91z28-350

So, I installed shocks and springs on my wife's integra this past weekend. Tokico HP and H&R OE Sports. I rented a spring compressor from Autozone, but it wouldn't fit on the fronts without jamming against the shock body so I took the assembly to Wheel Works to have it assembled. $25 for the 2 front pieces. The guy took an hour when it only takes about 10 minutes for both shocks if using hand tools, but that's just additional information and a jab.

I take the assembly and put them in, and go for a test spin. There's a clunking that sounds like something is impacting the chassis near the front wheel areas. I'm not sure what it is exactly, are there any ideas?

I can also feel the clunks when cornering, easily when making a left turn. My wife says she can feel it on bumpy potholed roads and it sounds/feels like it's coming from both wheels.

I'm going to jack up the car and look for impact marks, but I doubt I'd find it. It's simply not low enough for the dust boot to be hitting anything, and the dust boot seemed to clear the diameter of the shock body. I'm going to check the sway bar mount brackets to make sure they are still in tact. The last resort is to buy a spring compressor that'll fit and take apart the shock assembly to ensure proper installation and also to check the dust boot length clearance. That shouldn't be an issue as it's only a 0.75" drop.

I can look at the CV boots, but that does not sound like that's the area. You can feel the clunk. Like some gremlins are in there hitting the chassis with a hammer when going over bumps that are big enough.

Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what to look for?

Thanks!

Brar

did u replace the bushings? is everything torqued to spec?

reno96teg

did you torque everything down under load? if not, try it. not a bad idea to lube everything up while you're at it.

btw, my rear clunks too. not always, it seems to depend on what the weather is like. i'm running h&r OE sports as well with koni yellows. i've had this setup for years with no problems, in spite of the clunking.

91z28-350

Hi,

Yes, everything torqued under load. First torque'd down by jacking up the control arm till the car slightly lifted off the jack stand, then retorqued when on the ground. I just torqued again when the car was on ramps, everything was tight and to spec. Wheels were torqued 3x when I first put them back on, so that's not it either.

The rubber bumpers were replaced on the 2 front shock caps, I guess those can be called bushings too.

The Tokico HP came with 2 spacers each for each front shock. They are about .20" thick and has a hole about .39" in diameter. What are they for? They only came with the front shocks. The guys didn't use them when they were assembled. I don't see any mention of it in the Helm manual. I'm going to e-mail Tokico about it. If they needed to be used, then my guess would be that the distance between the compressed bushings is smaller than the length of the shock rod between the bump stop washer and the top nut washer.

91z28-350

I think I found it. The front sway bar endlink worked itself loose on the passenger's side. I'll find out tomorrow when the wife goes to work. Thanks for the inputs!

reno96teg

good luck! let us know.

tegbooster

sweet...let us know im curious, my buddy has a similar issue

SOCALDC4

i have a 2003 accord with ground control springs it rides smooth on 18's but when i hit a dip it dosnt slam or bottom out but i hear a noise like a seal...by seal i mean a seal the ones from the sea....sounds funny but i only hear it once and thats after work there is a dip but normally nothing.

91z28-350

The endlink was it. The clunking is gone.

tegbooster

socal DC4, that is your wheels rubbing against the wheel well/metal fenders... probably best to remove those 18's ... at least thats what it sounds like