FSR clunking all of a sudden

when my RSR was clunking, that was an easy fix as i didnt torque down the nuts on the adjustable endlinks (whiteline KLC144) and the nuts were loosening cause the bar to rise and hit the control arm.

 

ive had these FSR (whiteline) on with no problems for 3 months now and this just started to happen this week. i checked under the car for loose bolts and nothing seems to be problematic. if the clunk happens it is usually on 90 degree turns, but thats IF its going to happen. Doesnt happen on the sweeping turns of freeways, doesnt happen on bumps. doesnt seem to be getting worse *crossing fingers.

 

have no idea whats going on. ideas? would not enough grease on the bushing cause this?

 

about to take this to tahoe and i wouldnt want anything regarding this to cause me to lose control or anything.

I had a clunk upfront when turning over bumps. But it would only happen if I hit some type of bump... not if I just turn. If it's happening when your just turning maybe turn slow and sharp till hear it then stop get out and see if anything under there is touching or real close. My problem ended up being a broken stock endlink. It was busted on the inside of the ball part so a visual inspection didn't show anything. Hope this helps.

Bolts don't need to be so loose as to be visually discernible to be loose enough to make noise when under load. If you did a quick visual inspection only, I'd still suggest getting under the car and actually re-tightening all the endlink and FSB mounting nuts/bolts. That's helped me in the past.

 

Even so, I really doubt that it's anything to be seriously concerned about for your Tahoe trip.

I think part of the problem now is because the bushing is developing a gap between the bar and the bushing itself. the gap is quite noticeable on the passenger side

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/kaitanium/DSC_0523.jpg

 

I got under the car to regrease and retighten (by hand) all the bolts, and its still clunking. I even warrantied and replaced the bushing that had a gap and the new one developed the gap faster than the original one i had (in 1 day as compared to 3 months!). As Jduke mentioned, it only clunk under certain types of bumps. Never on the freeway. I have upgraded endlinks. How can you tell if the endlink is broken? It would be a big surprise if anything is broken because i dont do any hard driving,. I'm just a regular 'ol city dude cruising to work.

 

 

tahoe trip went fine except with much clunking when in the city. doesnt clunk at all with the fast turns getting there.

Replace the bushings and clamp with greasable energy bushing kit. also looking at the bar it is walking and eating the bushing. do you have solid end links I swapped to solid and my clunk went away.

i originally wanted solid endlinks but someone said OBs cant take them? Which ones do you have? My car isnt lowered. I have the whiteline adjustable ones. KLC139 i believe.

 

whats special about the energy kit vs my whiteline greased up ones?

The energy ones have a zerk fitting so you can grease them with a grease gun. I have the 25mm perrin bar so I got the perrin end links. Outback front endlinks are the same as the legacy the rears are not.

help me decode this tech support from whiteline:

 

"Additionally do you have adjustable end links? If you do, when installing adjustable end links, it is necessary to install the end links with zero preload. This can be accomplished by installing the end link with the vehicle sitting on an alignment 4 post lift (car at rest), or with jack stands placed underneath the lower control arms to simulate the vehicle at rest. This will simulate the vehicle ride height and will eliminate preload on the end link and its ball joints. Typically we see failure due to improper installation (wheels at full droop). When this occurs the ball joints will experience excessive load force at rest and will not articulate properly. This leads to popping or creaking noises in the suspension."

 

doesnt the car need to sit on all 4s = zero preload? what are the point of the jacks and lifts?

 

i had my front wheels on a ramp to get more working space.

 

i have a gut feeling it could be the endlinks and switching to solids (less moving parts) would solve problems.

Yup best way. solids

so im about to plunk some cash on kartboy solids. these will fit no?

http://www2.kartboy.com/x4/product.php?productid=16143&cat=264&page=3

 

hard to find fitment info on kartboys for outbacks. just interested in them as they are cheaper and more readily available than those whiteline ones.

