OK, So I think I might have figured out the lowering springs vibration issue...
11-11-2007, 11:58 PM
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OK, So I think I might have figured out the lowering springs vibration issue...
So I helped another member on here install a bunch of stuff, including a set of Sportlines. When we were putting the new springs on, we noticed how the top of the strut was really crooked unless the top plate was aligned correctly with regard to the rest of the strut below. I started to think about when I did my installation and vaguely remembered my top being crooked when it got put back together.
To make sure it was aligned right, there was a little tab that stuck out on the top plate. We looked at the other strut with the stock spring still on it and the little tab was pointed directly in toward the engine, pointing the opposite direction of the wheel/tire.
This is the little tab I'm talking about:
(I borrow a picture from the How-To, I hope they don't mind.
)
So tonight, I jacked my car up and took off the front wheels. You can reach up to the top of the strut from underneath and feel where the tab is at and which way it's facing. My passenger side one was fine, pointed straight in toward the engine bay.
But the driver side one was not, it was off by about probably 30 degrees or so.
So I pulled it off and compressed the spring and just rotated the top plate so that the tab would be facing in the correct direction, put everything back together and took it for a spin.
I tried everything I could do that I normally do but there were no vibrations any more! I drove it around for about 10-15 minutes and everything felt much better. I tried driving slow through all the gears where the vibrations normally happen and I didn't feel anything.
So I'm hoping someone else with the vibration probably could check to see if the alignment of the little tab is off and correct it to see if it help. I really hope this is the problem and just an easy fix for everyone else.
Let me know!
-Mike
To make sure it was aligned right, there was a little tab that stuck out on the top plate. We looked at the other strut with the stock spring still on it and the little tab was pointed directly in toward the engine, pointing the opposite direction of the wheel/tire.
This is the little tab I'm talking about:
(I borrow a picture from the How-To, I hope they don't mind.
)So tonight, I jacked my car up and took off the front wheels. You can reach up to the top of the strut from underneath and feel where the tab is at and which way it's facing. My passenger side one was fine, pointed straight in toward the engine bay.
But the driver side one was not, it was off by about probably 30 degrees or so.
So I pulled it off and compressed the spring and just rotated the top plate so that the tab would be facing in the correct direction, put everything back together and took it for a spin.
I tried everything I could do that I normally do but there were no vibrations any more! I drove it around for about 10-15 minutes and everything felt much better. I tried driving slow through all the gears where the vibrations normally happen and I didn't feel anything.
So I'm hoping someone else with the vibration probably could check to see if the alignment of the little tab is off and correct it to see if it help. I really hope this is the problem and just an easy fix for everyone else.
Let me know!
-Mike
11-12-2007, 06:02 AM
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Good job man... Glad you found that out... this will probably help a good bit of people who already got the vibrations.... i know it will help me keep from getting them when i do my install...
11-12-2007, 11:55 AM
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those tabs are def what causes the vibrations. when i did my sportlines, i took the struts off in marked the alignment with a line of spray piant before disassembling them and noted that tab as well. when i put my struts back on and took it for an alignment, it didnt even need one. just a tip for all those who will do the springs soon.
11-12-2007, 02:57 PM
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11-12-2007, 03:29 PM
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Ya, I didnt do this on one and then had to redo it....just like mike...so when we were doing it on our buddies car we kinda took a LONG second look at it trying to get it all aligned correctly.
11-24-2007, 01:43 PM
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i had a really bad clunck noise when i hit bumps on my passanger side front when i put in my sportlines..
drove it for 2 days and finally jacked the car back up again, forgot to tighten one of the EndLinks connections where it connects to the sway bar (MY BAD ON THAT ONE), now evertying is nice and quiet.,,
drove it for 2 days and finally jacked the car back up again, forgot to tighten one of the EndLinks connections where it connects to the sway bar (MY BAD ON THAT ONE), now evertying is nice and quiet.,,
11-25-2007, 10:57 PM
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i believe this is in one of the how to's. but good info for those that haven't seen it yet. an off-spring can be scary and sound weird. a week or 2 ago one of my rear springs wasn't sitting properly, and the rattling sound was like the rear window was going to fall out.
11-26-2007, 04:01 AM
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when you remove the top of the strut assembly on your front set, the bottom is not flat cause your tower does not sit at a 90 deg verticle. It is beveled on the bottom. In order for this to sit right, you need to align the tab that sticks out (highlighted in mikes pic) so that it points straight in towards your car (if you were to draw a line once installed they would touch in the center)
