Ok before I start I want to go ahead and say I dont need the "You shouldn't have bought those" or anything along those lines.

I have the BC Coilovers that I bought maybe 8 months back or so....just a guess...and I have maybe put about 2,000 miles on them. Well I am getting a horrible clunk/popping sound from each wheel as of lately. The problem started about 500 miles ago with the back passenger side doing it when I would back out of my driveway. Within the past 2 weeks every single wheel is making the sound. I checked the lug nuts, since I just had newer tires installed and an alignment done again, and they were all tight. I then removed one of the wheels and inspected everything suspension wise for anything that may be lose and so on. All bolts, top and bottom, of the coilover were tight, no play in the tie rods, caliper was tight, and nothing else seemed lose. The only thing I did note is that I did see a very small, maybe the size of a tic-tac, cut in the CV boot and could see some of the grease slung out. This will obviously have to be replaced but doubt this is the issue, unless someone else thinks it may be. So I then checked the adjustment perch on the bottom of the coilover and it was tight. I grabbed the spring and tried to move it side to side to make sure it wasn't sliding around and sure enough the top of the spring moved about 1/8 an inch and when it did it made a clunk sound as the metal spring hit the top perch (I assume on the dimpled part that sits towards the center of the spring to stop the spring from totally sliding and causing all sorts of issues). The ring that is suppose to be between the spring and the top perch (plastic or whatever it is made of) is there.

Has anyone had this issue? Does anything think this is most likely the sound I am hearing when I am driving? It happens when I hit the breaks after driving for a bit, turning at slow speeds, and when I take off I can her it clunk too. I emailed BC and am waiting for a response. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

Try putting the car on jack stands and with a big pry bar (like 3-4ft) try to lift the wheel with some good fast force. If you have slop in something, especially the strut, this will help find it.

 

Ok, thanks. I will try that tonight and see what happens.

 

Any luck on this? I too am having a noise issue with less than 6 months on mine. Mine sounds like what you are describing and exactly like my stock blown strut sounded like and the reason i bought these. I checked, and none of them are blown though.

 

Follow the above procedure... You have a bust ball join/bushing or blown strut and its exactly how i would check it at work... For 60 bucks an hour... Save some money

 

I've got the same issues with my HKS coilovers.I posted about it already,but no replies. Maybe you guys over there don't use HKS.

I'll inspect them and try and find the fault.I'm thinking maybe i should lift the car slightly with the collars so the springs will compress more.At the moment the car is pretty low and i'm thinking there is not enough pressure on the springs,so they move...

 

The BC coilovers use crappy spherical bearings in the top hats. Higher end coilovers use better quality bearings, and thus last longer. You might be hearing the clunking from there.

 

Sounds like you didn't preload the springs, so when the suspension unload and reload, the spring is potentially binding and clunking. Turn the lower perches tight up on the springs until there are no movement. There should be no free space for the spring to move when the car is jacked up.

 

I've ordered BC's today.Getting them on Monday.Do they actually tell you all this info in the instruction manual? I mean i know how to remove and install coilovers but is there an instruction leaflet to tell you what to do and how to set them up properly?

 

No clue as I do not own BC products. But most coilover springs need some preload, enough to snug the spring. My Ohlins have 2mm, per the manual. Others manufacturers might have a different recommendation, but I doubt they will tell you no preload at all.

 

usually there is only some badly written poor english 2 or three lines for installation. maybe a pic to show which way to turn the largely ineffective needle valve adjuster. Nothing on how to corner balance or even properly adjust damper. Almost all of them ( pick your color) adjust jounce and rebound together on the same needle valve

To the OP. take one of them off and disassamble the tophat from the strut. Check the spherical bearing for play it it,,,wiggling it sideways and up and down. If there is they will need replaceing. Contact the manufacturer to see if they will warranty the tophats. My experience is that they wont but you should still try.

Then with the strut apart remove the springs. try extending the strut and then compressing it. It should move slowly but smoothly throughout its complete range. No skips, dead spots or sudden jumps. That type of symptom may mean having to ship them back or have them rebuilt.

I hope it is just the top hat or the center nut not being tight.

My personal experience is that 3 of 4 D2's ( for Nissan ) blew within 6 months of purchase and it took 4 months for D2 to get me new ones. And i had to pay for shipping....

 

I had the same problem with mine, with the clunking noise. It's most likely the strut. If you contact BC Racing they will send you a new strut that you can replace the clunking one with. I've had to replace 3 out of the 4, but other than that I love the BC's

 

similar issue only on front though.. been thru countless threads but still nothing 100%.
replaced swaybar links, swaybar bushes and re lubed struts for stiction, still nothing..

only recently i tightened the top nut with rattle gun (turned about 1/4 or 1/8 turn), + relubed the struts again, has gone for a few days now.. have a feeling it might come back.. if they do ill do my top struts as they are still stock (i have bilstein pss9 coilovers ) but top rubber hat/mount is still stocker.

+1 for more info on this thread too

 

I installed the BC's today.Luckily they come preloaded,so you only have to udjust the height and that adjusts separately without affecting the spring rate.Got the car level and adjusted the height which took longer than installing the coilovers,going for wheel alignment tomorrow.