i earlier posted that there was this "clunking" sound on the left rear of the car after i lowered it.

i took it to my mechanic today.. <he is one to scoff at all my "mods" saying i am just wasting money on a GS... he is cheap and honest and i've known him for years so i let it slide>

anyway... he jacked up the car and showed me that the eibach springs can be rotated.. apparently it is not snug into the shocks.. this is what causes the noise. he put a rubber hose between in the space between the spring and the shock.

the noise didn't go away.. it's just deadened it. but it is still there.

my question is.. should you be able to turn the springs when jacked up??

i also asked him why it does not make that same noise on the other side (right rear) he said the fact that it is on the passenger side may have something to do with it (less weight)

help!!! it's driving me nuts!

'98 GS AT.Magenta Gray Pearl.Accel Spark Plug Wires.NGK Plugs.AEM Short Stack.GS-T Exhaust.AFX Underdrive pulley.RRE Front Lower Bar.Tenzo Rear Upper Bar
Tenzo Rear Lower Bar.Tenzo Front Upper Bar.Energy Suspension Bushings.Energy Suspension Motor Mounts.Radius Rims.Pirelli Tires.Eibach Pro kit Springs.KYB GR2.$15 camber mod

emmm he should look an notice that the passenger side does have the gas tank on it....

You need to tighten your strut bolt the clunking corner. This is common b/c it's hard to really tighten down that lock bolt anymore with the lowering springs no longer needing so much of the slack. Just use your good judgment on how much you need to tighten it.

There's probably just a lot of play right now within your rear strut.

so you think its the bolt on top of the wheel well <inside the car> ?
you are exactly right, there is a lot of play.. so much so that i can easily twist the springs...

You should not be able to twist the springs easily, if at all...

Evan B
97 GS
Stamford CT
EvMan2345@aol.com

what do i need to tighten so that the spring doesn't turn?

'98 GS AT.Magenta Gray Pearl.Accel Spark Plug Wires.NGK Plugs.AEM Short Stack.GS-T Exhaust.AFX Underdrive pulley.RRE Front Lower Bar.Tenzo Rear Upper Bar
Tenzo Rear Lower Bar.Tenzo Front Upper Bar.Energy Suspension Bushings.Energy Suspension Motor Mounts.Radius Rims.Pirelli Tires.Eibach Pro kit Springs.KYB GR2.$15 camber mod

the top locking bolt of the strut assembly. you'll need a vice locking plier and a open crest wrench (i believe 14mm or was it 17mm...one of those.

with the vice plier, lock it on the very top of the thread ( you'll see a flat portion), then with the crest wrench, toghten it down till you can't go any further then you are done.

dont strip the top part where u put vicegrips, i used a towel, but said fuggit after awhile. if u do, gotta buy a new one.

also, the threads on the strut dont keep goin, they do stop after awhile. i got my bolt all the way to that part.

i think the bolt should be like 12-18ft.lbs, but dont quote me on that.

on my rear setup, when it is jacked up, my spring can be slid around.

you just have to make sure when u lower the car, the spring is lined up with the perch and the rubber thing that sits on top of it.

make sure that the two rubber bushings are on both sides of the mounting plate, then the washer, and bolt.

peace

thanks to all that responded.

sean.. so you can also turn your springs when jacked up huh? is that normal? i will jack it up and check that it is on the perches you mentioned.

thanks again guys. just being able to sound off helps me. so that i do not look like a damn fool when i talk to the guy who installed it.

'98 GS AT.Magenta Gray Pearl.Accel Spark Plug Wires.NGK Plugs.AEM Short Stack.GS-T Exhaust.AFX Underdrive pulley.RRE Front Lower Bar.Tenzo Rear Upper Bar
Tenzo Rear Lower Bar.Tenzo Front Upper Bar.Energy Suspension Bushings.Energy Suspension Motor Mounts.Radius Rims.Pirelli Tires.Eibach Pro kit Springs.KYB GR2.$15 camber mod

i bet i know.... :D lol i know you are going to hate me so much for this... like encredibly amount but did you take the perches off the struts? if not this could be why or the spring are just settling

hmmm... since i did not install it myself i don't know.
so does everybody agree that the perches need to come off?

would it be easy to take off? pls. don't tell me i need another alignment after i take them off.

'98 GS AT.Magenta Gray Pearl.Accel Spark Plug Wires.NGK Plugs.AEM Short Stack.GS-T Exhaust.AFX Underdrive pulley.RRE Front Lower Bar.Tenzo Rear Upper Bar
Tenzo Rear Lower Bar.Tenzo Front Upper Bar.Energy Suspension Bushings.Energy Suspension Motor Mounts.Radius Rims.Pirelli Tires.Eibach Pro kit Springs.KYB GR2.$15 camber mod

what kinda drop do u have? springs or coilovers??

that will tell u if you need to cut the perches off. i dont htink you should with springs because there is nothing for them to rest on if you hack the perch.

with coilovers, it may be different. check corbins site, and teh vfaq. one is a strut install, and one is a coilover install.

peace

i got prokits and kyb gr2s

'98 GS AT.Magenta Gray Pearl.Accel Spark Plug Wires.NGK Plugs.AEM Short Stack.GS-T Exhaust.AFX Underdrive pulley.RRE Front Lower Bar.Tenzo Rear Upper Bar
Tenzo Rear Lower Bar.Tenzo Front Upper Bar.Energy Suspension Bushings.Energy Suspension Motor Mounts.Radius Rims.Pirelli Tires.Eibach Pro kit Springs.KYB GR2.$15 camber mod

came back from the shop again. they tightened everything they could...the irritating clunk is still there.

i see what the problem is now. it seems the spring is too short. and it does not stop on the bottom perch that is why you can readily twist it.

the mechanic offered to put back my stockers for free. <not an option>

when you guys say "cut the bumpstops" ---what exactly do you mean? is the bumpstop the rubber on top of the shock?

does anybodyelse have this problem?

is it possible that i was given a "shorter" spring? what should i do?

