Annoying noise

Not for me. I can't vouch for aftermarket struts but I played around with my Espelirs on stock struts and the washer will not fix any clunking. An aftermarket spring does not change anything with regards to the bowl shaped washer and the nut that would require an additional washer.

Lift the car up and check all the bolts. Make sure the spring is seated properly on top and bottom and that the rubber piece isn't tangled.
 
Well last week I installed eibachs and tokico HPs, now I'm getting the same annoying "clunk". I got the washers installed and that helped in that department, I reseated the springs onto the upper strut mount cause mine where looking like the pic on chuyler1's post. that worked for a day or 2 but now I'm hearing the sound again, not as much but still hear it.

I also noticed that my springs are not fully loose but can be easily moved without the need to compress them, I can actually compress them a little by hand in order to reseat them.
I was running the springs on stock struts for about 2 months and would hear the same clunk. With the stock struts and the eibachs in the rear the springs where to small fit tightly on the upper and lower mount and therefore would dangle like nothing was holding them, on the tokico struts the springs fit better but still can be moved by hand.

If you still with me through this thing, has anyone else that has ran eibachs and stock struts noticed if their eibachs are just to small for the strut mount and just hang in there letting it move around all over the place? How aobut with the tokico HPs and eibach springs, does anyone have that same problem, that the springs dont sit completely tight and could probably move around if I ran over a pothole or some other type of bump?
 
They might move around when you have the car on jacks, but once you drop the car (provided they are seated properly) they shouldn't go anywhere. Now if you were taking your car off sweet jumps (Napolean voice) then we might have a problem.

If the springs are loose when the car is on jacks, lower the car half-way, check the seating again, and then lower it the rest of the way.

If you understand how the entire strut/spring assembly goes together you will realize that the washer does nothing. I can't prove it, but I'm willing to bet people who had success with the washers only did so because it forced them to re-tighten the top bolt after there was force from below pushing the strut fully into its housing.

Ever since I discovered that seating problem on my car I have not had a problem and I've driven 30K miles on my Espelirs and had the car on and off of jacks for maintenence and tire change-overs. I still have the stock struts too. I know some other NEPOCers have the Eibachs and aren't complaining of problems.
 
maybe the only true solution is to get the MSP rear struts which have the pirches positioned higher...
as for the eibach prokits.. I haven't really seen pics of them, but if they have coils really close to each other then the coils can be hitting each other and cause a clunking noise too... that can be eliminated by installing spring coil wraps
 
theman, you are correct, my eibachs have I think 2 rings completely on top of each other and then the 3rd ring is really close. Where would I find spring coil wraps? I may be willing to try that if the springs are seated properly next time I check it. (Maybe tonight)

Chuyler1, the washer thing did work because what was happening was that when the car was off the stand and seating flat on the ground you could notice that the threading on the strut ended before the nut could be flat against the bowl shapped washer. And yeah, no sweet jumps, just really bad roads here in philly. I guess you are right, I'll have to recheck and hopefully its just that I need to get the coil wraps that Theman is talking about.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
Did you ever think to see what the threading looked like with the stock springs back on? If this was truely the problem you would have to do the washer thing on all four corners and everyone (not just a select few) would be complaining about rattling...on all four corners. Changing the height of the spring has nothing to do with how the top of the strut assembly goes together. If you sleep better with the washers so be it.
 
I didnt get that same problem when I had the stock struts and the eibachs, but truth be it, it worked for me, not saying it will for others, all I know is that it did stop a noise that was clearly coming from that area and after first hearing the noise I did notice the stock bowl washer was not tight, and I could see the thread on the strut ended a few centimeters above the washer which logically would mean the nut would not sit flush and would leave the washer loose enough to move around. If it dont work for others thats cool, I'm just relating my story.

Hopefully tonight I will have enough time to check on the upper spring mount and see if they came loose again. you are right though chuyler, I dont think that simple bumps and potholes would loosen the spring again and the noise did lessen a lot after reseating it.
 
It is true that the threading stops...but if you look at the nut you will see that the threading doesn't start at the base of the nut, there is a few mm of space on one side that has no threads. This is so that it will thread properly down to the correct height. Now this is from experience with the stock struts only. I have no idea how much threading is missing from the tokico struts to make any judgements on it.

