Noise from Coilovers
 

I purchased BC BR Coilovers and an SPC Rear camber kit.. about 2 weeks after having my coilovers installed, by a professional installer, my right rear suspension started making this really annoying noise. I have no idea what is causing it. I went back to the shop and they made sure everything was tightened down properly and checked everything and still the noise remains. I am very frustrated. The ride is superb, I was very excited about this mod, and here i am 2 weeks later and my car sounds like a rattling POS. :mad: Maybe its a bad shock? anyone have any idea what it is? here is a video i uploaded with the sound. its that persistent annoying rattling.

That sucks man im sorry to hear that. I almost pulled the trigger on these too. I was informed by Lou from Amplified that a lot of people have had noise problems with bc coils. Cant say for sure what that sound is but it almost sounds like its maybe your sways. Was everything tight on the sways where they attach to the endlinks? I know I read on here that someone was having a similar sound and it was their sway bar bushings. Just a couple of thoughts. Good luck bro.

After dozens and dozens of installs of BC Racing coilovers as well as pretty much every other brand.... I am almost certain that the coilovers themselves are not the problem. It is more likely the installation of the coilovers, or other parts rattling/knocking due to the install. As someone mentioned, the sway bars is a good possibility.

Now that you mention it, That is a possibility :tiphat:

Haha wow. :facepalm: That is ridiculous yet on par with what a vendor who doesn't sell BC Racing coilovers WOULD say, now isn't it.
I have nothing against Lou at AMP'd at all (in fact he is a cool guy)... Just stop and consider that it might be in a vendors best interest to steer you away from one product (which they dont carry) to try to steer you toward a product that they DO sell (which carries a larger profit margin). How do I know this???... Cause I carry over 30 different brands of coilovers....some I make more money selling than others.

As for the old, old stories of "BC Racing coilovers causing noise". :shakes head: Well that all got started by this....
In the very first small batch of prototype coilovers that BC Racing shipped out to the G37 guys they were using a solid, non pillow ball mount on the rear strut's upper mount. This, in some cases did cause a rattling noise. That's how this "BC coilovers make noise" crap all got spread and blown out of proportion. As soon as the noise was traced back to the rear strut upper mount, this problem was fixed right away with a softer, more pliable rubber pillow ball mount from there on out. Problem solved. The first few customers who received the first batch with the older mount were then notified and shipped out (for free) the new pillow ball version rear upper mount to replace it. End of story.


This ^^ is a good place to start looking for the noise.

For a second, third, or fourth opinion.... I have several customers on here now that have BC Racing coilovers on their 370Z..... ask any of them if they have the same noise :D;)

Scott, i didn't mean to imply that the noise was in fact a prevalent issue in all bc coils, I had just mentioned what I heard. Obviously Lou knows a bit more than me since hes been in the game for quite some time. I was not trying to put bc or any vendors down for what its worth. Thanks for clearing up the issue.

Oh of course, I understand. Glad to help clear things up. :tiphat:

That is just another one of the several old rumors I get tired of hearing and correcting... LOL
Sorry, In no way was I trying to bite your head off. :D

Thanks for the input. i had heard the same thing about 'noises' from bc coilovers, but i decided to take it with a grain of salt b/c the people telling me about them didnt actually sell them. besides the noises described to me were more like a creaking sound. the installer seemed to have checked everything and i heard 'sway bar' mentioned so i'm sure they checked it, however, can someone post a pic of the bolt on the sway bar that i should check? FYI the sound is ONLY coming from the right rear.

Scott, it sounds like your opinion is that it is NOT the coilovers themselves and is probably something else loose? i'm just trying to figure out what it since since the installer said everything is torqued down properly.

Well its really hard to guess what it is you are experiencing without actually having the car in front of me to check out. It could also be the pre-load that is set on the rear struts vs the spring height. Did the installer keep the factory rubber o-ring type thing in the rear lower spring bucket? Are all the collars on the shock bodies tight, as well as the brake lines and abs/wheel speed sensor guides on the coilover body? sway bar and end links tight and have enough play (so they are not hitting when they articulate)?

There can be a lot of other things as well, wish I could be more help.

These pictures are from M.Bonani's DIY but he had the closest pics to what i was referring to. In the first picture, make sure these two are tight and maybe you need some extra grease on your bushings. Second picture is the endlinks was talking about circled in black not green.

All good, no offense taken we're good. :tiphat:

thanks scott and 370zforme. i think when i swap to my winter tires in the next day or two i'm gonna check every bolt etc and take pictures of every fitting i can find and post them here and try and understand what the culprit is. I'm also going to call bc, if its a problem they've heard of before, and its not because of a faulty product, i'm sure they have a way of troubleshooting. Scott, if you have any info from anyone else that experienced such a noise, and what the solution was that would be great.

i appreciate you guys chiming in to help out :tup:

No problem Jeff, you have been more than helpful and informative when it came to my decision on coils and wheels, so were even!

Sorry to Jeff. It is interesting that a fight seemed imminent here on this thread, over an implication I did not hear, only to be immediately resolved civilly. This type of camaraderie is what makes the370z.com so pleasant.:xmastup: