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

 

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...

 

Glad we noticed this when we were doing troys car haha. That could have been a b$#$%

 

Hmm.. I'll give it a look as well. Maybe later on today when I change my plugs.

 

ill try and keep this in mind for when i install my springs this week....

 

Thanks bud, I took my sportlines out and my passenger was off like 90 degrees, fix it up and no more vibrations

+1 rep

 

Nice work. I never noticed those tabs when i installed my SSC springs. Guess i installed it right as I get no viberations.

 

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.

 

so are you saying that as long as you put the tab back right you wont need an alignment???

 

wow this is def good to know.. i hope this helps a lot of people with the vibrations on this forum.

 

No. He just happened to do everything perfectly.

 

Wow, someone got it. Nice find 06_SS_S/C. I freaking hate those vibes.

I'll have to go check tonight. Guaranteed mine are off. Thanks man.

 

Glad to hear it is working for you guys as well!

Could we get a sticky for this maybe??

 

yeah i think it was mostly luck, but i also took like 3 hours to do it. Note that I still went in and had it looked at and checked to see if it was aligned haha Just take your time and look at how it is stock is my .02

 

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.

 

well .. if this is the solution .. thank you from the G6 guys ... we're having this problem too ...

 

nice find. i'm considering lowering my car come the spring time, this'll help!

 

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.,,

 

Nice find! I dont have sportlines yet but they are in my future plans. Thanks for letting us know.

 

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.

 

i dont get it lol

 

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)

 

I kind of figured that out when I put my springs in. Just made sense to me :p

 

Bumpity bump for newbies having issues. Yea, I'm really glad we caught this when we were doing the install on my car.

 

yea you have to align the springs because they seat different thats all