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Old 04-20-2018, 06:46 PM   #1
White-o
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Member#: 363497
Join Date: Jul 2013
Chapter/Region: South East
Location: St. Augustine, Fl
Vehicle:
2003 Wrx
Black

Default The Clunkening

So I just bought an 03 wrx with 104k on it and I'm tracking down a bunch of noises. One of them is a clunk over bumpy surfaces coming from the driverside frontish area.
The car has a lot of whiteline stuff on it, sway bars, rear endlinks although the fronts look stock, anti lift kit and a front crossmember brace.

The car is on tein lowering springs and kyb adjustable struts that don't seem blown out, to me at least.

The pillowballs up there look new, which makes sense because the car has adjustable a-arms as well and I'm guessing the pillowballs were replaced when those went on.

The only thing I'm noticing is that when the car is in the air and the suspension doesn't have load on it, my powersteering rack hits the crossmember brace when I try to turn the wheel. So badly that I actually cannot turn the wheel more than a few degrees off center before it cannot be turned any further.

If the cars on the ground theres no noticeable interference between the two, but I suspect it could be making contact when the suspension is compressing over bumps.

It seems as though Whiteline does not sell this crossmember brace anymore, I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about possible fitment issues with it when paired with lowered suspension height?

The front left side of the powersteering rack hits the brace much worse than the passenger side does. If I turn the wheel to the right with the car in the air it will stop and cannot be turned further. However if I turn it left, it will catch on something but then a little extra oomph will move it through and I can turn the wheel to full lock.

That would make me think that since the driver side contact is more severe, the two are closer on that side which, if they are the source of the noise, would explain why I only really hear the noise coming from that side. (driver side)

None of the associated bolts under there are loose, or the bolts on top of the struts, but I haven't gone through and actually checked that they're torqued to spec.

If you've got any input, lemme hear it
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Old 04-22-2018, 06:57 AM   #2
A-man07
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Member#: 271525
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: BagEnd
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7/2 STi/WRX wagon
SWP/AW

Default

I have input...take off the crossmember brace.
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Old 04-22-2018, 08:52 PM   #3
White-o
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Member#: 363497
Join Date: Jul 2013
Chapter/Region: South East
Location: St. Augustine, Fl
Vehicle:
2003 Wrx
Black

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by A-man07 View Post
I have input...take off the crossmember brace.
Good idea lol
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Old 04-22-2018, 09:07 PM   #4
xccmotorsports
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Member#: 291049
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AZ
Vehicle:
'04 STI
'16 WRX Limited

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by White-o View Post
So I just bought an 03 wrx with 104k on it and I'm tracking down a bunch of noises. One of them is a clunk over bumpy surfaces coming from the driverside frontish area.
The car has a lot of whiteline stuff on it, sway bars, rear endlinks although the fronts look stock, anti lift kit and a front crossmember brace.

The car is on tein lowering springs and kyb adjustable struts that don't seem blown out, to me at least.

The pillowballs up there look new, which makes sense because the car has adjustable a-arms as well and I'm guessing the pillowballs were replaced when those went on.

The only thing I'm noticing is that when the car is in the air and the suspension doesn't have load on it, my powersteering rack hits the crossmember brace when I try to turn the wheel. So badly that I actually cannot turn the wheel more than a few degrees off center before it cannot be turned any further.

If the cars on the ground theres no noticeable interference between the two, but I suspect it could be making contact when the suspension is compressing over bumps.

It seems as though Whiteline does not sell this crossmember brace anymore, I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about possible fitment issues with it when paired with lowered suspension height?

The front left side of the powersteering rack hits the brace much worse than the passenger side does. If I turn the wheel to the right with the car in the air it will stop and cannot be turned further. However if I turn it left, it will catch on something but then a little extra oomph will move it through and I can turn the wheel to full lock.

That would make me think that since the driver side contact is more severe, the two are closer on that side which, if they are the source of the noise, would explain why I only really hear the noise coming from that side. (driver side)

None of the associated bolts under there are loose, or the bolts on top of the struts, but I haven't gone through and actually checked that they're torqued to spec.

