You know that noise when you...

slowrider87

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...Kick a springy doorstop on a baseboard while walking by?

If you don't know what it sounds like you should go find one in your house real quick and lightly kick it. Why? Because that's almost the exact sound my rear suspension makes, but on a bigger, slower, and spring against metal, instead of against wood way. and it sounds to be coming from the top of the shock tower.

The passenger side has made that noise @35-40mph and higher since I had the car lowered. It wasn't real bad or constant. But now it's been going on so long, gotten worse, and the driver side is starting to do it and it's ANNOYING!

I have taken the shock/spring assembly out, compressed the spring and inspected what i could without completely disassembling it.

I did the typical shakedown of the wheels. No bearing play.

I Inspected RSB endlinks, bushings, upper and lower control linkages, replaced camber arms with wicked tuning kits (which now make really annoying clunking noises on minor bumps and turns). Reinstalled everything with proper torque specs.

I've run two different sets of wheels and three different tires w/ different tread patterns. The different road noise/vibrations didn't make it better or worse. Re-balanced all wheels, and done 3 alignments. The first alignment was all 4 wheels. The noise almost disappeared. But came back within the week. So I aligned the rear again. It had maladjusted toe but it was only out of spec .3 degrees as opposed to the 2.1 degrees it was out originally. Adjusted it back to spec and kept it moving. The sound remained. Not as bad as it was but not as quiet as after the first alignment. Doubting myself, I put it on the rack again a few days later and checked the alignment. Still spot on.

So i have come to the conclusion that it is something attached to the shock assembly. Something small and typically overlooked, like a washer, the spring seat cushions worn thin (this is the one i suspect to be quite possible), bump stops are weak, etc...

Koni Yellows and progress sport springs is the setup. Front shocks on low perch, rears on high perch. Dampening set midway from "softest" to "stiffest" tried full "soft" and full "stiff"... nothing.

Heres an exploded view... Any and all input is appreciated guys. second third fourth opinions are what i'm looking for.
94890649

Which part would you go with and why?
252xxx Miles on the clock. I'll start collecting to replace everything if i have to to get rid of the god-forsaken noise. But my bank account would appreciate it if i didn't.
 
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98ExAccordwv

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Seems odd that its still happening will the steps you have taken. Have you checked all of the rubber bushings to make sure none are missing or damaged? I'm thinking it has to be something were vibration is causing metal to touch metal on an off to simulate the noise you were trying to describe.

Another question did you buy all of this new or was it used?
 

slowrider87

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only things i've bought to replace we're the shocks springs and camber kits. And I bought them brand new. everything else i just took off the car to inspect. i didn't have any wrenches thin enough to get the two lock nuts off the top of the strut rod. so i couldn't take the upper mount off to see if the shop i had put it all in forgot a bushing or washer or anything. the bump stop seemed. the seat cushions appeared in tact. i blew all the dirt and sand out of the whole assembly with compressed air. they were kind of flimsy but no holes or anything in them.

One last thing i forgot to mention. The noise disappears when raining. it's weird
 
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