Okay, backstory:

To keep it short and simple, I'm no n00b to installing springs/coilovers, but probably don't know the -exact- nomenclature for every part/nut/bolt.

I recently (Tuesday the 18th recently) installed a set of Eibach Sportlines onto my 09 Lancer GTS and now I'm having an issue with my rear passenger side strut. The issue itself I think has more to do with the spring hat but I'll explain what's happening first.

We installed the springs and IMMEDIATELY noticed that the right rear tire was still sitting close to stock ride height while every other tire was sitting at or near the height that they should be according to the drop numbers. (1.7F/1.2R)

So we ignored it. Now, there were three of us working on install, I've got a bum leg so it pretty much worked out to me doing all of the technical work while my croonies handed me tools and did the jack/torque bar work. A couple of times we got distracted by our signifigant others. This showed through when we took it for our first test drive and realized that we hadn't torqued down the nut on top of the strut for the front left strut.. It rattled over the first few bumps. Stop, reverse, park, torque it down.

It drove good for a couple of miles and then I began to notice a similar rattle, if not a good bit quieter, coming from the rear passenger side strut. I shrugged it off, went to sleep, drove to work in the morning (6-7 relatively smooth miles) and then took it to an auto/body shop over lunch and jacked it up to take everything back off and double check the setup. Everything looked good. Swaybar bolts were tight, top and bottom strut bolts were tight.. Pulled everything off, spring hat bolt was tight.. Took it apart and everything still seemed alright.

That was when I first noticed something amiss. The rubber grommets (?) in the spring hat, the ones that have the metal tube running through them that the shock absorber runs through, had come unglued, separated and fallen free of the spring hat when I took it off. Okay.. No biggie I thought, put them back together since they fit like a puzzle piece, put everything back in place, tighten it all back down and then mount it into the wheel well once again.

Back on the road I get relative peace for all of 10 minutes before this horrid rattling begins and ever bump, shift in weight and the most minuscule discrepancy in the road makes that strut shriek, rattle and.. God.. The noises are unbearable to say the least.

So today, I take it back into a different shop here on base, our auto hobby shop where we have on duty mechanics at all times. I end up spending 6 hours going over the setup of the strut. Putting it on, taking it off, test driving it for half an hour only to knock it loose once more, bringing it back.. etc etc. We can't figure out what the deal is. We tried using a super glue-esc gel to secure the rubber grommets back into place so that the strut can't knock them loose, no good. The best luck I had was using a double set of spacers on top of the single large spacer above the spring hat, which lasted all of 45 minutes until I took the car to an extremely rough road. 45 seconds on that road and I had already knocked whatever it is loose again.

I don't get it. Everything is torqued down to spec when it's put in.

What am I doing wrong here? Is it really those two little rubber grommets in the spring hat causing all these problems? Or is it a loose dust cover/bump-stop combo on the shaft of the shock absorber?

Help?

Right Spring/Strut uninstalled..



Left spring..




Right spring...

 

I see how helpful the community is.

I figured out the problem though.

Thanks guys.

 

Here's an idea you could help others by telling us what the problem was.

 

Okay:

The problem was caused by the guy who was doing the install on the back right strut. When he got the assembly out, he couldn't get the top nut off, so he brought it to me. I pulled the top nut off, yanked the spring, handed him the entire assembly and the new spring (minus the factory spring of course) and sent him back over to the other side of the car.

It was a partial fail on my part because I trusted him when he said he knew what he was doing. He also had some trouble getting it back into place once he had the strut through the lower control arm.

Long story short, when I handed everything back to him, the washer that sits on top of the rear bump stop fell off and landed in the grass and didn't get reinstalled. That's what was causing the rattle and grind noise. The top pole of the shock absorber that slides through the spring hat was coming all the way up and through the spring hat. The shock absorber was getting no use at all. I was riding on just spring on the back passenger side.

The moral of the story? Make sure your friends know what they're doing and, even then, double check their work.

Forgive me if I was a little peeved that, after 30+ views, I had absolutely no suggestions or opinions. The car is still sitting a little uneven. The back right is about 1/4" or 1/3" higher than the back left. I'm going to let it ride out for another week or so, see if it will settle any further, if not I'll revert back to stock and send them back to Eibach for a refund.

 

I think if 100 people chimed in not one would have gotten that one. If you never make a mistake you never learn.

 

park it on a leveled area.