Our fronts are identical to Legacy Gt's the rears are different ares are longer.

 

 

"That's what she said". LOL

haha. thanks man.

When you take the adjustable links off, lay them down side-by-side and see if they differ in length.

 

When whiteline says to install with zero preload, its to ensure they are both the same length and don't create tension. In other words, the links would be the exact same length as the distance between their mounting points.

^That's not necessarily true. The purpose of the adjustable end links is so that if you have a car on coilovers that has been corner-balanced, you can adjust each corner's end link individually so that in static the sway bar is under zero load. Since the purpose of corner-balancing is to adjust each corner separately, achieving equal corner weights, you would end up with end links that are slightly different settings in most cases.

^That's not necessarily true. The purpose of the adjustable end links is so that if you have a car on coilovers that has been corner-balanced, you can adjust each corner's end link individually so that in static the sway bar is under zero load. Since the purpose of corner-balancing is to adjust each corner separately, achieving equal corner weights, you would end up with end links that are slightly different settings in most cases.

 

Correct, but if the average user just pulls them out of the packaging and installs them without proper setup, they will have problems.

mine were both torqued down to the same length before i installed them.

BUT if what you are saying is the endlinks' mounting points should be at full 90 degrees to their mounting points, they arent right now when i look under the car.

 

im planning to switch to solids anyways. less moving pieces to worry about.

Put another way, if the car is static, on a flat and level surface, an alignment rack for instance, then you should be able to put one end link on, then when installing the second one on the same bar it should slip right in the holes on the bar without you having to bend the bar a bit to get it to line up. The swaybar should be exerting zero net force on the suspension in static.

i remember when i put them on in december that one side wouldnt go in smoothly. maybe that was the start of the problems thats causing todays clunking. i wish i had access to an alignment rack but switching to solids should fix the knocking issue. its getting worse day by day now and i have stopped driving the car.

so the kartboy endlinks do not fit the outback (with the whiteline bar) without spacers. my car is sitting slightly higher on one side but still. heres what they look like not tightened. Theres a ton a space. basically if i tighten them, the endlinks wont be sitting at the correct angle and the bushing would be bent awkwardly. the kartboys probably work better with another type of bar. i am going back to the adjustable. it turns out i think the bolts came loose after the 3 months of driving and i tightened them up and theres no knock now. since the thread on the endlink is long, i may buy another set of bolts and double up the bolts on each thread, maybe even some threadlocker.

 

bolts coming loose would also make sense as the knock as getting increasingly louder and more frequent.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/kaitanium/DSC_0566.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/kaitanium/DSC_0567.jpg

I am having the same issue with moogs on the front. I was lazy and had my dealership install and they did it on a 2 point lift so I know that it was preloaded after install. Can't wait to have a garage to work in in a few months. My house cannot be built fast enough.

 

 

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Broke down and took it to a mechanic today. Wasn't my end link at all. It was my caliper carrier that was making the noise because of a hack job after my rotors were turned.

 

 

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interesting.

 

now my clunk turns out that the original whiteline bolts came loose! go figure...

tightened now and no clunk. anyone wanna buy my kartboys? =)

I have a Whiteline FSB with Kartboy endlinks, after hearing some issues with Whiteline's front endlinks (I have Whiteline endlinks in the rear and have had no issues).

 

I first installed the endlinks without the Kartboy spacers, and the creaking/clunking was terrible. Then I got the proper spacers, and the creaking went away, for the most part.

 

I just got back from a muddy TSB rally recently, and the creaking was back with a vengeance. I figured it might just be due to binding from the mud, so I completely disassembled and cleaned/greased the the endlinks, spacers, and bolts, and the creaking is still terrible.

 

I'm now thinking about switching to Whiteline endlinks. Has anyone else tried both Kartboy and Whiteline endlinks for comparison? Also, what's the proper torque spec on the endlink bolts? I'm wondering if overtightening them might be just as bad as undertightening, if it causes things to bind.