I did not wanted to continue in "Those with K-Sports Adjustable" tread because it only dealt with click and clunk noise while turning. My posting is all about click and clunk noise when hitting bumps while driving.
I have read some FAQ's and the maxima.org sugestions, but i could not find a good explanation to what caused the click and clunk noise while hitting bumps on the road. Today, i think i found the problem.
PROGRESS:
We started off at 11:00AM. Since i have adjsuted Softness 2/4 from being complete stiff on the rear and the fronts the ride became way smoother, but the noise still wont go away.
To compare the difference of stabilizers and the endlinks heights we lifted both of 3.5SE's
The heights difference wasn't big, about 1 centimeter compare to the original setup. It is abvious that its aint the endlink or anything like that makes click and clunk noise.
- Okey, than we tried tightening the spring closer to the top, after we did it on both sides, we went to test it out. The noise did not went away, but the ride became very stiff and agressive even thought it handled the same.
- Than we tried doing it oposite way, we loosened up the spring closer to the bottom. Abolutely no difference, only the ride got smoother, but handled the same. What i mean by handling testing - is that we got on the highway and than we took 270 degrees EXIT at speeds of 50 - 70Mph, thats how it was checked out.
Anyway, so i adjusted it somewhere in between, you can see it on the photos clearly. I have Greased, Cleaned, Sprayed everething (which obviously doesnt help) and than thightened the bolts very hard. Got the wheels back on, and test drove it. Still the same freaking noise!!!
Than we took off the rear wheels, and it was really weird, because there was nothing that would make any noise. The technology on the rear coilovers is very simple...
Than my father got pissed, he works at the body shop, he deals with cars everyday and plus, he used to be a rally racer so he knows a lot about racing suspension, he just never dealt with coilovers. He said there is absolutely nothing that should make any noise, it must to be something wrong inside of the shock itself, cause otherwise it dont make no sense.
The last thing that we did, we took off rear coilovers, got the HEX Key and turned it half way from being complete soft. Same thing for the fronts. Guess what? I drove my car for over 10 minuts and the noise started to go away with every minut i drove it...
Honestly, i really dont know whats going to happen and how the ride will be driving. But i know one thing for sure, when i had the coilovers installed the first time, the rears where turned 2 turns from being complete stiff or soft and the fronts were adjusted to complete stiff and they started make click and clunk noise right away but the rears did not. But when i made rears complete stiff, they became clinking and clunking. Now i turned them to almost complete soft and i will hope that the noise will go away. Than when the noise will go away i will be adjsuting them to be more stiffer 1/2 turn at the time and see how far i can go without returning noise...
Well people, i hope my Tread will make things more clear for those of you with K-Sports click and clunk nosie. I will drive back to Boston tommorow, so i will let you know how it went... and by the way, excuse my English i know it hard to read...
Kool write up I got my Ksports in the mail 2days ago Gotta post up pictures also , I got 9/7 spring rates so I am going to leave the shock automatically soft see how it rides , No other suspension mods except the ksports for now. Nismo sway bars were backordered.
Kool write up I got my Ksports in the mail 2days ago Gotta post up pictures also , I got 9/7 spring rates so I am going to leave the shock automatically soft see how it rides , No other suspension mods except the ksports for now. Nismo sway bars were backordered.
Quick sugestion to you man, dont make it 100% stiff dumpering, keep on the middle. It does handles way better being stiff, but once you drive up like that for some time, you will have same problems as i do.
I personaly think, when you install coilovers never make dumpering stiff keep at at 2 turns, they need atleast 200 miles, even thought it took mines a 1000 miles for the spring to became a bit bouncy and start working the way it should have been. Than if you wish to get the best performance out of your set up, than you can start making it thighter, even thought i'm not sure that is the right way, but thats how would i would do right now.
I'm in the same boat with you on the clunking/clicking noises. Cleaned and lubed the Ksports as well. At one time, one of the hex-nut camber bolts was loose. After tightening all of them, the clicking noises subsided a little. Might want to check them just in case.
BmarineUrbaneALtima, just a little tip for you on the install of the rear coilovers. If you want to test/tune the rear compression and rebound settings without having to remove and reinstall the coilovers, you can remove the rear parcel panel, then unbolt the seatbelt mechanisms. From there you'll see the tops of the struts and the hex key insertion point for the Ksport knobs. Just remember to install the coilovers with the knobs in them!.
Here's a few pics, Ksport - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
I went through all that stress with my d2 coilovers as well...now for almost 8 months I have had no noise whatsoever...the odd knocking noise, in the highest frequency being once a week, if that...