Just make sure when you install everything you tighten it down properly, lower the car, and tighten everything a second time. Take a spin around the block before putting the panels back on the inside of the car, when you get back, tighten them down once more.
 
Huascar82 said:
theman, you are correct, my eibachs have I think 2 rings completely on top of each other and then the 3rd ring is really close. Where would I find spring coil wraps? I may be willing to try that if the springs are seated properly next time I check it. (Maybe tonight)

Chuyler1, the washer thing did work because what was happening was that when the car was off the stand and seating flat on the ground you could notice that the threading on the strut ended before the nut could be flat against the bowl shapped washer. And yeah, no sweet jumps, just really bad roads here in philly. I guess you are right, I'll have to recheck and hopefully its just that I need to get the coil wraps that Theman is talking about.

Thanks for the help guys.
you need to read this:
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123631472&page=2

when you have the rear suspension assembled per factory recommendations (no coil wraps, no washers) all that racket would happen because when the coil hits each other, the suspension stops moving sooner than the strut... so the strut piston continues to move up and temporarily float off the rear strut mounts (since the bushing is rubber).... without the washers tightly clamping them in place, you hear it float around and clunk when the piston moves around inside the metal insert in the bushing... installing the washer *reduces* this movement although this phenominon still happens, however it is reduced to the point where it is no longer noticable

so in otherwords, even after installing the washers, if you have springs like the eibachs and my JDM mazdaspeeds (custom eibachs), you need to install coil wraps otherwise it'll still make the annoying clunk when there is significant suspension movement/travel in the back... the coils hitting each other is obviously causing the obnoxious noise... but that's not all, road dust/dirt on the springs will have a sand paper effect on the springs' powdercoat... so prolonged sudden contact with the coils will wear the powdercoat away and cause rust!

so if you want your s*** to last and not be annoying, you need to install spring coil wraps if the washer trick has failed you
 
Hey TheMan, found some at this site, http://www.projectnissan.com/shopping/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=3186&idcategory=51 on your other post you indicated "L" size, would that mean large? Just want to make sure I get the right ones if I do end up ordering them, because I probably will, since on your other post, you mentioned the less noise while load on back or full tank, and I did fill up after reseating and that I guess seems to have helped with the noise as well. :)

Also, thanks for your help man.
 
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I just installed my eibach prokit,tokico hp's,and msp sway kit. I get a noise in the back now but it sounds more like a rubber noise like maybe the springs against the rubber iscolators. I do have awr poly sway bushings in the rear that are lubed well and new end links from the kit. I hope the noise goes away after some driving. Any other ideas what it could be? The first time we let it on the ground you could hear it also.
 
I jacked my car back up and had my dad shake the car to make the noise im about 90% sure its coming from the awr sway bushings I think they just need to break in everything is lubed really good too. I had this same sound on my camaro when i installed poly bushings in the front.
 
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Laser, hows the noise going along? I'm gonna remove my swaybar tomorrow and see how the car holds up, I was running the eibachs on stock springs before without a swaybar and still had the noise, so I'm hoping my problem will be solved with the Tein Spring silencer rubber. Anyways, let me know of any changes.
 
Fixed mine today no noise what so ever soo happy lol. I was pretty sure the mount bushings were making noise for the sway bar so I took them off and they were dry I guess the grease I used wasnt good for poly bushings. I then soaked them with lithium grease and coated the bar with some bearing gease and it is quiet now. I still had a noise tho that I was sure that the 2 washers were making so I put tape around them and it stopped. I dont see how there could be slack tho with the 2 washers on top almost no threads left and all torqued down. This was after I redid the right rear and it still made the sound. O well just going to put some strip calking around the washers and let it go it wasnt that loud any way so there wasnt much noise but that fixed it. What kinda noise are you getting huascar we have the same setup right? Eibach prokit and tokico blues I have the msp sways also but that wasnt were the sound was coming from.
 
Same setup, eibachs and tokicos, I got an AWR swaybar with AWR endlinks. I removed the swaybar today and I finally got those spring silencer rubbers and put them on, so far no noise, I'm pretty sure the sound was from the springs and not the swaybar though. Wouldnt the swaybar bushings be more of a squeak/creaking sound, kinda like a door hinge that needs to oil? Once I have time I'll re install the swaybar.
 
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