jfisher

I was able to get the preload set on rears last night. The right rear was WAY off. I adjusted the lower shock mount at least an inch. The noise isn't gone completely, but it is very faint. The only time I can notice the noise is with the windows up and the radio completely off, which will be almost never when I drive the car normally.

I don't know if its just me, but I swear the clunk goes away after the car gets driven a bit. I have a longer commute to work and by the time I got about 5 minutes down the road I don't hear anything. That makes me think more the noise is internal shock related, as the shock "warms" up. I'll keep an ear out if the clunking gets worse over time.

Overall I'm pretty happy. I was able to get the fronts on last night as well. I didn't know how bad my stock 108k mile struts and shocks really were until going to this setup. The feel of the car is completely different. I was beginning to get really disappointed in the Hotchkis sways, but the stock shocks and struts are definitely the culprit. The car handles amazing now and I can truly feel how well the car turns now especially at higher speed on ramps, etc. All of this on some 245 all season goodyears. I can't imagine what a good set of meaty summer tires would do for this car.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Glad to hear that you're getting them set to your liking and noise is less of an issue.
On my Megan CO setup which is very similar to BCs I have a sound that's like rubbing styrofoam cups together when I'm going up and down my drive, but like you, noticed it's primarily when they've not yet warmed up.
I removed both rear shocks, cleaned them up and sprayed some lube on them, this helped short term but they're back to where they were now.
It seems to only be for about 5-10 minutes then they shut up.

jfisher

Funny you mention that. I bought my coilovers used and yesterday I noticed a pair of plastic isolators that I'm assuming they're for the rear coilovers where the top of the spring meets the upper perch. I will go back and add them when I get some free time.

Do you have anything on the top of your rear springs currently?

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

No, just springs resting on the height adjusters. But I confirmed that noise is from the sliding shock rod, it made the same noise when I took them off and went through some travel cycles. But your noise may have something to do w/ those isolators ???

jfisher

Wanted to give a little update here. I've been running these for a few weeks now and I absolutely have the standard right rear clunk. I've been emailing back and forth with BC and have tried every suggestion they've made. They're latest recommendation is that I need to use the OEM rear upper shock mounts instead of their original shock mounts that came with the "V1" coilovers. This requires a new set of shocks as the OD of the shock shaft for use with OEM shock mounts is smaller than what I currently have.

This doesn't really make much sense to me because, like everyone else, my clunk noise is only in the right rear.

What I'm really looking forward to is my corner weighting and alignment this coming Monday at Performance Alignment. This will be my first time there, but apparently these guys are extremely knowledgeable and have found issues for guys that have taken their cars from shop to shop without being able to diagnose suspension issues. They're not the cheapest place out there, but are the best around. Hopefully I find some definitive news to share. More to come.

Z33_SPL

A few months ago I ordered a new right rear shock hoping that the clunking would go away. When I went to install the new shock, the shaft was definitely different from the old clunking one and would not work with the BC Racing mount. Using the OEM mount makes sense now. I'm going to try and snap some pictures tomorrow and see if it will work.

jfisher

Update!

Got my replacement BC coilover rear shocks installed over the weekend. I've only done about a 1-2 mile test drive, but so far the right rear clunk is gone. The car is MUCH quieter now and way better to drive. I've got the rear set to the number 10 setting from full soft.

The new shocks utilize stock rear top hats. I ordered new KYB top hats off of Rockauto. The newer shock bodies themselves are also MUCH shorter:




I'll update more once I get to drive the car more.

NZTY_VQ

I've had my BC racing coils for 3 months already and been living with that clunking noise for 2 months all this money I saved to waste on some loud clunking coils isn't flying with me no more, I'm looking into new coils D2 or stance what's everyone inputs on those brands??