I narrowed the problem down to two different things...the struts themselves, and how tight the struts were in the coilover assembly...since the first set of struts I had did not have a hex key insert up top for me to tighten the strut itself, its hard for me to say whether the noises were the strut itself, or how tight the strut was in the assembly...the new struts i got from d2 did have hex key inserts up top for me to tighten the strut itself to the coilover assembly...what I would recommend to you is the following:
remove the coilover...loosen the spring so that it is completely loose and has absolutely no load on it whatsoever...I would recommend completely disassembling the coilover and cleaning everything, i did not clean anything, and my coilovers had been through 9 months of driving including a full canadian winter and still no noise afterwards...with all the load off the spring, what you want to do is, grab a 19mm wrench and put it around the top strut nut, and then insert the correct sized hex key into the top of the strut....i do not mean the strut adjustment hex key...hopefully the top of your strut where the adjustment key goes is in also in the shape of a hex, but of course a larger one so that the adjustment key goes in no problem and turns the smaller hex adjustment screw that you cannot see...so basically crank the 19mm strut nut and the hex key turning the strut body itself as hard as you possibly can *again its important you do this with no load on the spring whatsoever* when done cranking as hard as you can, lay a cloth on the ground, put the strut on its side and have the allen key that is inserted into the strut lay against the ground and continue tightening the shit out of strut nut to the strut and pillowball mount or top mount, whichever one you have...i know this may be a little hard to understand, but this should solve your problem...it did solve mine...
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I went through all that stress with my d2 coilovers as well...now for almost 8 months I have had no noise whatsoever...the odd knocking noise, in the highest frequency being once a week, if that...
I narrowed the problem down to two different things...the struts themselves, and how tight the struts were in the coilover assembly...since the first set of struts I had did not have a hex key insert up top for me to tighten the strut itself, its hard for me to say whether the noises were the strut itself, or how tight the strut was in the assembly...the new struts i got from d2 did have hex key inserts up top for me to tighten the strut itself to the coilover assembly...what I would recommend to you is the following:
remove the coilover...loosen the spring so that it is completely loose and has absolutely no load on it whatsoever...I would recommend completely disassembling the coilover and cleaning everything, i did not clean anything, and my coilovers had been through 9 months of driving including a full canadian winter and still no noise afterwards...with all the load off the spring, what you want to do is, grab a 19mm wrench and put it around the top strut nut, and then insert the correct sized hex key into the top of the strut....i do not mean the strut adjustment hex key...hopefully the top of your strut where the adjustment key goes is in also in the shape of a hex, but of course a larger one so that the adjustment key goes in no problem and turns the smaller hex adjustment screw that you cannot see...so basically crank the 19mm strut nut and the hex key turning the strut body itself as hard as you possibly can *again its important you do this with no load on the spring whatsoever* when done cranking as hard as you can, lay a cloth on the ground, put the strut on its side and have the allen key that is inserted into the strut lay against the ground and continue tightening the shit out of strut nut to the strut and pillowball mount or top mount, whichever one you have...i know this may be a little hard to understand, but this should solve your problem...it did solve mine...
Thanks for the reply man,
I read somewhere the same thing, but it was aplied to the Tein Coilovers. They said it did solve their problem too, but why would it happen to my rear coilovers, they did not make no noise before... Damn man, i'm all the way in Boston now, next time i'll be back in NJ in 3 weeks and i doubt it, i won't have time to reinstall everething. I might just gonna have to strugle over through the winter, cause i will be driving my 15 inch wheels with 55 profile snow tires, so i'll be riding a bit more smooth. When the Spring will hit the east cost, i will reinstall everething again, unles my KSports will go bad on me...
Another thing thats sux, yesterday i thought by the time i will get to Boston the noise will disappear, but it did not disapear...
the noise will not just disappear...it only gets worse...dude, there is a quick way for you to apply what I said, chances are you are bigger then me in size to big with and would be able to tighten alot strong just with your body force then I would...anyhow, here it goes...
just jack up the car and support it by stands...remove the wheels...and grab your coilover adjustment wrenches and remove all as much load as you can off the springs...be sure to mark the original locations of the perches so you can reload the springs according...with all the load removed, tighten the strut to the pillowball mount or top mount by cranking the top strut nut and the strut itself via the hex insert up top the strut...if possible, wedge the allen key to one of the strut tower nuts or something to keep the strut body from spinning and attaining max tightening force...do this as tight as you can but dont break the allen key in the strut...reload the spring to original position and put it all back together...now in terms of reloading, i would not load the spring more then an inch from its fully decompressed size...I read on some other forums, that that is a great way to reduce noises and take alots of pressure off the pillowball mount/top mount...
you will not believe all the crazy noises I had from my coilovers....both fronts were ridiculously annoying to the point where I could not drive for more then 10 seconds and not hear a noise...the rear driver side would knock like crazy!!! and this was for a long time man...now, on full hard all around, no noise except the odd time like I mention, but its not a daily occurence at all by any means...at one point I started to get the noises back on one side when going over extreme bumps/dips in the road...I performed the method I just explained to you without removing much load at all and the noises went away...try what I said dude...all the tools you need are the jack, jack stands, ur tire iron which should be in the trunk, and if ur coilover assembly is like mine, you will need the coilover adjustment wrenches, a 19mm boxed wrench (do not use an open ended wrench), and allen key that will fit into the top of the strut...at most it'll take you like 30 minutes for the front...for the rear, i dont know what kind of time it'll take you, i dont have a 3rd gen so i have no idea how long it takes to tear apart the interior to get to the strut towers and how much space is back there...if you can estimate how long it'll take to tear up the interior, add another 25-30 minutes to complete doing the same to both sides of the rear...good luck and let us know how it went!!!
