Knocking sound while turning wheels
06-04-2011, 06:30 PM
#1
Knocking sound while turning wheels
So a little history of the car, first had S-Techs and there was no knocking problem at all, then recently put on Megan coilovers and then the knocking sound started, I estimate that the car is lowered about 2.5 inches up front and about 1.5-2 in the rear.
So heres the problem whenever the car is stopped or driving at low speeds and I turn the steering wheel I hear a almost constant knocking sound pretty much until the car is straightened out, I dont really notice it when im above 10 miles per hour.
I first had the problem right away but found out the problem was the nut on top of the coilover on the driver side was loose, so I tightened that up and the noise went away until today, and I first noticed it after about 2 hours of somewhat hard driving.
Anyone have any input?
So heres the problem whenever the car is stopped or driving at low speeds and I turn the steering wheel I hear a almost constant knocking sound pretty much until the car is straightened out, I dont really notice it when im above 10 miles per hour.
I first had the problem right away but found out the problem was the nut on top of the coilover on the driver side was loose, so I tightened that up and the noise went away until today, and I first noticed it after about 2 hours of somewhat hard driving.
Anyone have any input?
06-04-2011, 07:05 PM
#3
Thanks, I dont think it has anything to do with the lugs, ill still go check them though hopefully it is those.
A couple things I was thinking is that ive read the spring could be turning with the wheels and making the coils bind, if this is the problem what do I do to fix that?
And maybe some kind of bushing somewhere is worn out. IDK
A couple things I was thinking is that ive read the spring could be turning with the wheels and making the coils bind, if this is the problem what do I do to fix that?
And maybe some kind of bushing somewhere is worn out. IDK
06-04-2011, 07:18 PM
#4
The springs dont turn on our cars when you turn the wheels. You probably read that on a honda site. You will come to realize that knocking is VERY common with coilovers. Things you want to check are:
1. Make sure if you had to use the stock bump stops, that they arent worn out
2. Make sure your end links are nice and tight (this was my culprit)
3. If you have pillowball mounts on the megans (sorry dont know much about that kit) then you may have to deal with the noise since as the pillowballs are metal on metal, they tend to make a tad bit of noise. Some people like to replace pillowball mounts with the oem rubber style bushings to get rid of the noise, but thats a PITA.
4. If they are brand new coilovers, there is a possibility that the top locknut on the front shocks came a bit loose as they broke in. A couple of zaps with an impact wrench will help this. Best way to test this out is to jack up your front end, and grab a hold of your rim and start pulling back and forth, if you hear teh knocking, you found your culprit.
1. Make sure if you had to use the stock bump stops, that they arent worn out
2. Make sure your end links are nice and tight (this was my culprit)
3. If you have pillowball mounts on the megans (sorry dont know much about that kit) then you may have to deal with the noise since as the pillowballs are metal on metal, they tend to make a tad bit of noise. Some people like to replace pillowball mounts with the oem rubber style bushings to get rid of the noise, but thats a PITA.
4. If they are brand new coilovers, there is a possibility that the top locknut on the front shocks came a bit loose as they broke in. A couple of zaps with an impact wrench will help this. Best way to test this out is to jack up your front end, and grab a hold of your rim and start pulling back and forth, if you hear teh knocking, you found your culprit.
Last edited by paimon.soror; 06-04-2011 at 07:21 PM.
06-06-2011, 10:58 AM
#8
Well the problem is still there.
1. I did not have to use the stock bump stops so im ruling that out.
2. All endlink bolts seemed tight I even removed them just so I could take the whole sway var out of the equation, so I dont think this is it.
3. This is what im thinking is the noise maker, So the pillowball mount is just the top part of the coilover where it meets the car body and bolts up correct? If so there is not rubber or anythng between the two areas its just metal on metal? So this is what could be causing the problem apparentyl?
4, when I first had them the top lock nut was loose and it was making this same sort of noise and I tightened it up and the noise went away, after double checking it is still tight, so im gonna go ahead and assume this is not the problem either.
Also all lock nuts on the coilovers are tight and not moving around.
One thing I was thinking IDK if this could possibly be a problem or not, is I had the car parked and shut off but went to turn the wheels all the way to the left for some pictures. So this was done without power steering, anyone think I may have messed something up doing that?
Also going to grease the Spring Cushions to see if this helps.
1. I did not have to use the stock bump stops so im ruling that out.
2. All endlink bolts seemed tight I even removed them just so I could take the whole sway var out of the equation, so I dont think this is it.
3. This is what im thinking is the noise maker, So the pillowball mount is just the top part of the coilover where it meets the car body and bolts up correct? If so there is not rubber or anythng between the two areas its just metal on metal? So this is what could be causing the problem apparentyl?
4, when I first had them the top lock nut was loose and it was making this same sort of noise and I tightened it up and the noise went away, after double checking it is still tight, so im gonna go ahead and assume this is not the problem either.
Also all lock nuts on the coilovers are tight and not moving around.
