So a friend and I DIY'd my install of Koni Yellows, Steeda Sport Springs, Steeda HD strut mounts, GT500 bump stops and UMI panhard bar a few weeks ago.

I keep getting a metallic clunk noise from the drivers side front on rough pavement or large expansion joints. Double checked the top strut nuts on the konis, checked the torque on the strut mounts and all seems normal. Spindle bolts, brake line, etc were all torqued down good and tight before putting the wheels on.

The only thing I can think of is it might be the endlink bolts, but there's no sound to be heard when the car is under load in corners. Any insight would be much appreciated as I'm about to take a 5 hour road trip this Sunday.

Thanks!

 

Were the springs aligned correctly and everything? Did you tighten the top strut nut down with load on it?

 

Yep. Made sure the coil was seated how it should be for both the bottom and top. The top strut nut was torqued and re-torqued twice after installing on the car. Honestly I can't think of any other part that wasn't torqued down properly.

I am using the Steeda HD strut mounts, so maybe that one is just particularly noisy and not the right one... who knows.

 

It is hard to say what may be taking place here ... do you have any photos you can send of the install?

You can send them to tim@steeda.com.

Best Regards,

TJ

 

Endlinks, get the GT500 ones from Ford, best bang for the buck.

 

Sure your not thinking of strut mounts?

 

Oh definitely should have them too, my stock GT ones literally fell apart when I added the 2011 GT500 suspension to my 2007 GT, but I have blown thru 4 sets of endlinks on my 2005, Steeda were the worst, GT500 ones lasted the longest. But yeah, GT500 strut mounts are a must too.

 

What kind of driving are you doing where you have blown out 4 sets of end links? We have not had many issues with our endlinks ... not sure what you are experiencing as a whole with your car.

As for the original OP and his problem, I spoke to the installers & it is very likely it is your endlinks.

Best Regards,

TJ

 

Hi TJ,

Apologies for the delay, been on vacation for a while! Here are a few photos of the install with the konis, Steeda HD strut mounts, Steeda Sport springs and the 2013 isolators.





We made sure every single nut and bolt was torqued down to spec upon install and checked everything again a week later just to make sure. I figured the endlinks were a long shot, but if the installers at Steeda think it's the links, I'll give a front set a try since I've always heard great things about your products.

Thanks for the help TJ!

 

I had a similar knocking sound. Turned out that I did not tighten down the koni strut nut properly and it was just a bit loose after the suspension was loaded. Amazing the noise it made.

 

I had a similar knocking sound. Turned out that I did not tighten down the koni strut nut properly and it was just a bit loose after the suspension was loaded. Amazing the noise it made.
I had done it with an air gun but must have been too careful. Second time I went at it with a technique I found online to properly torque this nut. All is good.

 

Yeah I torqued down the strut nuts on both sides after a week of driving and was only able to tighten them down another 1/4 turn... but the sound didn't change. If the top strut nut was loose, I gotta imagine that would make one helluva bang sound when hitting rough pavement or speed bumps.

Tim @ Steeda and his crew thinks it's the factory endlinks making a racket (which I've heard has happened after lowering a car). Likely going to order a set of their adjustable endlinks and install them with the suspension under load so the geometry and torque is what it should be. We shall see if that fixes this annoying noise.