Do i really need to clean them inside if I just received my Ksports? What do you guys lube on them ?
Does the ksports rear shock design look weak to you guys also ? I think thats too little of material to be supporting the rear suspension. Also Maybe since the rear's are making noise it could be the metal stress on the body since the coil over acts like a spring/strut combo and the spring is eliminated out of the rear sub frame.
Last edited by BmarineUrbaneAltima : 11-28-2006 at 04:48 AM.
I was following the other KSport thread and used White lithium grease like one of the other posters suggested. I think it was DjKahn. I already had plenty of it in my tool chest so it was no extra expense. I greased up the rubber spring isolaters top and bottom. I also used a silicon lubricant for the threads for the spring perches, and the upper bearing on the front struts. Plus, I found that the 7/16 inch bolts that I purhased were too "skinny". They had a little bit of play in the lower mount of the rear shock. I went and got some grade 8 12mm bolts and lock washers and nuts(Home Depot) and they worked fine. Don't go cheap, buy a few of each to keep around. So far the rears have been trouble and noise free. It's the fronts that have a little investigating to do.
Last edited by 5SpeedL31 : 11-28-2006 at 06:41 AM.
I am very pissed off , the ****ing hex key SNAPPED inside the mother ****ing bolt , while I was turning the nut with the 19mm wrench , I had to cut off the top of the bolt in order to slip in the H <----> S adjuster. **** **** **** **** FUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. Anyways I am very mad.
the noise will not just disappear...it only gets worse...dude, there is a quick way for you to apply what I said, chances are you are bigger then me in size to big with and would be able to tighten alot strong just with your body force then I would...anyhow, here it goes...
just jack up the car and support it by stands...remove the wheels...and grab your coilover adjustment wrenches and remove all as much load as you can off the springs...be sure to mark the original locations of the perches so you can reload the springs according...with all the load removed, tighten the strut to the pillowball mount or top mount by cranking the top strut nut and the strut itself via the hex insert up top the strut...if possible, wedge the allen key to one of the strut tower nuts or something to keep the strut body from spinning and attaining max tightening force...do this as tight as you can but dont break the allen key in the strut...reload the spring to original position and put it all back together...now in terms of reloading, i would not load the spring more then an inch from its fully decompressed size...I read on some other forums, that that is a great way to reduce noises and take alots of pressure off the pillowball mount/top mount...
you will not believe all the crazy noises I had from my coilovers....both fronts were ridiculously annoying to the point where I could not drive for more then 10 seconds and not hear a noise...the rear driver side would knock like crazy!!! and this was for a long time man...now, on full hard all around, no noise except the odd time like I mention, but its not a daily occurence at all by any means...at one point I started to get the noises back on one side when going over extreme bumps/dips in the road...I performed the method I just explained to you without removing much load at all and the noises went away...try what I said dude...all the tools you need are the jack, jack stands, ur tire iron which should be in the trunk, and if ur coilover assembly is like mine, you will need the coilover adjustment wrenches, a 19mm boxed wrench (do not use an open ended wrench), and allen key that will fit into the top of the strut...at most it'll take you like 30 minutes for the front...for the rear, i dont know what kind of time it'll take you, i dont have a 3rd gen so i have no idea how long it takes to tear apart the interior to get to the strut towers and how much space is back there...if you can estimate how long it'll take to tear up the interior, add another 25-30 minutes to complete doing the same to both sides of the rear...good luck and let us know how it went!!!
Thanks for the great tutorial man, it is really nice of you
I will probably go for it, but its not going to happen soon, maybe in the few weeks. You see, taking everething apart will ruin my alignment and take a lot of time, i mean i could mark it up with markers, but it would be hard to get it perfect again, probably impossible without proffesional equipment. Plus it would take me long time to do it all by my self and i have to get my father into it again and i'm not sure he will go for it. So its a bit tough decision for me...
I am very pissed off , the ****ing hex key SNAPPED inside the mother ****ing bolt , while I was turning the nut with the 19mm wrench , I had to cut off the top of the bolt in order to slip in the H <----> S adjuster. **** **** **** **** FUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. Anyways I am very mad.
Whoah
Let me get this right. the shock tuning hex-key was in the hex bolt while you were tightening the hex bolt? That SUXXXXXXX!
Ya man it does low ass monkeys and shit. It snapped off I tried so many things to pull it out was so tight that It didnt even move when i tried drilling one side out than make a hood and pull it out , did not work. Only way for me to set the dampering was to cut the top piece off.
I dropped my front with ksports didnt have time to drop the rear , IT LOOKS HAWT!! , I think I ****ed up the first sentence one post up I dont know what the hell I wrote.
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