UPDATE~~~ Suspension noise

I had that exact same problem with mine, but I had QA1 struts. They were the biggest pieces of crap and one, busted on me. I got Bilstein the second go round which is what I should of done to begin with. I think the noise is coming from the spacers, cause you can't tighten the nut on the strut tower real tight. Like 80ftlbs. which makes the spacer knock when you hit a bump. The Bilsteing have a hex opening at top which made it easier to really tighten down. I have no more knock over the potholes and man hole covers or train tracks. Also it helps to tighten the strut tower nut with the spring and strut under load. Place a jack under the lower control arm and jack it up as far as you can.
These tips may not be agreed on by everyone, but these are some things I did. That noise used to drive me crazy, but everything is cool now.
 
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I haven't got around to it, but calling Maximum Motorsports would be a good start. Also I should take it back to the garage that installed it and see what they think. They are a reputable garage (Extreme Automotive) in Canoga, CA and been featured in 5.0 Magazine, so I'm sure that will help me out a bunch.
I just wanted to try covering the simple things first before I have to spend money. Thanks for the tips guys. :nice:
 
Count me in on the dreaded suspension clunk/pop/noise.

99 Mustang GT Coupe- noise started after MRT Street Kit (Tokico struts, MRT Springs) MM CC Plates, poly spring isolators, and MM sway bar endlinks installed.

I've had a similar clunk/pop noise since I got new springs/shocks/CC platest about a year ago. The noise alternates between turning left and right. Easy to reproduce when turning and going over an inclune like a driveway.

As for rack bushings: I just had a second shop look into it and they were sure it was the rack bushings. Had them all upgraded to offset poly bushings. Noise still happens the same as ever... but the poly bushings improved handling sooo much that I figured I could go on living with it.

I've had others on this forum say that it's the control arm bushings and that they've fixed the noise by replacing those bushings. Maybe they'll chime in here too. I haven't tried that yet because I don't want to have to pay for another alignment again so soon after the last one.

Thanks,
Jim
 
i am thinking it is the steering shaft... as its now out of angle... i am tempted to make this my next purchase... getting the aluminum one from MM and see if it takes care of it. I have also heard rumors that with the new geometry, the only way to correctly and completely fix this issue is changing to an aftermarket K member where the mounting locations allow for the correct geomotry of the suspension as well as the correct geometry of the steering shaft.

I dont believe it has anything to do with the front swaybar, balljoints, or the CC plates. it is possible that its slop in the mounting holes for the struts... possible, but kinda unlikely. if this were the case then no matter how hard you tighten them down, you will eventually get enough force to go from one point of slop, to the opposite point of slop, and it would clunk; first because of the torque on the bolts holding it in place, and second because of the weight of the car on that point.

i dont have the answer, but i do have it on sloping turns at slow speeds. any other time i dont have it. Bilsteins and MM plates, here.

Torinalth
 
Amazing how many people with the same problem but not many answers. :(
I'm waiting for that one guy to chime in and say: "Don't worry son, I've had the problem and here is the fix steps 1-10", in a perfect world of course. :)

But great tips from you guys. I appreciate the input greatly. If I find the problem, I'll definately post it. But until then... clunky clunk clunkity clunk. hehe At least it's not chitty chitty bang bang. ;)
 
I also have this clunking noise but mine does it when I drive straight and hit bumps. Have not noticed it when I'm turning. It does itwhen I'm driving straight and hit potholes or any kind of bump.

Had Ford look at it one of the times it was there for other stuff. The dealer said the only way to get rid of it would be to return the car to the stock suspension. I have upr cc plates and steeda springs w/ stock crap shocks.

If you guys find a way to solve this with out returning the car to stock I would love to know
 
SOOOO Its the darn Steeda CC plates thats causing my pop when I turn....thats what I thought. Guess ill have to really hammer down on it...Im already bending one of the washers on the small bolts because its so tight lol...its eating into the aluminum haha.

(I also have a very loud CLUNK that basically raddles the dash if I hit a big pothole or sudden bump...I thought it was my coilovers, but maybe thats being caused by my CC plates too???)
 
Replacing R&P bushings

I have the "creaking" noise and I think it's coming from the R&P.

I got some black, energy suspension pieces, but I'm wondering how much I'll have to do to replace the bushings. Is there enough play for someone to simply unbolt the rack from the two mounting points, pry the rack out a bit and swap out the bushings? OR Do tie rods, PS fluid lines, etc. need to be loosened/undone?
 
The Screwdriver said:
How exactly do you mean tightened? It was loose at the top where the strut bolts to the cc plate?

Thanks,
Jim

Sorry for the lack of detail but I was on borrowed time on someone elses PC. :D
I brought my car back to the shop that installed the suspension. I didn't exactly see or was with them when they did it. But from what the mechanic told me he said that the shock worked itself loose at the top bolt. I did look at that bolt before bringing it in, but did not know how to tighten that bolt without twisting the whole shock.

They said they used a special tool to tighten it with, to prevent the swisting of the whole shock. I trust these guys, they've been in 5.0 Magazine a lot of times and worked on my car a lot. Sorry if that doesn't help but that's all I know they did. All I know is that it fixed the issue with the clunking and works great. Probably helped that I isolated the noise before bringing it in and pointed out to the mechanics directly where it was coming from. Hope you guys have the same easy fix. :nice:
 
The noise on my 98GT turned out to be the stock strut dust cover/bumpstop combo. The metal ring on the bumpstop was wallowed out. The strut shaft has a ledge that the bumpstop ring rides on and this ring was wallowed enough to slide right pass the ledge. The parts person had to open 4 different boxes to find a bumpstop that fit on this ledge perfectly with all the same part #'s
 
I don't know if this helps you guys, but I had a terrible noise when turning quickly to the right. Turns out the gas tank vent tube popped loose from the retaining clips thus allowing it to slap against the drive shaft. It was very hard to find because the vent tube rested against the clip when not in motion.
 
I have the "creaking" noise and I think it's coming from the R&P.

I got some black, energy suspension pieces, but I'm wondering how much I'll have to do to replace the bushings. Is there enough play for someone to simply unbolt the rack from the two mounting points, pry the rack out a bit and swap out the bushings? OR Do tie rods, PS fluid lines, etc. need to be loosened/undone?
Get aluminum, they will still make less noise than poly
How exactly do you mean tightened? It was loose at the top where the strut bolts to the cc plate?

Thanks,
Jim
That's a very common problem it's a PITA to loosen or tighten those top bolts
Yesterday, I replaced the rack and pinion bushings with new poly's. No more creaking noises when I turn.
Those polys will turn into squeaks if you don't grease them, and you will have to take them out of the housings to fully grease them

It is more common to have a steering rack bushing go bad, or when you install a strut back in to not tighten it down all the way

but when you lower your car you are stressing more parts in the front suspension since it's stance is shaped like a V, so all connection points might be affected, like the steering shaft, control arm bushings etc.., but not often