Rattleing = Broken Bilstein

Well finally had my rattle fixed. I thought it was a issue witht he driver rear window mechanism but turned out the rear driver strut was broken. Actually the shaft failed somehow, luckily it was replaced under warranty. Although I have to revisit the dealer today to discuss some "other modifications" that were made to the car without my consent. i.e. the F-ed something up that they should not have even touched.

 

I love the Bilsteins but if you have a rattle, it could be a factory defect that you may want to take care of under waranty, those suckers are $$ if you have to buy one.

miles?

What kind of rattling are you talking about and how did the strut break? Is it visible?

Miles, about 20k the rattle started.

 

Nope, no visible indicator. All mounting points were tight, I checked everything. I don't like taking the car to the dealer, they tend to screw up as much as they fix, but I had narrowed it down to the rear corner of the car. I thought it was the window, but turned out to be the strut. On smooth surfaces, no rattle, but on a washboard type surface it was a metal on metal sound. They replaced the strut and no more rattle, I can go back to loving my subaru, as the rattle was starting to drive me crazy (I have a 45 minute commute each way every day)

Ps. No idea how it broke, may have been a factory defect that finally let go, I am carefull when I drive so it was not from hitting a large bump or pot hole. And it rode fine even with the broken strut, no isues there. Just a heads up, if you hear a rattle (metal on metal) take it in before warranty runs out.

Did they see that pic in your avatar.

Did they see that pic in your avatar.

 

I was thinking the same thing after reading his last post

Hey, that was a Subaru sponsored event. If these cars cannot make a few runs around a low speed track they are not worth the rubber they ride on.

 

Truthfully my guess is that it was a simple factory defect, probably an isolated incedent that other Spec-B owners should not be concerned about.

Was it "rattle"? Or was it like a metallic "scraping" sound?

 

I only hear it on uneven surfaces. I do not hear it on flat smooth surface.

 

I may have the same problem with my Bilstein HD front driver side.

I think that all my stock bilstein struts are distroyed. I do not feel that they are damping anything. The previous owner had Stech springs. If i put the stockers back on do you think that they will notice?

I have the same problem with my rear Bilstein HD's. Initially I thought the strut tops were just loose so removed the top nut and put a few washers in just in case the nut was bottoming out. Unfortunately the rattle is still there over ripply tarmac, hasn't driven me too nuts so far as I've been away alot with work but its there.

 

For info: I've checked and lubed the sway bar and the end links.