Quick Suspension Problem/Question

[Pheonix]

i just recently installed my tockico HP struts and eibach springs.
everything seems to have gone smoothly except i was getting a tapping from the rear.
it looks as though the sway bar is tapping on the ?cross member bar?, it's laying directly on it and i'm not sure whether or not it was before the struts were replaced.

any input would be very helpful

nick

 

[Pheonix]

bump,
only the rear seems off
i tightened the strut's center bolt down real good. that helped a lot but it still seems clunky.
is a better sway bar in my distant future?

i know i'm supposed to expect a bumpier ride because i'm lower but it seems a little more rough than i expected.
any tips or common problems, something i may have overlooked

 

[Pheonix]

ah man, am i in the wrong section or something,

i'm assuming the top rubber mount on the spring may be off a little but i can't tell

anyone know the torque values for the strut mount bolts, the 3 on the wheel well

 

[xelderx]

ah man, am i in the wrong section or something,

i'm assuming the top rubber mount on the spring may be off a little but i can't tell

anyone know the torque values for the strut mount bolts, the 3 on the wheel well

Just snug those bolts down. As long as they are tight the upper strut perch won't move. Are you using air tools to tighten down the strut rod nut at the top? Best thing to do is back the car onto some ramps and start shaking stuff around under there. You will also be able to see if your swaybar is hitting anything. Also on the rear Protege struts...when you replace the upper spring perch and tighten everything down you have to make sure that the upper perch is lined up correctly for it to slide back into the holes in the strut tower. Once the tension on the spring is released you can't turn the upper perch to line up correctly due to the ends of the spring fitting into indentions in the perch. Maybe snap some pictures if you have anything that looks funny. I've replaced enough Protege springs and shocks to know exactly what it is supposed to look like.

 

[Pheonix]

i'll get some ramps and try that.thanks
i'll get some pics for you as soon as i find one if cards my mother stole from me

i took off both struts today, compressed the spring and remounted the top caps. however i could only get the driver's side strut bolt off but when i put it back what a world of difference it made.
i couldn't get the passenger one off so i compressed the spring and readjusted it.
the left side seems fine now but the right is the same.

strangely the vice grip kept slipping so i couldn't crack the bolt.

if this stuff is loose, it will be hard to get an alignment done, huh

 

[uclap5]

you can also check the endlinks, they are notorious for causing clunks and sounds if not torqued high enough.

 

[rustychops41]

Don't forget the imfamous "washer trick" if the Eibachs are really short springs. The BJ chassis rear struts are really tall, so lots of lowering springs barely stay compressed at full droop. It's not uncommon to not even need a spring compressor to install the rears. Some folks have used 2 or 3 washers (#12 metric) on top of the upper perch, just under the 17mm nut, to add some pre-load to the spring. This helped my dearly departed 02 DX with HP's and Racing Beat springs.

 

[Pheonix]

i should jack the car up before tightening the endlinks right? not just while it's parked.

hmm, i'm not familiar with that trick. i think i'll give it a whirl just for kicks. thanks

i bought the springs off a forum member, they're red are those the racing beat, they came in an eibach box but MSP's have RB right.

 

[rustychops41]

RB springs are indeed red, and their logo is pad printed in white on them too. They are the same as the MP3/MSP springs.

 

[Pheonix]

i'm going to try the washer trick first chance i get.
one thing that doesn't sit well with me though, the ride seems very bumpy or stiff.
i know i live in bump city but should i expect that. is that break in?
if i got the eibach pro with progressive springs, would my ride be softer than the RB even though i'd be lower?

thanks for the info!

 

[Pheonix]

ok, i'm thinking the endlinks could be causing my problems.
here are a couple pics of how it looks.
it seems like it should be higher up because it may be causing problems how it's resting on the ???linkage arms??

maybe my sway bar is bend

 

[apexlater]

I just looked under my car and my swaybar connects to the endlink in front of the rear-most control arm (ie: to the middle of the car.) It looks like your sway bar is hitting that lateral link. Is that the stock swaybar and link?

 

[Pheonix]

yeah, i destroyed the old endlinks but they are stock from the dealer and are the same.

do you think i should turn it around or something, i'm trying to contact AWR to get an upgraded swaybar but i might want the adjustable endlinks also huh.

 

[apexlater]

I dunno, I'm not sure if you could put the bar on "backwards". You may want to check though. Ask someone else to check there's and see if the swaybar/endlink are in the same place. Because it's not the same as mine.

 

[Pheonix]

i read that the tabs were different on some of the struts but that was only a problem with '99 & '00 models.

anyone with a 3rd gen who could take a look for me to see which way the sway bar faces.

maybe the MSP struts aren't compatible with the stock sway bar, doubt it but it's possible i guess.