Clunk / creek / rattle in front end after lowering.

B

bcboy67

Member
:
2012 Mazda2 Sport
Hi all,

I lowered by car about a year and a half ago (Eibachs with factory struts) got an alignment, and running factory wheels and tires. Up until about a month ago, I had absolutely no problems, however about a month ago after driving in a very bad rain storm (not sure if it's related or not) I started getting a clunking/creeking/rattling noise in the front end, sounds to be around the area from the strut top mounts. I jacked up the car and was able to rotate the springs once they were fully decompressed, it looked like the springs had rotated slightly from where they should be sitting on the strut perch. After a few days, the noise has came back. I repeated the same process and again it went away for a couple days, and came back.

Is this a known problem with the Eibachs and factory struts? Is there a way to prevent the spring from rotating? I had the local Mazda dealership check them during my last oil change, and they said they saw nothing wrong but also heard the noise. As a courtesy they greased the top mount bearings. This did nothing to help the problem.

Hoping that someone might have an answer or some guidance for me to go to solve this problem.

Thank you,
 
Did any of the spring perches look rusty? It's possible that on rebound, the spring is a bit loose and turns slightly. Later on, under compression, the spring could pop or slide back into place. You could try removing the springs and painting the springs and perches, or put some type of coating there.
 
I tend to remember that when I had my Eibachs in my car with stock shocks the fronts woudn't ever be loose so that you could turn it by hand when unloaded. Not sure how that could happen though.
 
Your springs, if installed correctly, absolutely should not be able to be spun by hand. They should be under compression. Check the nut at the top of the strut in the engine bay and make sure its tight.
 
The springs are only able to be spun by hand when the suspension is all full sag/uncompressed and it takes some effort, but I can spin them. I've checked the top nut, multiple times, it has bottomed out on the treads at the top of the strut, so its not possible to get it any tighter.

I don't feel like the springs were loose when I installed everything, I don't know if it is just the weight of the suspenstion/wheels/tires pulling down on the strut that allows the movement of the spring, or it the springs have settled to the point, that the strut (again only 11k miles on the car) is able the make the slightest of gap between the springs and strut perches when at full decompression/sag.

I have not heard of anyone else having a similar problem, everything is installed properly (I've been working on cars for years, not my first suspension job, and I had an ase mechanic who is a friend look at the car, plus mazda). I'm not sure if I just got a bad batch of springs that do not expand properly, or if the struts are just still very new/stiff. The car does not measure more than 1.5 inches lower than stock. As the struts wear more, and give up a little rebound, could it fix this problem? Or is there def a problem with this setup?
 
Even at full droop the spring should be seated firmly. Especially because the front struts have a seat, where the coil ends and butts up against it. Did you reinstall everything? The rubber spring seat on the bottom of the coil? How about the dust boot? The boot acts as an upper spring seat. If either (or both) of those are missing than maybe that is enough to get the coil loose.

The first time I tightened the top nuts on my struts I thought they were all the way down. I decided to check them the next day with an impact and they were in fact loose.
 
Can you post a picture of the strut at full droop and without the wheel? Are both springs equally loose? It's possible one spring could have a defect or a crack, but both having the same flaw would be extremely rare. (Start buying lottery tickets.)
 
The weather here as prevented me from inspecting the car more closely the past few days. Both springs have the same issue, however, the drivers side is def worse. The factory rubber spring seats and bump stops were re-used, having said that, I don't believe the dust boots were. I always thought the dust boots were more of a nice to have, not a necessity to have kinda thing? I will also try re-tightening the top nuts.

I will try to get a few pictures with the wheel off as soon as time/weather allows.

Thanks everyone.
 
bcboy67 said:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123791648-DIY-FRONT-Eibach-strut-springs

I just saw this thread trying to get more information, you can see in post #9 Eibach apparently had a bad batch of springs. I wonder if I somehow how this defective batch. I def need to look at the car today.
Click to expand...

I think it might be the sway bar. happening on my car after drop. There is the usual clunk and then there is a big clunk noise. I think the sway bar or some component maybe loose.
 
noise

envy2 said:
I think it might be the sway bar. happening on my car after drop. There is the usual clunk and then there is a big clunk noise. I think the sway bar or some component maybe loose.
Click to expand...

Did you change sway bar links? When i lowered mine i had forgot to grease my new sway bar end liks and noise was horrible, grease sway bar end links and all good.
 
The weather has been nice so I've been driving the miata and motorcycle lately. I haven't really had time to look at the 2, and since I've not been driving it, there has not been much of a priority. I will check to make sure the sway bar links are greased and I'm going to make sure the lowering springs are not the ones labeled as defective.

Thanks
 
So glad you guys have experienced this too. Ever since installing the Eibachs I've had a lot of noise / knocks over bumps, and when my car angles over the driveway entry gutter. I have had two different mechanics look at it, and even take it apart and both said their was nothing wrong with how the springs were installed. Haven't considered greasing the sway bar links or the sway bar bushing. Will give that a shot soon (rockon).
 
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