One thing I was thinking IDK if this could possibly be a problem or not, is I had the car parked and shut off but went to turn the wheels all the way to the left for some pictures. So this was done without power steering, anyone think I may have messed something up doing that?
Also going to grease the Spring Cushions to see if this helps.
Last edited by RX8inSTL; 06-06-2011 at 11:05 AM.
06-06-2011, 11:24 AM
#9
Well the problem is still there.
1. I did not have to use the stock bump stops so im ruling that out.
2. All endlink bolts seemed tight I even removed them just so I could take the whole sway var out of the equation, so I dont think this is it.
3. This is what im thinking is the noise maker, So the pillowball mount is just the top part of the coilover where it meets the car body and bolts up correct? If so there is not rubber or anythng between the two areas its just metal on metal? So this is what could be causing the problem apparentyl?
4, when I first had them the top lock nut was loose and it was making this same sort of noise and I tightened it up and the noise went away, after double checking it is still tight, so im gonna go ahead and assume this is not the problem either.
Also all lock nuts on the coilovers are tight and not moving around.
One thing I was thinking IDK if this could possibly be a problem or not, is I had the car parked and shut off but went to turn the wheels all the way to the left for some pictures. So this was done without power steering, anyone think I may have messed something up doing that?
Also going to grease the Spring Cushions to see if this helps.
1. I did not have to use the stock bump stops so im ruling that out.
2. All endlink bolts seemed tight I even removed them just so I could take the whole sway var out of the equation, so I dont think this is it.
3. This is what im thinking is the noise maker, So the pillowball mount is just the top part of the coilover where it meets the car body and bolts up correct? If so there is not rubber or anythng between the two areas its just metal on metal? So this is what could be causing the problem apparentyl?
4, when I first had them the top lock nut was loose and it was making this same sort of noise and I tightened it up and the noise went away, after double checking it is still tight, so im gonna go ahead and assume this is not the problem either.
Also all lock nuts on the coilovers are tight and not moving around.
One thing I was thinking IDK if this could possibly be a problem or not, is I had the car parked and shut off but went to turn the wheels all the way to the left for some pictures. So this was done without power steering, anyone think I may have messed something up doing that?
Also going to grease the Spring Cushions to see if this helps.
4. How did you tighten the lock nut? You would need to use an impact hammer to really get those things tight as trying to tighten them with a torque wrench would only tighten them so far before the inner tube starts to spin along with the nut.
Judging by your previous issues, i suspect #4 to be the issue so far. Thats assuming you didn't torque them down with an impact driver
Last edited by paimon.soror; 06-06-2011 at 11:27 AM.
06-06-2011, 11:56 AM
#11
I am going to agree with you about 4 now, Ive been out trying to fix the problem and was reading on megans site that the nuts need to be torqued to around 50lbs. Well needless to say im having a hard time doing this.
First tried a regualr torque wrench and well of course this is not help since the whole assembly keeps spinning.
Then I put a vise grip around a socket and stuck the allen wrench through the socket to try and hold everything while I tightened it, this also isnt doing much since the allen seems to just bend without anything getting tight.
Would an impact hammer get past the intial spin and start to actually tighten everything together? Both front assembly have no more than 15-20lbs on the nuts thats as low as im able to meausre with the torque wrench.
First tried a regualr torque wrench and well of course this is not help since the whole assembly keeps spinning.
Then I put a vise grip around a socket and stuck the allen wrench through the socket to try and hold everything while I tightened it, this also isnt doing much since the allen seems to just bend without anything getting tight.
Would an impact hammer get past the intial spin and start to actually tighten everything together? Both front assembly have no more than 15-20lbs on the nuts thats as low as im able to meausre with the torque wrench.
Last edited by RX8inSTL; 06-06-2011 at 12:00 PM.
06-06-2011, 12:08 PM
#12
I am going to agree with you about 4 now, Ive been out trying to fix the problem and was reading on megans site that the nuts need to be torqued to around 50lbs. Well needless to say im having a hard time doing this.
First tried a regualr torque wrench and well of course this is not help since the whole assembly keeps spinning.
Then I put a vise grip around a socket and stuck the allen wrench through the socket to try and hold everything while I tightened it, this also isnt doing much since the allen seems to just bend without anything getting tight.
Would an impact hammer get past the intial spin and start to actually tighten everything together? Both front assembly have no more than 15-20lbs on the nuts thats as low as im able to meausre with the torque wrench.
First tried a regualr torque wrench and well of course this is not help since the whole assembly keeps spinning.
Then I put a vise grip around a socket and stuck the allen wrench through the socket to try and hold everything while I tightened it, this also isnt doing much since the allen seems to just bend without anything getting tight.
Would an impact hammer get past the intial spin and start to actually tighten everything together? Both front assembly have no more than 15-20lbs on the nuts thats as low as im able to meausre with the torque wrench.
. Keep me posted
06-06-2011, 01:21 PM
#17
I hit it with the impact then afterwards put a torque wrench on them and set it to it lowest setting which is 20lbs and even at that setting the wrench is not making the clicking sound it should to say that its at that point.