H E L P.

'98 GS AT.Magenta Gray Pearl.Accel Spark Plug Wires.NGK Plugs.AEM Short Stack.GS-T Exhaust.AFX Underdrive pulley.RRE Front Lower Bar.Tenzo Rear Upper Bar
Tenzo Rear Lower Bar.Tenzo Front Upper Bar.Energy Suspension Bushings.Energy Suspension Motor Mounts.Radius Rims.Pirelli Tires.Eibach Pro kit Springs.KYB GR2.$15 camber mod

hmmm i never heard "too short" a spring, cause that just depends on ur drop. my 3" drop springs are SHORT as hell, i wouldnt worry about that.

yes, cut the bumpstops in HALF. when u lower the car it prevents u from bottoming out every 5 seconds, like i do ;-) (did not get the bumpstops cut. imagine the ride. its rough, but stiff. ask thunderous talon)

lol my bump stops are... the whole thing :D lol i have coilovers it all depends i didnt take out my perches because i didnt feel safe with 3 little screws holding my whole car up... but thats just cause they are coilovers i think that it might be a better idea to get the coilovers... then just the springs

from what i've heard, the prokits have instructions that the bumpstops SHOULD be cut. i do not know why the mechanic wouldnt cut it. so if there were NO BUMPSTOPS, there would be no rubber on top of the shock?

does anybody have a picture? i am sorry that i am being so dumb. i just dont understand why the right rear is ok and the left isnt!

I just installed the Pro Kit and Tokico Blues. The front bump stops needed to be cut down to 35mm but no changes needed to be done to the rear. When jacked up I can move my rear springs but once there is some weight on them, the spring is solid. The problem I am having is that my rear tires are rubbing when I corner or hit a large bump. Is this common thing for the rear to rub with a Pro Kit? I have an RS with 17in/7.5in. wheels with Nitto 450's in 225/45-17

Drew
NO REMORSE!! NO REGRETS!!

we have the same tire and rim sizes and mine does not rub. i of course do not have tokicos ( i have kybs)

but that damn noise is still there. its the spring "bouncing" on the perch of the strut.

can you roll your fenders?

I got the sportline about a year ago and kept the stock shocks and I noticed that same noise. Then I got the tokico blues and I only notice the noise when it's really hot outside. During cold weather, I don't hear any noise at all.

BTW, I'm new here.

i wonder if there was some rubber or silicon sleeve i can put around the top and bottom spring so that it does not make that noise when it bounces on the perch.. is there such a thing?

-marc

'98 GS AT.Magenta Gray Pearl.Accel Spark Plug Wires.NGK Plugs.AEM Short Stack.GS-T Exhaust.AFX Underdrive pulley.RRE Front Lower Bar.Tenzo Rear Upper Bar
Tenzo Rear Lower Bar.Tenzo Front Upper Bar.Energy Suspension Bushings.Energy Suspension Motor Mounts.Radius Rims.Pirelli Tires.Eibach Pro kit Springs.KYB GR2.$15 camber mod

u could always cut up sum garden hose and slap it on the bottom part of the spring. on the top, there is a rubber plate that fits onto the spring.

so am i to beleive that when your car is on the ground (not jakked up) and the full weight is on the suspension. you can move the spring around???

seems like your strut might not be compressing and that would be taking all the weight from that corner of the car.

are the rubber bushings on both sides of the mounting plate??
go check both sides, and make sure they look the same from inside your trunk (from the top).

my springs didnt quite fit on the perch, the opening on the spring is too small, so i just lined it up as good as i could.

anyways, when doin my springs, i noticed the strut has extra play in it with the piston that goes inside the phat part. like it can come out farther than the spring assembly, and i could push it in, making it too small to fit the top bolt and mounting plate on the strut assembly.

to swap out the rears, its only 3 bolts, the two in the trunk, and one goin through the bottom of the strut. not really that hard if u wanna compare the diff between your good one and "bad" one.

corbin has an exellent writeup

hope that made sense

using the garden hose is an excellent idea.

i will have to look for that rubber plate you are talking about.
i was also reading the eibach directions and they said no need to cut the bumpstops on the rear..but you have to cut like 25mm on the fronts. what happens if my mechanic didnt cut the bumpstops?

no. the spring only twists when it is jacked up.

so you think the strut is bad? i bought them at tire rack. shouldnt be hard to get a replacement.

where do i find corbin's writeup?

thank you so much for taking time to respond.

-marc

http://www.houstonhardware.com/~cbehnken/struts.html