AVO endlinks in the rear. We have that in common.....hmmm...

yeah, i have them front AND rear. I think tomorrow I am gonna see if I can put the stock ones back in and solve that problem. Either that, or it is the coilovers and I am hearing things wrong.

Clunk, Squeak, thump, woosh, squish, creak creak, Clickity click click...

 

All common problems associated with the use of coilovers and the associated spherical bearing (pillowball). If you search NASIOC alot of people are having the same problems. Some have even tried dynamatting strategic locations in the car and suspension.

 

You can try tightening the nut on top of the pillowball and check the spring seating.

 

Remember to check the spring seating with both sides unloaded as the swaybar will tend to push up on the lifted side as you tilt the car to the other side.

yeah, already did most of that,I will try to tighten the nut, but there is no way to stabilize it while mounted on the car. I will need to pull it all out to do that, and that is what i am trying to avoid.

 

Anyone have a link or info on the pillow balls for the cusco coilovers? I might need to look into that as well.

You can actually pull the strut out without screwing up your alignment.

 

Start with the front wheels completely in the air.

 

Loosten the bottom bracket lock.

 

Then undo the camber plate bolts, remove them all the way.

 

Remove the camber plate from the car.

 

Unscrew the shock body until you can pull the assembly out from the top of the shock mount hole.

 

The braket will rmain attached to the steering knuckle along with your brakelines and ABS cable.

 

To reassemble screw the coilover assembly back into the bracket, reattach the camber plate. Reset to desired height and lock down. Put the camber adjustment bolts back in and tighten.

I am as frustrated over here as you seem to be Jon. If I could I would swing up there and help you out.

I am as frustrated over here as you seem to be Jon. If I could I would swing up there and help you out.

 

Thanks Jeremy. I am gonna attempt to get in there and do my end links today, and maybe even mess around with the top hats with the "how to" listed above...but the back is not good today....I should have left the car well enough alone yesterday, now I am paying for it...

OK, looked over the end links, and they look intact and seem to have free bushing movement....so I left those alone. I was able to tighten the top bolt of the shock housing that tightens up the top hat...those were already VERY tight, and I only got another 1/8 turn out of the nut....17mm nut on top. Everything was tight, and decided to go for another test drive, well......much more quiet, but the sound was still there, and on the passenger side this time.

 

I was so frustrated, and despite better judgement from Betsy, I went ahead and pulled out the coil overs and put in the stock suspension. Not smart considering my back, but I just can't sit and look at the car like that, knowing something is wrong.

 

Test drive with the stock suspension...THE FRICKIN CLUNK IS STILL THERE As I put the stock stuff in, I went over everything and torqued to specs as provided by Keefe way back. Everything is rock solid. So, there is something wrong with a bushing or something, just not sure where. I called my dealer (mod friendly) and have an appointment next Tuesday to have the car looked at. I have trouble shot every other optiopn and can still hear a horrible loud clunk.

 

At least it is NOT the coilovers. I know Cusco makes good stuff, and I had ZERO problems until all of a sudden. So, that makes me think that something else is wrong...like tie rod, CV joint maybe, or lower control arm bushings related to the changed geometry of a nearly 3" drop for an outback. If it turns out to be the bushings, there is a good chance my dealer will cover them, I know the service writer very well and the mechanic...wonderful guys.

 

But for those with outbacks and coilovers...pay attention in the next week, there might be some new info on side effects of lowering the car....unintended side effects. I will keep everyone up to date.