If you've got any input, lemme hear it

I recently had the Whiteline ALK and RCA kit installed, trying to track down a knocking sound that introduced itself right after. I'm going insane trying to figure it out as everything seems tight.

Basically, at low or high speeds as I go over bumps or slight oscillations.
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Old 04-22-2018, 09:14 PM   #5
White-o
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Member#: 363497
Join Date: Jul 2013
Chapter/Region: South East
Location: St. Augustine, Fl
Vehicle:
2003 Wrx
Black

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by xccmotorsports View Post
I recently had the Whiteline ALK and RCA kit installed, trying to track down a knocking sound that introduced itself right after. I'm going insane trying to figure it out as everything seems tight.

Basically, at low or high speeds as I go over bumps or slight oscillations.
Yeah sounds similar to what I'm dealing with. Some people said that they had to tighten the crap out of their endlinks and eventually the noise went away but those were whiteline endlinks. I'm pretty sure mine are stock.

Additional question, my car does have whiteline rear endlinks and the tech told me they were installed backwards and needed to be flipped 180 degrees...is it even possible to install those backwards? I was looking at them and they're just a big chunky C shape. There's a bracket that keeps you from installing them facing the wrong way and the top and bottom mounting points seem identical.

Annoying lol
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Old 04-22-2018, 10:35 PM   #6
xccmotorsports
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 291049
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AZ
Vehicle:
'04 STI
'16 WRX Limited

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by White-o View Post
Yeah sounds similar to what I'm dealing with. Some people said that they had to tighten the crap out of their endlinks and eventually the noise went away but those were whiteline endlinks. I'm pretty sure mine are stock.

Additional question, my car does have whiteline rear endlinks and the tech told me they were installed backwards and needed to be flipped 180 degrees...is it even possible to install those backwards? I was looking at them and they're just a big chunky C shape. There's a bracket that keeps you from installing them facing the wrong way and the top and bottom mounting points seem identical.

Annoying lol
I was on factory endlinks in the front, ended up installing Kartboy endlinks - i thought that would resolve knocking sound. As for the rear, I'm using kartboy endlinks and Whiteline Sway bar and never had any issues.

I believe it is possible to install them in the wrong direction. Whiteline has an install guide for near every product. I'd check directly on their website.

Right now I'm at a complete loss as to what it is.

My first thought:
It is possible that the nut securing the control arm to the bushing (Passes through), isn't torqued down enough. It's virtually impossible to get 140 ft. lbs on that without using a lift.

Second thought:
The Subframe, the ALK requires you to drop it and install spacers. It's possible this is causing the sound, but then again everything seems tight.

This is on a '04 STI, which I'm going to bring into a local shop this week to see if they can figure out where the noise is coming from.
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Old 04-22-2018, 10:44 PM   #7
White-o
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Member#: 363497
Join Date: Jul 2013
Chapter/Region: South East
Location: St. Augustine, Fl
Vehicle:
2003 Wrx
Black

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by xccmotorsports View Post
I was on factory endlinks in the front, ended up installing Kartboy endlinks - i thought that would resolve knocking sound. As for the rear, I'm using kartboy endlinks and Whiteline Sway bar and never had any issues.

I believe it is possible to install them in the wrong direction. Whiteline has an install guide for near every product. I'd check directly on their website.

Right now I'm at a complete loss as to what it is.

My first thought:
It is possible that the nut securing the control arm to the bushing (Passes through), isn't torqued down enough. It's virtually impossible to get 140 ft. lbs on that without using a lift.

Second thought:
The Subframe, the ALK requires you to drop it and install spacers. It's possible this is causing the sound, but then again everything seems tight.

