Lowering Springs Suspension Noise Identified ???

Do you have suspension noise after installing lowering springs? What method of installation?


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MAXecutive

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Warning ... Long post but may be helpful for all H&R and Eibach spring installs with noise issues ....



Hello everyone. This is my first post on the forums. I had my Supra since August and finally performed my first mod, Eibach springs. I'm familiar with the BMW platform since I also have a F36, 435 Series Gran Coupe xDrive with Dinan stage 3. I did lowering springs on that car and then eventually went with air-lift. I'm a big DIY and prefer to do as much as I can by myself.

The A90 suspension is extremely similar to the F3x chassis. I decided follow the "shortcut" method of loosening the strut nut with the top mount still on the car and the bottom still attached to the knuckle . When I did the F36 springs, I removed the whole strut assembly the "proper" way because I did not want to cause any damage to the CV joints by forcing the knuckle down.


As I lowered the A90 spring down, I got a black ring that dropped with the top rubber isolator. The strut bearing separated in two pieces but very cleanly. I was able to pull off the bigger portion from the top hat and snap the 2 pieces back together. It was able to spin freely and stay together as one piece. It gave me a hard time to properly seat the bearing evenly all around back onto the bottom of the top hat. You have to do this all while trying to jack the knuckle up with the spring and keep both top and bottom rubber mounts in alignment ... At this point, I realized it would have been much easier to just take the strut out of the hub and swap the springs the proper way with a compressor on the floor. You essentially take all load and weight off the entire assembly while disassembling.

I remember watching a video the night before about Ricky's car which had strut bearings break apart into pieces. His dealer left the strut shipping blocks on the car. BMW did that when I bought my F36 so I made sure Toyota removed them before I left the dealer. Mine came apart into 2 clean pieces and I was able to put it back with no issue. Watch from 7:57 and check out part 2:

After I finished both sides and rotated the wheel, I was getting a cracking sound from the passenger side. I looked up and noticed the strut bearing was squeezing and spreading apart while rotating. Both sides did the same thing but only the passenger side made noise. I took that whole assembly apart, reset everything and the noise went away. I marked the strut bearing with a paint marker just like the OEM and made sure everything was nice and tight.

After the first test drive, I got a slight ticking noise when going over bumps. It sounded like the start of failing/loose BMW sway bar end links. I put the car back in the air a few days later and re-checked the torque on the sway bar end links but they were fine. I added some paint markings just to trace if they move over time. After another drive, the noise is still there. I tried re-torquing the strut top bolt and those were also fine, no changes to the noise. The car doesn't make any noise when you turn the wheels from full lock left to right when on the ground, I only notice it in the air with no weight on the suspension. The noise is definitely noticeable when riding over bumps.

My theory is that the "shortcut" installation method is what causes these noises from the strut bearing. It may get worse over time and need to be replaced. I looked up the BMW Z4 G29 part (BMW 31306890656) and it's about $120 each ... If you look at most of the install videos on YouTube that follow this method, the strut bearings either stay on the car or come off fully at one piece. I seem to be the only one who had it break in two.

I am curious to know how everyone else had their springs installed that are getting noise issues. You can vote on the poll and share your experience too. Hopefully we can all figure this one out.
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Waferz

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Is the noise like a very small tick? I get a small annoying tick noise randomly. I guess it could sound like a loose end link
 
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You can hear my sound clearly at the 2:00 minute mark on my video. I've been dealing with end link noise and the bolts coming loose for some time on my F36. It's mainly due to the cheap aftermarket shorter end links that air-lift provides in their kit. I'm on my second set of links and even went as far as using APR serrated nuts. The new links have a different thread and do not use the factory threading with the locking nut collar.
 

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You can hear my sound clearly at the 2:00 minute mark on my video. I've been dealing with end link noise and the bolts coming loose for some time on my F36. It's mainly due to the cheap aftermarket shorter end links that air-lift provides in their kit. I'm on my second set of links and even went as far as using APR serrated nuts. The new links have a different thread and do not use the factory threading with the locking nut collar.
This sounds like exactly what Iā€™m hearing except mine is quieter..... Iā€™m guessing it gets progressively worse? If my bearing is gone I might just buy coilovers and call it day......

But youā€™re saying itā€™s end links?
 
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This sounds like exactly what Iā€™m hearing except mine is quieter..... Iā€™m guessing it gets progressively worse? If my bearing is gone I might just buy coilovers and call it day......

