Ok, so I just switched out my stock springs for Skunk2 springs, and kept the stock struts on... but theres now a noise coming from the rear passenger side. I only hear the noise when i hit a bump in the road, and it sounds like the spring is loose and is popping in and out of place or something... but when i get under the car, nothing seems loose. Other than that, the car drives and rides fine.

any idea what this could be?

Thank you in advance for any help

 

if the noise wasnt there before than something is wrong. Sometimes you cant tell if something is loose without lifting the car.

 

If that's what it sounds like, it could very well be exactly what's happening. When you hit a bump, the suspension compresses, and then your wimpy stock shocks let it bounce back up. If the free length of your spring is too short, the suspension can easily extend beyond the length of the spring. Basically, you have more suspension travel on extension than you have spring length. Depending on how extreme it is and how you drive the car, this can simply cause some rattling and clunking, or it could cause the spring to dislodge from the spring perches in the worst case.

Jack up the rear of the car, put it on jack stands, and get under there. Are your rear springs loose in their perches? How loose?

Fixes can range from wrapping the ends of your springs with heater hose (might give you as much as 1/4" of additional length, but mainly will cushion the ends of the spring and eliminate minor rattles and clunks) to installing some sort of a "droop limiter" to keep the suspension from extending far enough to allow slack in the spring.

A droop limiter can be a piece of steel cable, a strap, or even a hefty zip tie. All it has to do is support the weight of the suspension when the car gets "light" over a bump and/or when the inside suspension unloads in a turn.

I'd start with some hose.

I'd also upgrade your shocks. Your stock shocks weren't designed to operate in the range that you're asking them to, or with the stiffer spring rates that you're asking them to.

 

Are we presuming that you bought new springs?
Do both rear springs have the same part number?

Did they both check out the same when you checked the spring rates?

I agree with Loren about replacing bad shocks. When people bring cars to me
to install lowering springs, if a shock is bad to start with, the bad shock doesn't get any better when the car is lowered.

Both Loren and I agree that a spring that is too short is too short, whether
a person paid $300 for it or made it too short themselves....and springs that are too short will beat up a suspension.

If I had mentioned heater hose or zip ties, you-know-who
would have had something negative to say.-Bob

Here's the link:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/c...sway-bars.html

 

No presumption required. Just read the first line of the first post.

 

When I read the first line..."......switched out my stock springs for Skunk2 springs....." I read nothing about the condition of the springs.

I was asking for information to provide an answer to his question. You may/may not presume 1.everything sold used is accompanied by full disclosure as to condition. 2.everyone always buys new, and 3.every switched out spring is new.
-------------------------------------

When I read the first line.....
If "for Skunk2 springs" doesn't actually say "for new SKunk2 springs" or "Skunk2 springs, bought new", believe whatever you want, but don't presume. I believe that every Skunk2 spring that goes onto a person's car is not bought new.....people really do sell used parts on this site........and a set of used springs is more likely to make a noise on one side of the car.
.........if you want to know why, you can always ask me.

The person asking the original question is the only person who also knows
if the part numbers on the springs are the same.

The person asking the original question is the only person who knows if he checked the spring rates and found them to be the same.

I was asking for information to provide an answer to his question.-Bob

 

Further evidence that:

1. Not everything sold used is accompanied by full disclosure as to condition.
2.Not everyone always buys new.
3.Not every switched out part is new.

My heart goes out to this guy.-Bob
Here's a story about paying too much, and getting damaged suspension parts that definitely were not new......Here's the link:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/g...ml#post8400586