about 2 months ago i installed a set of Steeda ultralite lowering springs. a month later i heard this rumble coming from the drivers side front wheel every time i went over a bump. first thing i though of was O **** i didnt tighten everything enough and that shock is going to come flying off! i took the wheel off and checked all the bolts and they are as tight as can be. has the shock already gone and now its time to upgrade? i can believe in only a months time these springs killed that shock. im bringing the car to the dealer monday for a few other things (non-mod related) and i told them about this rattle and they are going to check it out. i didnt tell them it has aftermarket springs but one look at it and theyll know.

 

Do you have the original upper strut mount? Was is previously replace under warranty at dealer or did you get a new mount from parts and use it when springs were installed? I know my stock strut mount was cracked when I pulled it out, and the recommendation is to change these, especially the original faulty ones, when the struts or springs are pulled and replaced.

 

i dont think they got replaced under warranty. when i pulled them they looked fine, not cracked or anything.

 

What kind of popping is it? Does it sound like its coming from under hood and happen say especially over speedbump and potholes or any bumps for that matter? Or does it sound more metal on metal? The first thing is that original upper strut mount must be replaced, it is a known faulty part with a TSB ro be replaced, I would start there. Other thing would be is did you seat the spring properly up in the pper strut mount? You'd be good to mention those strut mounts are original and find the TSB? I thought I had a copy saved on my computer but I don't.

 

i found the tsb and i will be bringing it with me to the dealer tomorrow. i hope they dont give me a hard time about the lowering springs but since it is a known issue i dont see why they would. im almost positive i mounted the spring properly and since this didnt start to happen until about a month after the springs were put on i doubt that is an issue. but once it stops raining ill get under the car and take a look

thanks for the help

 

Sometimes you just need to turn the 21mm nut on top 1 flat to alleviate the rattle. I have lowered (5) S197s now in my garage with simple tools. I followed Taco Bill's instructions and have had very little issues. I did notice once that I had a rattle like you described. I simply opened the hood and turned the 21 mm nut on top about 1/6 of a turn (1 flat) and it quit rattling.

 

Somehting similar happened to me except I noticed my noise on cold start I went to start my car and all i could hear was this loud *** noise that I can not describe comming from my front left side. When the car warmed up it slowly went away. I thought it was either my brakes or something with the suspension because when I drove it on the street I could only hear the noise when I came to a sudden stop. I took it to the dealer and they siad my suspension was bottoming out and I did not have enough travel. I had this suspension setup on for like 1 1/2 years without any problems so I took it to the place that installed my eibach prokit/steeda shocks and struts and they said everything looked okay and I had enough travel. So I guess everything is ok.

What puzzles me though is that when this first happened ( first time about a week ago, then it happend the day after ) I had my a/c on full blast both times when I started my car and thats when the noise came. When I started the car without a/c on the few days after.... noise was gone. But when the noise was there it would go away when the car was warm and only come back under really hard braking...I don;t know it was really weird but I have not heard the noise in a week so i'm thinking it ok. No more starting the car wit the a/c on full blast for me. I have also heard that starting the car with a/c on is no good... ramble done...

 

I'm curious about this also. My car seems to be trying to develop the infamous clunk from both front corners. I was going to take it to the dealer to have the TSB done, but I'm a little worried about taking it in with the Steeda Ultra-Lites installed. Has anyone had the TSB done with lowering springs installed? Any problems in getting the dealer to comply?

 

What the TSB your talking about!?

 

The one that was mentioned above for replacing the front upper strut mounts with a revised version.

 

well i just got my car back from the stealership. they wouldnt fix the upper strut mounts because of the "aftermarket suspension". because of some steeda ultralite springs they said they cant do it under warnantee and that it would cost me $380 for the new mounts. i told them dont do it. ill be making an order for the Steeda Heavy Duty Upper Strut Mounts within a week or so.

it was such a headache getting my car serviced this time around. they DID fix a rattle i had in the door which was the window crank motors bracket came loose, the trunk light switch was replaced and that recall with the safety restraints was also taken care of. i dropped the car off MONDAY at 9am....they didnt touch it till tuesday, ordered the strut mounts and the trunk lid light and today got it all done. i told them if they told me MONDAY that the springs voided the warantee i wouldnt have rented a car for 3 days, spent 110$ on the GAS GUZZLING rental (08 chevy silverado quad cab....they gave it to me for the cheapest price since they were all out of the small cars...$35 a day). i had it out with the service manager and he said hes going to try to get my rental car money refunded. fingers are crossed but after all that has gone on i expect nothing

 

I just changed my springs and used the Shelby GT 500 upper mounts they were only 54.00 each and I was told they were better when changing to lowering springs.

 

Another *very* common source of the sound that has been described is loose swaybar endlinks. If either end is loose (strut end or swaybar end), you will hear a nice clunk or even a rattle every time you go over a bump. It actually seems more noticable on slow-speed bumps. They may even appear tight by sight and the "grab and shake" test, but they really need to be torqued down tight.

The factory locknuts that mount the endlinks don't seem to like being reused more than once, which is why this crops up so frequently after a new suspension install (or even a few months after, as they work themselves loose). The easiest fix if you want to reuse them is to loctite them (loctite blue) and also give them a couple of hits with an impact wrench. You can also pick up replacements from the dealer for a few bucks.

 

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....P60.95~~~~~~~F

were those the ones u ordered? id rather get those for 60$ then spend 300 on the steeda mounts.

 

after pondering getting new upper strut mounts, struts and god only knows what i decided to just tighten every nut and bolt that was taken off in the install of the springs. i think it was the 21mm nut atop the strut that did it. it looked like it wasnt as tight as the passanger side so i turned it 1 flat and VOILA!....the rattle has disappeared.

o and titanjc......the dealer wouldnt even touch the suspension after seeing the aftermarket springs on the car. so your probably out of luck with trying to go with a warantee issue. i suggest you just tighten everything like i did and keep your fingers crossed. worked for me!

thanks guys

 

In this case you probably are hosed as far as the warantee is concerned. Basically, everything was ok. You changed the springs. Now you have a noise where you worked on the car.

That is the sort of thing that is NOT covered by the Federal warantee law.

Hopefully, tightening things up will get it straightened out. Good luck.

 

hey guys,

I have this issue as well. Do you think the dealer would deny the claim if it was the FORD RACING springs? After all, aren't these the same ones used on the Shelby GTs ?

I'm probably gonna go for the Steeda units, anyhow, but just curious.

 

Jason that is great news that it wasn't anything but a loose nut. Whew! That's a dodged bullet.

Rob, I think they only way they will warranty it is if a Ford dealer installed those springs, or if they are either in a good mood or are a good service department that realizes the springs aren't the culprit. Just be armed with the knowledge that TSB exists and this is a problem on these vehicles. Like I said mine was literally cracked when I removed it. Luckily I had the J&M plates already to replace the stock mounts. I did mine to negate the increase negative camber from the spring drop, but also to remove the stock mounts knowing that if I ever tried to get them replaced under warranty from my dealer they would deny the replacement. They'd already told me so.