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Strut inserts -- STILL clunking![200/84] posted by Zee on
Friday, 13 July 2001, at 10:06 a.m.
Thanks for each of you who replied to my earlier questions about why I am getting these "chucking" sounds from the struts after inserting new KYB GR-2's.
Your sugestions included tightening the top nuts on each strut tube, checking to see if spacers were needed at the bottoms of each tube and verifying that I received the correct inserts for my car.
Having done all those, I find that the noises still persist, just as before.
Spacers only lifter the inserts so much I could not even catch threads on the top nuts. I repleced one of the original Volvo top nuts with the KYB nut supplied. It made some improvement. Not much. Two or three threads show.
I am beginning to doubt it is even the inserts rattling inside the tubes at all. When I was installing the top nuts by hand, I could feel them securing the inserts from vertical and lateral movement. So, after tightening them all the way down with a pipe wrench, I feel pretty certain the inserts might not be moving at all.
What else can I check?
I installed new upper strut bushings, swaybar links, a turbo swaybar with the proper mounts and bushings for that, and rebuilt calipers, hard brake lines and flex hoses.
I am stumped.
Is there anything peculiar about the GR-2's that could produce the "chucking" noises? Like, are the pistons alightle shorter than those on stock inserts so that they bang at full extension?
Is there a torque spec for the swaybar link connection to the control arm which must be "just so" or the control arms will rattle against the thru-bolts?
Is there something on the top end involving the upper strut bearings where this noise can be located?
(the springs are properly seated withing their seats and top plates)
Is there lateral movement of the inserts wher they could bang against the sides of the tubes?
--Zee. Easton, PA
Re: Strut inserts -- STILL clunking![200/84] posted by dave lotman on
Friday, 13 July 2001, at 11:01 a.m.
The spacer should be in there otherwise you get a lot of movement inside
there. Also when I used to do the KYB inserts they used to come with a
spacer for the top. But I was using the high pressure ones. Not the GR-2
version. When trouble shooting a clunk in my friends car we ended
up fixing three clunks that all sounded the same. The first clunk was
the rear control arm bushing was never tightened when it was replaced.
So we put in our new bushings and took care of that. Then when we found
the strut was clunking so we took care of that when we replaced the inserts. It was clunking whenever you hit the brakes. Now after all that
there was still a clunk going over bumps. It turned out that the steering
rack was worn and even though it felt fine the rack was clunking over bumps
due to worn bushings on the end of the rack. I didn't think the rack
could do that but the front end is very quiet now. He got a good used
rack and had a shop install it.
Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.
Dave 82 242ti
Re: Strut inserts -- STILL clunking![200/84] posted by Jim holst on
Friday, 13 July 2001, at 3:55 p.m.
It may be a long shot, but have a look at the small bracket which holds the two brake lines where the flexible lines connect to the steel ones. It is right behind the strut and you probably had to loosen it to let the strut swing out while replacing the strut inserts. When I did mine recently on my '86 240, I found that these brackets were bent outward away from the engine. The sway bars had been hitting them for a long time and had actually worn the metal bracket and brake line connectors down. It was the same on both side of the car so I believe it was a factory mistake. You said you put turbo sway bars in and maybe the thicker bars are hitting these brackets as the bars swing up. I used a long rod and a hammer to carefully bend these brackets back away from the sway bars.