Didn't want to start a new thread, so here goes. I recently added a set of vogtland springs .8" F and 1.2" R leveling kit from hotpart.com along with J&M Camber plates, and while the look of the car is great, I'm getting a popping or clunking sound from the front end. Now I've pretty much read all the posts about the front end clunk/pop and have tightened the end links as hard as possible. That didn't work. So I removed the sway bar completely and I'm still hearing the noise. The only thing left are my struts. Does anyone believe my struts can be the cause of the noise?

 

There is a TSB out for that. Had to do with the strut caps if I remember right.

 

Here's an excerpt from Steeda's website regarding the popping sounds after installing aftermarket shocks...hope this isn't the cause of your problems.

"...Clocking is a term used to describe the relationship of the ends of the spring to each other. Most springs, in fact all springs for 79-04 Mustangs, are clocked so that the spring is comprised of a number of full coils. You can visualize this by thinking of a clock set at 12 o'clock - both of the hands have gone around the dial and are lined up, one atop the other.

But on the 2005 Mustang, Ford engineers designed the car for springs that were clocked differently, ending with a half a turn. Like a clock set at 6 o'clock, the ends of these spring are 180 degrees out of phase, and this seemingly small difference can lead to big problems with your new Mustang.

Many online Mustang forums have been abuzz with chatter from dissatisfied customers who, after installing aftermarket springs in their new 'stang, were treated to unsettling clicks and pops resulting from the mis-match of the new springs with the Ford factory spring seat - a plastic part installed to help reduce NVH, which was designed to accept a properly clocked spring. When the springs are a half turn off, they create a torque on the plastic seat that causes the seat to separate and fail, resulting in annoying clicking and popping sounds...."

 

What are the factory torque settings that you set the suspension bolts to during the spring install?

 

Well, I torqued the lower strut to spindle bolts to 145lbs and the upper strut to body at 35lbs as per J&M bigger studs and bolts. I will have to check on the clocking on these vogtland springs but if memory serves me correctly, I compared the old springs to the new ones and both had the same clocking. However I will check that again just to verify. My problem (popping/clunking) was there even before the spring swap, but since I added really top quality strut mounts from J&M I was hoping not to need anything else. My only idea is that I didn't really clean the bottom rubber isolator from the inside and there was glue residue left on the old spring. I don't know if any was left on the isolator. One more thing, I made an exact swap from the springs to the new ones. Meaning the rubber isolator, as in the old spring, was placed a few inches (about 3 inchs) from the end of the spring. Could that causing the noise? I'm all out of ideas. Thanks for the help guys, this is a really great place!