Hey guys, here is my situation, I have OEM struts with Hotchkis lowering springs and just recently my front struts started banging horrbily whenever i go over a bump (doesn't matter the size of the bump or how fast/slow i'm going). Does this sound like my front struts may be blown or is this something somewhat normal when the weather is this cold(10 degrees or so). The problem also seems to not be as bad the longer i drive, the banging is still there but it's not as bad as when i first start to drive. I think it may be time for a coilover upgrade. I'd appriciate any help/input. Thanks!

 

I would check everything for tightness. Shocks don't typically make noise when they are blown. Usually you will see a seal has blown out, or the car continues to bounce after bumps (no damping!).

 

You blew out the struts. If you have more than 50k miles on the stock struts, more than likely you leaked out most of the damping fluid and the strut shaft is banging around.
It's pretty common. It happened on my own car at about 65k miles.

Darin

 

The car only has about 19k miles on it. 8k of which had lowering springs on the struts. I've heard other issues where hotchkis springs tend to cut the life of the stock struts pretty quickly. I'm going to check it out this weekend, I may just replace with coilovers anyway, i've been getting alot of bounce and crappy ride lately with the hotchkis

 

Check the top nut that connects the shaft to the strut top mount. If that thing comes loose it will make a heck of a racket. You can hit it with an impact if the piston spins, but don't hit it too hard.

Corey #89 STU

 

same thing happened to me with the tein springs,your shocks are done!i would not even drive the car something can happen.

 

ahh, awesome i love spending money i don't have. Well, i'll do some more in depth testing this weekend to make sure everything is tight and then i can come to the conclusion the struts are bad...anyone have some coilovers for sale? lol

 

People need to realize this is going to happen when they go buy "lowering springs." Just the fact that people refer to them as "lowering springs" is bad in and of itself. Suspension upgrades are for improving handling, not for lowering, else you end up like this.

Having at least $10k worth of power mods with $200 worth of suspension just doesn't add up. You really can't complain about having to spend money you don't have, imo.

 

if they dont reasearch and buy springs with too low of a rate then yes they will blow out.. just like the one set tein sells which is too soft.. not all springs will cause a strut to blow..

ohh your struts are blown.. with a good setup using mr struts, you will be happy... unless you have a really wide rim.. go look at robispec's site.. his basic setup will blow away most coilover cars on the track because others dont have em set right..

if money isnt an issue, buy coilovers.. coilovers are also in the cateagory of you get what you pay for, and even if you buy a 3000 dollar pair, you will still need your susp. set up..

 

time for coilvers :P

 

Yes, not all springs will do this, but most do.

And yes, many people get coilovers without bothering to get them corner balanced or aligned properly, which does them no good either.

 

I still say check the nut on the top of the shaft. If you have springs, than you've had that nut off at one time and there is a chance that it's not tight. It's a quick fix if I'm right and if I'm wrong... then you can start shopping for struts.

Corey #89 STU

 

update: drove the car home, the ride was back to normal, no banging...i'm assuming it was just really cold first thing in the morning and it made the struts worse. I'm still going to look into it, and yes i know 10k worth of mods and $200 springs doesn't make since, but at the time when i bought the springs i had a much lower income and couldn't afford better suspension...i knew it was going to happen eventually. Obviously i'd like to ride these struts out for as long as i can, noone likes to spend money at the drop of a hat unexpectedly.

 

actually i have the same problem as well. i dont have any lowering springs or anything, its all stock but my front left strut is making banging noice when i go over a bump or a minor bump while turning. YES i have checked all the screws, nothing seems to be loose. Cant figure out wuts wrong
oh and the dampning seems okay 2

 

Check for oil leaks. I have had several blow struts on cars in the past and they all sound just like what is described here.