This is on a '04 STI, which I'm going to bring into a local shop this week to see if they can figure out where the noise is coming from.
Yeah, who knows. I checked the directions and mine seem identical to theirs in the photo. And yeah, I figured I'd find some obvious loose bolt or nut under there but it seems there's plenty of ways for it to still clunk with everything reasonably tight lol. My cars going in next week as well for unrelated issues, maybe they can figure it out while they're in there.
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Old 04-22-2018, 11:16 PM   #8
xccmotorsports
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Member#: 291049
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AZ
Vehicle:
'04 STI
'16 WRX Limited

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by White-o View Post
Yeah, who knows. I checked the directions and mine seem identical to theirs in the photo. And yeah, I figured I'd find some obvious loose bolt or nut under there but it seems there's plenty of ways for it to still clunk with everything reasonably tight lol. My cars going in next week as well for unrelated issues, maybe they can figure it out while they're in there.
I'll let you know what I find out this week.
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Old 04-22-2018, 11:21 PM   #9
fleezy
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Chapter/Region: E. Canada
Location: Toronto
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Silver

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by A-man07 View Post
I have input...take off the crossmember brace.
this. cant be that hard to uninstall and re-diagnose
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Old 04-29-2018, 02:14 AM   #10
xccmotorsports
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 291049
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AZ
Vehicle:
'04 STI
'16 WRX Limited

Default

Solved my popping sounds.

I jacked up the front of the car on stands, removed both wheels and then used the jack to lift the rotor on each side. I did remove the sway bar endlinks to get a full range of motion up and down on the rotors.

I found that on each pump of the jack, there was a popping sound from the control arm inner bushing and also the ALK bushing. Ball joints were perfectly fine at the hub.

I then took WD40 and sprayed both inner and ALK bushings and the popping immediately stopped. Took the car for a drive and it's now completely quiet. Not sure if this will solve your specific issue, but lesson learned, make sure to use the supplied lithium grease!
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Old 04-29-2018, 07:28 AM   #11
A-man07
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Member#: 271525
Join Date: Jan 2011
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Vehicle:
7/2 STi/WRX wagon
SWP/AW

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by xccmotorsports View Post
Solved my popping sounds.

I jacked up the front of the car on stands, removed both wheels and then used the jack to lift the rotor on each side. I did remove the sway bar endlinks to get a full range of motion up and down on the rotors.

I found that on each pump of the jack, there was a popping sound from the control arm inner bushing and also the ALK bushing. Ball joints were perfectly fine at the hub.

I then took WD40 and sprayed both inner and ALK bushings and the popping immediately stopped. Took the car for a drive and it's now completely quiet. Not sure if this will solve your specific issue, but lesson learned, make sure to use the supplied lithium grease!
You didn't really fix it though as the WD-40 is just going to attract dirt which will slowly eat away at the urethane bushings not to mention you'll be spraying WD-40 every few days on your suspension as the prior application wears away.

You'll have to take off the components and redo them with the grease.
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Old 04-29-2018, 12:28 PM   #12
xccmotorsports
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 291049
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AZ
Vehicle:
'04 STI
'16 WRX Limited

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by A-man07 View Post
You didn't really fix it though as the WD-40 is just going to attract dirt which will slowly eat away at the urethane bushings not to mention you'll be spraying WD-40 every few days on your suspension as the prior application wears away.

You'll have to take off the components and redo them with the grease.

Yes, you're correct.

The fact that this was such a loud popping sound, I originally assumed it was something not bolted-in or torqued correctly. This could be the same assumption that others will make.

The WD40 was simply a quick test to see if lubrication was the issue without spending hours removing the control arms first. I will be removing both control arms and applying a good amount of lithium grease to these bushings here soon.
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Old 04-29-2018, 04:58 PM   #13
White-o
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 363497
Join Date: Jul 2013
Chapter/Region: South East
Location: St. Augustine, Fl
Vehicle:
2003 Wrx
Black

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by xccmotorsports View Post
Solved my popping sounds.

I jacked up the front of the car on stands, removed both wheels and then used the jack to lift the rotor on each side. I did remove the sway bar endlinks to get a full range of motion up and down on the rotors.

I found that on each pump of the jack, there was a popping sound from the control arm inner bushing and also the ALK bushing. Ball joints were perfectly fine at the hub.

I then took WD40 and sprayed both inner and ALK bushings and the popping immediately stopped. Took the car for a drive and it's now completely quiet. Not sure if this will solve your specific issue, but lesson learned, make sure to use the supplied lithium grease!

Thats good to know. The previous owner installed all of these components, so I don't know whether any of it was greased properly in the initial install. When I get the car back I'll give this a try. One more possibility to eliminate!
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