Ok, first off I know coilovers are noisey by nature, but this noise doesn't seem right...my friend tein ss'ed car doesn't make these sort of noises.

I have megan racing street coilovers and I have been noticing that I hear a popping / metal clinking sound whenever I hit a bump, not a huge bump...just uneven road surfaces, expansion joints etc. It is only coming from the rear coilovers and its louder on the right side...this is what's making me think it might be something I did and not just coilover noises.

I checked all the locking collars and they're tight, the bolt on the plates are all tight...maybe I need to lubricate something? I have also read that you need to make the spring perches/collars tight on the spring but they came out of the box with no play or slack so I just bolted them in....but I would assume that with the weight of the car on them that they're preloaded already. Maybe they need even more preload?

 

Yes its the preload. Jack up the car and remove the wheels. Then check to see if the springs move at all. If they do move then you need to loosen the top nut a little bit. Raise the two spring locking collars and spring til the top of the spring rests firmly onto the tophat, and then tighten the top nut down again. This will preload the spring more. Most coilovers do not come preloaded, so you should not assume that they are.

Most likely the noise that you hear is when u go over that bump the weight of the car is not compressing the spring and the spring jiggles around a bit creating some noise. Your car will handle better also with correct preload. You should consult Zeus and ask him how much preload there should be on the coilover (how far the top nut should be tightened).

Hope that helps

 

Thank you, ill check on that this weekend. I also have 8kg rear springs to replace my 6kgs so now I have an excuse to swap them now.

 

Tried doing the preload, still have a very sharp metal on metal clinking sound...from what I've read sounds like a bearing problem..don't know what else to do at this point.

 

I wish I had comea cross this thread sooner. Its too late for the OP now, but the method suggested above is definitely not the way to solve this issue, and no way to adjust spring load either.

If you think about it, there is no reason at all to loosen the 19mm nut on top, save for when you have the coilovers off the car and wish to remove the upper mount for whatever reason.

Unless you catch some major air under your tires, there will always be a load on the suspension to keep the spring in place, especially with short stroke coilovers like the one the OP has.

Most likely your exhaust was clanking around hitting the LCA or some portion of the chassis - check your exhaust hangers and see if they allow enough motion for the exhaust to contact anything else on the car. Especially possible if you have an aftermarket exhaust.

 

I have the same noise, thought it was the preload also, due to the fact the springs were loose when off the ground , but the looseness was ok per a top EVO suspension tuner/racer. He was right. the noise was coming from my after market exhaust support rod hitting the r rear upper controll arm very time I hit a good bump in the road.

 

honestly noises like this can be fairly common on coilover setups with pillowball tops.

if clearances are off at all, or the bearings are slightly worn from dirt or miles, you will hear noises...

suggestions were good...

sometimes people dont check the top nut before installation, they do come loose (on many sets ive seen)... best time to check is when the car has weight on it...

the lower collars will make noise if they are slightly loose... as for the megans (and teins) you can check the lower collar also....

and the 14mm attachment bolts up top....

cheers

cb

 

How do you tighten the top nut? Doesn't the shaft just spin freely? This noise is very light sounding, I believe its the bearing and would hope it would be covered under the warranty but the vendor I bought them from says not likely...I highly doubt its my exhaust, my exhaust hits my driveshaft bolts from time to time and its a very dull sound, this on the other hand happens on the smallest of bumps and has an aluminum like sound...anyone in the NY area have these so maybe we can compare?

 

Do you have any sway bar endlinks or heim joints? Either that its your pillowball mounts.

 

Well Megan already denied through emails that its my pillow ball mounts saying that it must be my stock sway bar or something...I don't know...everything is stock besides exhaust and the coil overs and its not the exhaust hitting, maybe I'll find a shop who specializes in coilovers out here in NY that can diagnose the problem.

 

i had the same thing...it is a little rod from the exhaust rubbing on your suspension...i never knew what the noise was until i took everything off my car and i saw where this little bracket had been rubbing.

 

The top nut does not have to be loosened or tightened - one assumes it is tight from the factory. It is the shock body that spins around the piston/rod assembly, not the other way around.

 

I wouldnt make any assumptions with suspension bits when you are installing them. You should ALWAYS double check everything....

It takes one loose bolt on a suspension setup to make serious problems...

cb

 

we've had this specific problem with the megans on both our 06 sti and 06 IX... recheck the top nuts.... and make sure there is a little preload on the spring..

cb

 

I added some more preload and the noise stayed the same...I tried to tighten that top nut but it just spins freely, guess I need to hit with the air gun?

The noise comes from both sides and I checked the body and didn't see it touching the exhaust hanger.

Megan said they are ordering me top hats to see if that is the problem...we'll see how that works out.