2008 GX Sedan Lowered and now clunk noise

[RDTK]

Hi Everyone,
I lowered my car several months ago and have been troubleshooting a clunking noise from front right suspension. That does not seem to be a safety nor performance issues but is driving me nuts. Last year I replaced my OEM struts with Koni Orange struts, then this spring I replaced the shocks with Koni Orange. Then this summer I installed Tien S.Tech springs with new strut mounts. From the get go there was noise. I thought it was something loose such at sway bar end links or perhaps I didn't put enough torque down on center strut nut, so after attempting to torque those bolts which I did not have correct tool, I brought it to my dealer and had them tighten to spec, but problem still existed. Then I noticed that if I shake the top of the spring while car is jacked up, there is play on both sides. The spring on the side that makes noise is much easier to move around. After some online research, others have had issue with strut mount, so I swapped back to the oem one that was on the car before adding lowering springs, and same issue. I "THINK" i also checked the side engine mount since the noise appeared so must be fine. Swaybar bolts/nuts are tight 10!

Now I only see 3 options.
-go back to oem springs (but the lowering springs are to awesome! and paid good money for them)
-fight with manufacturer to replace the 1 spring (but there side has play too...)
-add some type of bushing to lock that spring in place.

The bushings option is something I would like to explore. I took the strut mount and started to measure out and then hit the web for some type of universal polyurethane coil spring isolater / disk in hopes that it would had the needed space and pressure once the spring is installed and car is jacked up but couldn't find matching. I then noticed that you can purchase polyurethane tubs to slip over the top of the spring for other cars. I believe by adding material between the inside diameter of the spring and strut mount, this will stop the Play. Some people have used hot water tube/piping to solve this issue on other cars. I just need to make some new measurements when I get home from work and go internet hunting again. perhaps go to hardware store to get rubber piping of some kind.

Has anyone run into similar issue with lowering springs and what was the solution?

[morganc]

When you take the car of the jacks, there's so much weight on them that I doubt your springs are becoming unloaded while driving. One thing you have to watch is that there's plenty of play in every direction when you're tightening up the strut mount to the shock tower. Make sure that the mount is "perfectly" centered on the shock tower because the metal dish ring on the mount can hit the shock tower if it's off to one side. To act as a guide, I normally put a deep socket and extension on the shock bolt and use it to verify equal spacing everywhere.

I'm lowered 1.75" and the only time I've had noise has come from the above problem and worn bushings/ball joints.

[Default User]

Hi Everyone,
I lowered my car several months ago and have been troubleshooting a clunking noise from front right suspension. That does not seem to be a safety nor performance issues but is driving me nuts. Last year I replaced my OEM struts with Koni Orange struts, then this spring I replaced the shocks with Koni Orange. Then this summer I installed Tien S.Tech springs with new strut mounts. From the get go there was noise. I thought it was something loose such at sway bar end links or perhaps I didn't put enough torque down on center strut nut, so after attempting to torque those bolts which I did not have correct tool, I brought it to my dealer and had them tighten to spec, but problem still existed. Then I noticed that if I shake the top of the spring while car is jacked up, there is play on both sides. The spring on the side that makes noise is much easier to move around. After some online research, others have had issue with strut mount, so I swapped back to the oem one that was on the car before adding lowering springs, and same issue. I "THINK" i also checked the side engine mount since the noise appeared so must be fine. Swaybar bolts/nuts are tight 10!

Now I only see 3 options.
-go back to oem springs (but the lowering springs are to awesome! and paid good money for them)
-fight with manufacturer to replace the 1 spring (but there side has play too...)
-add some type of bushing to lock that spring in place.

The bushings option is something I would like to explore. I took the strut mount and started to measure out and then hit the web for some type of universal polyurethane coil spring isolater / disk in hopes that it would had the needed space and pressure once the spring is installed and car is jacked up but couldn't find matching. I then noticed that you can purchase polyurethane tubs to slip over the top of the spring for other cars. I believe by adding material between the inside diameter of the spring and strut mount, this will stop the Play. Some people have used hot water tube/piping to solve this issue on other cars. I just need to make some new measurements when I get home from work and go internet hunting again. perhaps go to hardware store to get rubber piping of some kind.

Has anyone run into similar issue with lowering springs and what was the solution?

ADHD owns me.

Carry on....

[Ante]

That side engine mount is notorious for failing. Did you really check it thoroughly?