But youā€™re saying itā€™s end links?
I only have about 10 miles on the Eibachs in that video. On my F36, the aftermarket end links got extremely worse over time. I got replacements from airlift, they were quiet for about 500 miles. It was always the tightening of the aftermarket link to the strut, I think it's a size mismatch issue. I've had no issues with removing and reinstalling the stock links on BMW suspensions.

Double checked the torque of your endlinks on the strut. I marked mine and will check to see if anything shifted tomorrow.

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jgoad13

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I did the short cut method on 3 cars, they were all done the same way with HKS Hypermax Springs. One of them (Mine) make binding noises when turning near full clock. I was going to take them out and see if I noticed anything with the top bearings. They didn't come apart when taking them out. I also did have a loose end link but tightening them fixed that.
 
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I did the short cut method on 3 cars, they were all done the same way with HKS Hypermax Springs. One of them (Mine) make binding noises when turning near full clock. I was going to take them out and see if I noticed anything with the top bearings. They didn't come apart when taking them out. I also did have a loose end link but tightening them fixed that.
How did you tighten the end links? I initially put them on with the impact gun. After checking them back with a torque wrench, they were at the 64Nm. Maybe I'm just missing something with this step ...?
 

jgoad13

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How did you tighten the end links? I initially put them on with the impact gun. After checking them back with a torque wrench, they were at the 64Nm. Maybe I'm just missing something with this step ...?
I tightened them to 56Nm thats factory specs.
 

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My bearing split as well. cleaned it and relubed with some blue trailer grease. No noise, nothing strange about operation...
 
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I tightened them to 56Nm thats factory specs.
Yep, same here. I did not see them move based on the marks I made.

My bearing split as well. cleaned it and relubed with some blue trailer grease. No noise, nothing strange about operation...
Mine came off so clean I just put it back together. I was afraid that I might over pack it with grease so I left it alone.
 

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I am having this binding noise issue from my H&R spring install on my drivers side only. I installed the springs about 300 miles ago, noticed the binding noise early on, but has been getting progressively worse. Its almost unbearable now to the point that I stopped driving the car. So I am going to take it apart tomorrow and see what I find. I have a feeling its the same bearing part as well mentioned above.
 
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I am having this binding noise issue from my H&R spring install on my drivers side only. I installed the springs about 300 miles ago, noticed the binding noise early on, but has been getting progressively worse. Its almost unbearable now to the point that I stopped driving the car. So I am going to take it apart tomorrow and see what I find. I have a feeling its the same bearing part as well mentioned above.
Take some videos and post it up too.
 

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So I took off the springs and noticed that the top strut mount bearing was unseated from the strut mount plate. The bearing appeared to still be working well, just off by a little from what I could tell. So I slowly put everything back together, I also greased up the ends of the springs that made contact with rubber. First thing I installed was that strut mount bearing and seated it (it almost felt like it clicked in place), re-installed the spring slowly while making sure everything remained lined up. I torqued everything to factory specs before unloading the springs and re-checked the bolts after everything was unloaded. After a few test runs, problem solved, no noise. Didnā€™t have to replace the strut mount bearing! (Thank God!)

My conclusion: the cause of the noise originated from the top strut mount bearing being slightly misaligned/not completed seated on the strut mount.
 
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So I took off the springs and noticed that the top strut mount bearing was unseated from the strut mount plate. The bearing appeared to still be working well, just off by a little from what I could tell. So I slowly put everything back together, I also greased up the ends of the springs that made contact with rubber. First thing I installed was that strut mount bearing and seated it (it almost felt like it clicked in place), re-installed the spring slowly while making sure everything remained lined up. I torqued everything to factory specs before unloading the springs and re-checked the bolts after everything was unloaded. After a few test runs, problem solved, no noise. Didnā€™t have to replace the strut mount bearing! (Thank God!)

My conclusion: the cause of the noise originated from the top strut mount bearing being slightly misaligned/not completed seated on the strut mount.
That's awesome, glad to hear. Did you still use the same shortcut method? I was having the same issue getting it line up and snap into place properly. I had to eventually put my hand in there to make sure there was not space from where the plastic bearing meets the aluminum strut mount.
 

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That's awesome, glad to hear. Did you still use the same shortcut method? I was having the same issue getting it line up and snap into place properly. I had to eventually put my hand in there to make sure there was not space from where the plastic bearing meets the aluminum strut mount.
yes, that is what I did as well. I stuck my hand in there and lined it up. I made sure the yellow marker lined up too.
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