Rear Suspension Squeak -- Blown Strut? Please say NO!!
 

Ok so I just installed my Tokico Illuminas about a month ago, and I think one of them might be blown already. The driver side rear strut squeaks a lot which makes me think that it's riding on the bump stop and may be blown. I don't know what else could be causing the constant noise tho .. but any suggestons would be appreciated.

Also, is there any failproof way to check if the strut is blown? It makes no sense why it would be cuz I bought them all new and haven't even had them installed for two months yet!! The car's only lowered 1.5" and I don't recall hitting any huge potholes or anything either .. the bump stops are installed properly (MSP bumpstops) as well so I'm stumped. Is there anything else back there that could be causing a rubber sounding sqeak?

If you were riding on an MSP bumpstop, that corner would be riding really low.

Check for oil leaking from the strut or oil spray inside the wheel housing--those are indicators of blowout. Suspension dynamics should be markedly different at that corner, too.

I'd be surprised if such a new strut failed. Isn't it more likely the squeak is from a bushing somewhere?

Does seem likely to me. It sounds like it's coming from the middle/top of the strut assembly as opposed to down below it. No evidence of blowout based on leakage either so that's good news.

What do you mean about suspension dynamics tho?

Damping characteristics of blown struts are different; you might get more pronounced bounce, for example.

After liquid_ag and I installed my springs/struts, I got a "squishy" sound coming from the right rear strut tower. Turned out we forgot to torque the center nut down all the way. Make sure you're tight back there. :)

A blown strut may also look lower. Is your back end un-even or un-level when you look at it from the tail?

^ I did check that out in extreme detail J and neither sits lower than the other.

^^ Josh that very well could be it man!! I remember having a helluva time with that center nut cuz the piston kept spinning around, and the strut specifically instructed NOT to use an impact gun on it. I'll have to check that when I get some free time next week. Thanks man!!

If neither side is lower, it's unlikely to be a blow out, because if it was the gas shock would be partially or fully compressed, and you'd see an unlevel rear bumper.

It's most likely something loose, like Josh said. Could it be swaybar bushings or endlinks acting up, or does it not sound like that?

I'm almost 100% positive it's not anything near the bottom of the strut. It sounds like it's coming from the top .. maybe the upper spring seat, bumpstop, etc.

I definitely need to check that center nut is tight and report back.

To stop the piston from spinning is that weird washer that should have a D-shaped cutout that only slides over the piston pointing in one direction. The D-shape could easily be worn out though, happened on mine. The part is cheap from the dealer though. You just gotta really clamp down on that washer (a pipe wrench works WONDERS) as you tighten the nut down.

Good luck!

Channel locks are also sufficient.

So why would a blown strut make the car sit lower? Struts do nothing to support the weight of the car, they just damp the motion of the suspension. It seems the only thing that'll make the car sag is worn springs, which do support the weight.

:)

Let's just go ahead and stop all this blown strut talk ok guys? I really don't want that to be the case here!! Hopefully that damn piston nut is what's causing it, so I'll check into that first and report back as soon as I can.

Fair enough. :inlove:

Well .. it seems I've shed some new light on this issue here. I took apart all the plastic trim, seat belt stuff, blah blah blah .. and checked the top of the strut to make sure none of the nuts were coming loose. And I found nothing. Everything is fine up there.

HOWEVER, I did find out something else that I think might be the culprit causing all the noise. As I was looking at my driveway I noticed that it slopes down to the right a tiny bit, so that didn't make sense why both sides would have an equal drop when I measured it a few days ago. So I drove around looking for some nice even ground (mainly parking lots) and did some re-evaluating of the drop.

Yep .. you guessed it. The rear driver side sits about 1/2 inch lower than the passenger side, hence why the bump stops are constantly being utilized!! I took some pics to show the difference and that side is clearly lower than the other (please excuse the rusty chipping fender lip .. I'm working on fixing that soon :( ). First two pics are the passenger side (good side) and second two pics are the driver side (bad squeaky side). How the hell did that happen? I have no clue, but I think I need new springs instead. At least it's not the struts .. that's all I have to say.

half an inch lower? um what.. weird

what springs do you have?

Oh yea forgot to mention that.

I've had the Falken Factory Tuned springs installed for almost two years now. They're the $100 blue springs from the other forum that no one really knows anything about, but were really good springs in my opinion while they lasted. Supposed to offer a 1.5" drop all around but that has obviously changed recently and is more like 1.5" all around EXCEPT the rear driver side which has about a 2.0" drop instead :rolleyes:

I dunno what could've happened to that one spring to cause it to sag lower than the rest, but something had to have. I guess that's what I get for trying to save money on suspension parts .. but oh well they lasted for a good 30K miles including a pretty harsh winter. I'm still happy with the overall performance I got from them.

Might want do do some more measurements.

When determining my wheel gap, I measured it every time I parked, got about 5 values and then averaged. I noticed variations of more than 1/4". Variations in pavement are very hard to observe.

Understood mate .. but I'm convinced there's a difference for sure. I took it to 3 different spots and had near same results. I didn't take the time to measure to the exact fraction of an inch but it was enough for me to simply see that there's a difference in ride height. I'm guessing anywhere from 1/4 - 1/2 inch in reality .. but the point is that it sits lower than the other side and is causing that side to ride on the bump stop and squeak like a little piggy.

Anyone have any input on what may have happened? Do springs wear out after a while and get deformed or is that not even possible?

Modern spring alloys are good enough to outlast the car. I suspect subpar materials, a subpar coiling process, or a perhaps a manufacturing or material defect is to blame for the inconsistency. Might be a good excuse to get some Teins.

How many times have you taken your struts out in the last few months? :D

Dude .. don't remind me. I really don't wanna have to do this again :crying:

I might consider your H-techs that you said you might be selling here shortly. How much you want for them and how low is the drop?

Yeh, that sucks to have to tear all that up to do the work! I know when I go in, everything is gonna be new so I can avoid having to remove anything for as long as possible.

Time for Teins!

I haven't heard anything good about those Falken springs --they seem to be for looks rather than performance, and like Goldline springs your car just keeps getting lower and lower, it's like they never settle.

They were really good up until about a week ago honestly. They settled in pretty nice on my car, and I never had any issues at all up until now.

So is everyone trying to pimp Teins my way? What about Eibachs or Racing Beat?

They're listed as 1.2" front, 1.1" rear, but I observed about 1-1/4 front, 3/4" rear. Anyway it looks like this on my 205/50-16s.

I'm currently running the Teins up front, but I'll be replacing them with RB sometime this month. I got them for $220, let em go for $150 shipped.

But note that mine are H-Techs, not the more serious S like Chris runs.