So, I spent all of yesterday installing my new Pedders eXtreme xa coilovers. After 3 trips to the hardware store to replace rusted/rounded nuts, and a few whacks with a hammer, we finally got them in and the ride height set up. I drove them around yesterday and today to let the springs settle, and made an appointment to have them aligned today.

Well.... I was at the shop, thinking an alignment would take no more than 1-2 hours, and after about 45 minutes, they called me in and said they couldn't align it. They said that the CAB's were torn and it was allowing motion while they were trying to align everything. Just to be sure, I made them show me. Sure enough, they were both torn. So now I'm in it $400 to have the CAB's replaced and the alignment done

Didn't have time to order some aftermarket CABs but next chance I get, I'll probably just go ahead and swap them out. Doesn't Powell make some spherical CABs?

 

ouch!

i havent heard of aftermarket control arm bushings yet... i think powell mostly makes engine/tranny mounts and bars but not sure

 

Powell makes replacement CABs, contact him.

 

They make leading and trailing control arm bushings. I'm purchasing soon.

 

Just out of curiousity....since I have very little suspension know-how. What's the difference between the leading and trailing CABs? I tried googling, but couldn't find a good picture. Is the leading one the one that's mounted vertically and the trailing one mounted horizontally (hole parallel to the long axis of the car)?

 

The leading one is on the front on the arm and located closer to the front of the car and the trailing one is located on the back of the arm and closer to the rear of the car.

 

i have both from powell and there awesome the stock rubber ones suck

 

What kind of difference do you see? Responsiveness?

 

more response less flex in front end better handling etc...pm john if you want to know more about them

 

This ^ The powell LCABS and TCABS were one of the best upgrades I did to my car.

 

Anything I buy from powell is an awesome upgrade to my car.

but i have the spherical cabs and it was honestly a night and day difference. stockers suck

 

Alright, thanks for the info guys. I have Powell's trans mounts and hardcore bar and love them both, so I'm no stranger to Powell quality.

But I have another question regarding my coilovers. I'm hearing this pretty gnarly popping sound when I hit some bumps. It's not like I'm hitting them going way faster than I should either. It's just on certain bumps when the suspension compresses I get this fairly loud popping type sound. I read somewhere about hitting bumpstops, but I was under the impression that it was only an issue in the rear. Is it possible I'm having bump stop issues in the front? because that's where the noise is coming from.

EDIT: Just did a little more searching and maybe its the front swaybar endlinks? A couple posts I found said if you put on coilovers you can sometimes go low enought to mess up the endlinks. I'm assuming they're just too long and its putting too much load on the swaybar? I'm not sure just a guess.... Anybody that knows more, please feel free to correct me

 

i had/still have popping and i replaced my swaybar endlinks

 

could bne that too i replaced mines with the powergrid ones there stronger lighter and adjustable

 

Your coilovers should have come with endlinks. It's likely that stock type ones are too long. If you want a quick test, remove the end links and drive around with the sway bar tied out of the way. If the end links are too long, it's possible that it makes the swaybar contact something.

The other possibility is that the springs are coming unseated. If it's more like a popping sound, this is more likely the problem. You snugged the spring perch up against the spring, and locked it in place right? The lower ring which controls the strut/shock body length MUST be tight. If you fail to tighten that one, you risk severely damaging the strut/shock.

 

This

Spherical made a huge difference

 

I know for a fact I tightened the bottom locking rings that hold the strut in place, but I didn't touch the top locking ring that's up against the spring seat. The installation instructions say not to adjust ride height by changing the spring seat, so I just didn't touch them. Could that be the problem?

 

It just needs to be snug against the spring. It doesn't need to be pre-loaded. The instructions are correct there. Keep looking if you're sure these are done.

 

Those are some expensive coilovers! I like them

 

They weren't that bad as far as coilovers go. I think I bought them for 1500, and I saw other kits for well over 1600

But as far as the popping goes, it might be the bottom bolts on the front struts. I just recently moved to CT from SC and when I got up into NJ, I started hearing a similar noise from the left rear. I pulled over and the bolt holding the shock to the swing arm was almost all the way backed out. I tightened down as best I could without jacking up the car and taking off the wheel, but that only lasted about another 50 miles. The second time I torqued it down as tight as humanly possible from the angle I was at, and I haven't had another problem with it since. But I'm thinking maybe the same thing happened up front. I'll have to check

 

You should check that soon, wouldn't be too good if one fell out on you.