I took the coilover completly out took the whole top assembly off the bearing in the top is fine and i cleaned off excess grease. With the coilover out I still could not tighten the nut any.
So then I was thinking maybe there was too much preload on the spring making it hard to compress the assembly. So I loosened the amount of preload all the way up to where the spring is just loose and I can move it around still cannot get the nut to tighten down, used an impact wrench the socket and vise grip attempt and then just a regualr wrench.
Im not really sure what else to try, possibly there are just no more threads for it to turn down on to, ill go check this now. But I dont think thats the case.
I took the coilover completly out took the whole top assembly off the bearing in the top is fine and i cleaned off excess grease. With the coilover out I still could not tighten the nut any.
So then I was thinking maybe there was too much preload on the spring making it hard to compress the assembly. So I loosened the amount of preload all the way up to where the spring is just loose and I can move it around still cannot get the nut to tighten down, used an impact wrench the socket and vise grip attempt and then just a regualr wrench.
Im not really sure what else to try, possibly there are just no more threads for it to turn down on to, ill go check this now. But I dont think thats the case.
06-06-2011, 01:29 PM
#18
Measuring with a torque wrench wont work, you are trying to get torque from a non-static piece of hardware. As you are measuring, you are creating a break in friction of the inner tube, causing it to throw off the measurement of the torque wrench. Unless you find a way to strap down the inner tube from moving (which is not easy and you risk damaging it) you wont be able to really measure the torque from a wrench.
06-06-2011, 01:35 PM
#19
Alright, well it sounds like my only option really as far as tightening it all down is to use the impact wrench and hope it tighten it up enough.
Also I dont think this is a problem, but when I first got the coilovers I put about 3 whole rotations worth of preload on the springs. It seems like its best to have the preload only at hand tight. Any way this may have worn the shocks out super fast? It was only like this for about 1 week.
Also I dont think this is a problem, but when I first got the coilovers I put about 3 whole rotations worth of preload on the springs. It seems like its best to have the preload only at hand tight. Any way this may have worn the shocks out super fast? It was only like this for about 1 week.
06-06-2011, 02:32 PM
#21
Well IDK, I hit the lock nuts with a Impact gun tightened just about everything I can think of and its still there, all I can think is that the locknuts still arent tight enough or its just how it is.
Gonna call megan I guess and see if i can get any info.
Anyone with megans, can you please chime in?
Gonna call megan I guess and see if i can get any info.
Anyone with megans, can you please chime in?
06-06-2011, 08:26 PM
#23
Hey just got your PM, sorry I didn't see this. No this is def not the sound I was hearing, mine was only while driving which eventually turned out to be the endlinks.
I would try the following if you haven't already. Jack up that side of the car, at least getting the tire from the video off the ground. Shake the tire back and forth...any noise?
Next, if you have the tools, jack up the whole front end. Turn the wheels with the steering wheel. See if it still makes the noise. If it does, chances are that it is the ball joint connecting the LCA to the hub. I almost feel like thats where the issue is only because at 0.23 you move the wheel only a tad and it made the noise.
Do you have anyone that can handle the steering for you, it would be nice if you could actually pin point the noise even better.
I will keep thinking, hopefully others can chime in too.
I would try the following if you haven't already. Jack up that side of the car, at least getting the tire from the video off the ground. Shake the tire back and forth...any noise?
Next, if you have the tools, jack up the whole front end. Turn the wheels with the steering wheel. See if it still makes the noise. If it does, chances are that it is the ball joint connecting the LCA to the hub. I almost feel like thats where the issue is only because at 0.23 you move the wheel only a tad and it made the noise.
Do you have anyone that can handle the steering for you, it would be nice if you could actually pin point the noise even better.
I will keep thinking, hopefully others can chime in too.
06-06-2011, 08:36 PM
#24
I have jacked up the car and turned the wheels and there was no noise, but I didnt try to shake the wheel and tire. Ill do this tomorrow if I have time and see if it makes any noises.
I did have someone else turn the wheel but without being able to get under the car its kinda hard to pinpoint it.
I might end up putting the stock assemblies back on the front to see what that does, if theres no noise its defiently something to do with the coilover, I guess this would be ideal since they are under warranty.
It doesnt really seem like a normal noise at all though. Possibly somehow get megan to look at the video and see what they think.
I did have someone else turn the wheel but without being able to get under the car its kinda hard to pinpoint it.
I might end up putting the stock assemblies back on the front to see what that does, if theres no noise its defiently something to do with the coilover, I guess this would be ideal since they are under warranty.
It doesnt really seem like a normal noise at all though. Possibly somehow get megan to look at the video and see what they think.
06-06-2011, 08:40 PM
#25
Yea that might be the next best thing is to call them, btw here is what it would look like if your top lock nut wasn't tight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr-r8...eature=related
This one actually sounds more like what you have going on, which leads me to believe that it could be the joints that are just in need of some replacing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s6pJ...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr-r8...eature=related
This one actually sounds more like what you have going on, which leads me to believe that it could be the joints that are just in need of some replacing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s6pJ...eature=related