Hey all,

Okay this has been going on for the past 3-4 weeks..

I've been getting a clunking sound/vibration from the front left side of my car (i THINK its that side of the car)

I can feel it more in my foot rather than hear it, but it's DEFINATLEY noticable.

It feels as if the wheel isn't properly bolted onto the hub, like the lugnuts are loose, and the wheel is wobbling.

About 5-6 weeks ago, i got my ZEAL function V6 coilovers installed. Before this I had a perfect alignment and was running on winter tires (on stock wheels) for the time being.

So right there, my alignment was off a little bit.
Then a couple of days later I got the stock summer tires swapped onto my wheels. Now i'm guessing my alignment was off more.

Btw Kevin (lanevo) measured the toe after I had the coilovers installed, and he said it was off by 10mm (before swapping tires).

A few days later I started getting a wierd clunking sound coming from my wheels like i mentioned above. Felt like the lugnuts were loose. So I figured that was because my toe was off by 10mm, the wheels are facing away from eachother, and when driving it's putting pressure on the wheels which may be causing the lugnuts to loosen.

So the next day I decided to adjust the ride height on my coilovers, and when I put the wheels on, i torqued them nice and tight.

I went for a drive, and the sound was gone completely.

I had called up RPMRACING to get an alignment and cornerbalance for my car, but they couldn't fit me in until TODAY. So I was forced to wait until now.

Anyways.. 2 days later the clunking sound/vibration returned. By this time my 4th SSR rim was repaired and I was able to mount all 4 SSR wheels on the car. So i figured i'd use the SSR's and the lugnuts they came with.
I installed those, drove around and had no noise/vibration.

2 days later.. it's back..

Now i j/left the car parked for a few days figuring i'd just wait till today so I cud get my alignment done (i didn't want to spend an extra $70 getting a temporary alignment done from a shop in the meantime).

So a few days later I had no choice, i had to take my car out. So what I did was, jack the car up to tighten the lugnuts. However when I tried to wiggle the wheel to see if it moved at all, it didn't it was on NICE and tight. I brushed it off and just tightened the lugnuts anyways.

As soon as I start driving, I hear the noise again. Now i'm like wtf.. maybe it's not the lugnuts?

So now i'm upto yesterday, i took my car in for service at wantagh mitsu. I told them about the problem, and they said they'd definatley take a look at it for me.

They gave me the car back saying the lugs are fine, they can't find anything wrong. However they said, "hey! maybe its ur aftermarket suspensioN?" But we cant do anything about it since its aftermarket.
Okay, fair enough I figured.

So i drove home w/the wierd clunking sound/vibration.

Today I take it to RPMRACING and tell them about the situation, they said they'd take a look at it.

So now i get the car back in the evening, and I asked them about it. They said they couldn't really find anything wrong, however he did notice one of the bolts that holds the coilover to the car (bottom side) was slightly loose, so they tightened it, maybe that was it?

Also now since my alignment was done, i figured if it wasn't that loose screw, it was the toe being out so far. So i drive home, and it's great! The sound/vibration is gone. However now i'm driving for like 45mins doing errands, and i feel it slowly come back. First its very light, and now it's completely back.

I can really feel it in my clutch pedal or if i rest my foot on the deadpedal or floor. Liek if i go over a bump, i can feel something clunk. No idea what though...

I'm really aggrivated. What the hell could it be???


Does ANYBODY have any idea of what it could be?

Sorry for the really really long post, but I thought I should describe everything..

Who should I take it to?

ANy advice from u guys?

 

Sounds very fruistrating! I wish that I had the magical answer for you. I hope that you find it soon. I would say that it is probably in the Aftermarket suspension.

-Nate

 

i had some of the same nosies that you did when i put on my tein ss coilovers. i checked almost everything that i touched after i heard the clunking noise. the way i fixed it was i took the whole suspension apart and redid it. what it turned out to be was the nut that attaches the upper ballmount the shocktower was loose and had to be tightened again. tein supplied 2 wrenches with my kit. i thought that they were only used to raise and lower the car. but you can use one of them to hold the upper ballmount steady while you tighten the nut down. after i did this i haven't had any problems since. it has benn about 3 months. hope this helps.

jeff

EDIT: the funny thing is it was coming from the left side of my car too. and i could feel it in the pedals also.

 

i hope that's it!
I'm gonna have it looked at real soon.

thanks!


Any other suggestions from any1 else though?

 

Hey Najeeb, Bring it over this weekend and I'll take a look at it. I doubt its the top nut thats on the shaft since its the first thing i check to make sure its tight even we never took the camber plate off. When will the sound occur? When you hit a bump? on bumpy road or even on flat surface?

 

sounds like a gremlin

switch your car back to stock

 

what kind of coilovers did you get?? perhaps it may be linked between the pillowball mount that is causing it to rattle?? since you checked your alignment, perhaps it was loading up the spring causing it to seem like it isnt loose when it really is once you drove it. i would suggest checking the mounting points first, then check the coils themselves to see if they may be rubbing the shock/strut and causing a noise. since it is only on the one side, it makes me believe that it lies within the coilover itself.

you didnt specify if it was when you were turning, going over a bump, or just driving in town or freeway. turn your wheels lock to lock and look inside the wheel well to see if something isnt aligned like it should be. you can also have someone in the car turning the wheel while you watch the pillowball mount to see if that moves while you are turning the wheels. once you have tried that and no results, have the person behind the wheel turn the wheels back to center and then turn it back and forth quickly from about the 10 oclock position to the 2 oclock position and look under the car to see if your steering or other parts may be loose. also take another look at the pillowball mounts to check for flex.

good luck.

 

I hear it on a slightly uneven type of road. Or if i'm making a turn (like parallel parking for example). At slower speeds its more evident.

The sound/vibration that i'm getting, you shouldn't hear/feel in any car on any suspension.

 

badhabit90: thanks for the input! i'll check it out tomorrow, see if i can physically see something that shouldn't be.

 

your welcome=-)

 

Did you cut the bump stops when the suspension went on?

 

nope

 

Well from the sound of it that may be the problem.
Everytime you work on it you lift it up and everything extends. You drive it a little and the suspension settles and the noise comes back. You are probably riding just off the bump stops. Either way you need to cut them because it is dangerous.

 

Please don't give out false info, he is not running lower springs. He is running a set of brand new Zeal V6 coilovers.

 

How do I know this, All I know is he said coilovers.
If I don't know what he has then how do I know if it has bump stops or not?