Mystery front end creaking sound with video

[Ihave1]

Yeah I get what you're saying and the car makes a fair bit of other noises that I have learned to ignore, but this one just bugs me. I am currently using the stock upper strut mounts and do not see any signs of wear or movement on them when I shake the car. I attached some images of the upper mount. I know there is a concave washer and maybe that got installed the wrong way? It seems like it would always be noisy if that was the case though.

Here is a video where you can hear the clunk. Its the hollow sound. It can be heard best at 11,12,14,17 seconds. Sounds like someone is tapping the bottom of an empty 5 gallon bucket. thunk, thunk! I am pulling out of my garage in this video. It always happens when the front tires transition from the garage to the driveway where there is a small stress relief groove.

Video!

You can see where the coils are rubbing together. This is with the tire off and the spring uncompressed. Under the weight of the car those coils remain touching.

[Ihave1]

So far I have replaced the upper strut bearing, sway bar with the M3 one, end links with adjustable ones, added in a thrust bearing to the lower spring perch, replaced the wheel bearing, and greased the spring. Its still there just the same as always. Next on the list is M3 front control arm and new tie rods. After that I will have a completely new front end. Grrr...

[135iiiiii]

Originally Posted by Ihave1

So far I have replaced the upper strut bearing, sway bar with the M3 one, end links with adjustable ones, added in a thrust bearing to the lower spring perch, replaced the wheel bearing, and greased the spring. Its still there just the same as always. Next on the list is M3 front control arm and new tie rods. After that I will have a completely new front end. Grrr...

I'm having the same problem with my KW V1s. It's the passenger side front. Mine only does it when it's cold and sometimes when I make left hand turns. I feel your aggravation

[Ihave1]

Let me know if you figure anything out. KW says I can send in my shock and they can test it for faults but then I wont have a car while the shock is gone... It did seem to get better today when it was wet outside. I'm not sure what that means though.

[annalisa_ferri]

I have had the same problems, and after tons of reading and after having completely dismantled the shock assembly twice I figured out what was the issue.

The clunking noise, especially audible in low-speed end to end steering (park) or on paved surfaces, is given by a degraded upper spring perch assembly (items 1 and/or 8 in the exploded view)

And YES, the coil end has to be as close as possible (that is, touch) the upper plate shoulder, as specified by TIS (see attachment); so double check that, while releasing the spring compressors, the end of the coil is firmly pushing against the upper plate rubber pad.

Surfing the internet I've found many theories, recommending to grease all the interfaces, or to align the coil end in a given way vs. the car nose, or to install spring covers. I tested all of them and none is working; don't be fooled by the initial improvement you got after reassembly: once the components set up again together, you will have the same problem again. Indeed, there is no trace of this kind of solution in TIS.

Instead, with the car lifted off the gound and the wheel removed, grip firmly the upper end of your coilover installed on the car with both hands (just in the area of spring end and upper plates): shaking with energy this upper part you will be able to replicate the clunking noise with good accuracy, thus indicating that the problem is there. Repeating on both sides may be helpful, since usually the problem is only on one side. To understand if this is coming from the upper support containing the bearing (item 1) or from the spring plate (item 8) is more difficult. I solved the problem replacing items 1, 6,7 and 8.

Note #1: remember that you DON'T need to remove the strut from the wheel carrier, neither to disconnect any suspension/steering arm to do the job: simply let the wheel carrier + strut hang freely and the top part will just come outside the fender by a combination of rotation and pulling forward (it's a matter of millimiters however, just be careful of not to scratch your fender paint, tape it beforehand). But there are very good DIYs about this.

Note #2: when reassembling, do not overtight the upper damper nut! I know this is not an easy job without the special tools, and everybody feel more secure firmly tightening, but here it is important not to exceed the recommended torque. If you use a pneumatic gun set it at the minimum speed and proceed with very short steps. I recommend using some thread lock fluid and applying a gentle tightening if in lack of a torque wrench. At the end, the upper assembly (bearing plate #1 and camber plates if you have them) should be free to rotate with no resistance whatsoever. In case the rotation is hard, release the tension on the nut and repeat.

Hope this helps (even if the post is a bit old!).
Cheers!

[Ihave1]

Thanks for the great writeup! I will look into this, but I fear it is not the issue in my case. It happens even when I am driving perfectly straight and I have also replaced all of the components that sit above the spring. It even happens when the car is parked and I lift up on the fender as seen in the original video. I have another RMA with KW to rebuild the shocks a second time. I just need to pick a weekend to disassemble everything and ship it out.

[Suprgnat]

shock seals...!...?

[E91 M Sport]

Bringing this thread back to life

I've got about 1200 miles on my ST coilovers and I too have that exact same sound. Freaking driving me crazy Found tons of similar issues on multiple chassis and not one fix. I suspected my upper strut mount but after reading Ihave1's find on springs rubbing I'm more inclined to think it's them and this is why.

I'm on 20s w/thin spokes and generous openness that allows me to fish my arm up into the strut tower area with the car on the ground. I had my buddy push down on the car several times, I was trying to "feel" for the noise, and it was MOST pronounced when my hand was on the spring itself. I could distinctly tell that the vibration was of that sound (if that makes any sense).

I guess it still could be a bad upper strut mount as I'm sure one of their duties is to dampen sounds such as this from transferring throughout the chassis. Guess I'm back at it again this weekend.

[E91 M Sport]

Just came across this. Gonna try it this weekend. Fingers crossed...

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=609774

http://forums.clubrsx.com/showpost.p...68&postcount=1

[Ihave1]

Sorry to hear you are having the same problem E91 M Sport. My noise has increased again since it has been raining and in the 60s all week. It's really annoying to hear this clunking while driving around.
Your issue may be different, but in my case I dont believe it's the spring. I think it is the valving inside the shock. I've tried use thick rubber tape like you linked to and it did not help. Let me know what you find out!

"Groaning" seems to be the right term and there seem to be lots of other cases of it with varying levels of support from KW. I've had my rebuilt and tested twice by KW without any success. They said there is no local support in the NC area so I'm out of luck.

http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23060

[E91 M Sport]

Originally Posted by Ihave1

Sorry to hear you are having the same problem E91 M Sport. My noise has increased again since it has been raining and in the 60s all week. It's really annoying to hear this clunking while driving around.
Your issue may be different, but in my case I dont believe it's the spring. I think it is the valving inside the shock. I've tried use thick rubber tape like you linked to and it did not help. Let me know what you find out!

"Groaning" seems to be the right term and there seem to be lots of other cases of it with varying levels of support from KW. I've had my rebuilt and tested twice by KW without any success. They said there is no local support in the NC area so I'm out of luck.

http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23060

Damn that sucks. I was hoping you'd chime back in and say everything was all clear. Many have said it could also be the shock/valving etc, but I'm hoping that isn't the case. I don't want to screw around w/shipping, uninstalling, re-installing, alignments etc.

Humidity definitely makes the sound worse for me too BTW.

ST has a facility here in Cali but it's 6-7 hour drive so that's not an option. Would be nice to take it there though so they can experience the noise first hand. I'm still going to try the rubber tubing around the coils and I'll let you know my results.