Popping Sounds - Suspension

[BlackKnight]

I did the suspension on my 2006 GT a year or two ago. Lately, when traveling a slow speed and turning the wheel or go down an exit ramp for a driveway I am hearing a wierd popping sound... It sounds as if I am running over acorns.

Any idea what this may be? I installed Tokico Shocks/Struts and Eibach springs. I was told that I have to torque the bolt to a certain spec in the pic below, bc if its to tight that will pop?

Any info is appreciated!

 

[Top00Cat]

Do you have caster camber plates?

 

[BlackKnight]

No - I don't. I did just install the GT500 upper strut mounts though.

 

[Top00Cat]

That was my next guess. Bad upper strut mounts

 

[BlackKnight]

Are the strut mounts the usual culprit for this popping sound? its rather frustrating... I heard the GT500 mounts get rid of that popping sound.

 

[Top00Cat]

I thought the upper strut mounts were not reusable and people upgrade to the gt500 ones to stop the "popping"

 

[GrnBullitt08]

Was everything installed correctly?

 

[BlackKnight]

Me and my buddy did it.. We followed direections word for word. Its a pretty straight forward install We torqued the nuts on the upper strut mount to spec, aside from that everything else bolts back together. We took the entire suspension apart when i installed the gt500 upper strut mounts and when we put it all back together, it still pops.

The bolt in that pic I have up top, should that be really tight or not to tight?

 

[GrnBullitt08]

Sounds like a strut mount issue.

 

[Bingo]

The bolt in that pic I have up top, should that be really tight or not to tight?

Tight as you can make it...you don't want any play in your sway bar. But be careful...the stud can bend pretty easy if you put a lot of effort into tightening it.

Your main strut nut is tight, right? You have to hold the center of the strut, otherwise it'll spin while you tighten it.

 

[ReMustang05]

Id bet for sure its the upper strut mount. This happened to me, same issue, and it was fixed, no noise after

 

[Ken04]

Id bet for sure its the upper strut mount. This happened to me, same issue, and it was fixed, no noise after

he replaced them.

 

[BlackKnight]

I did notice on the passenger site, the strut was not right... The silver piston was loose and would jiggle inside the piston tube (there was a knocking sound my car was making bc of this.) I had to take a plumbers wrench and tighten the bolt in the pic below that has a circle around it. I should of called up Tokico about that.

My friend thinks its the end links. Is there anything else I should replace thats stock on my suspension in the front since i dropped it and replaced the springs/struts?

 

[BlackKnight]

Or maybe the bushings on the sway bar?

 

[Scord]

If everything that has been said isn’t the culprit then I would seriously check your ball joints and bushings to the sway bars... I replaced my ball joints with steeda x5, and that fixed my ' popping issue during turns '

 

[ReMustang05]

Or maybe the bushings on the sway bar?

Now that I remember, i went in for the strut popping tsb and when i got the car back it was still there, the tech listened, took it back in, not too long later said it was the bushings

 

[07 Boss]

When you put the new mounts in did you make sure the notch or arrow or whatever was pointed in the right direction? These things are clocked to be in a certain position at rest. Even though they spin 360* they need to be mounted in a specific orientation.

 

[BlackKnight]

A few more questions:

If i replace the bushings, which kind should I buy?

Should I replace the front sway bar?

I noticed the Steeda x5 are slightly pricey - is there anything cheaper that will be more efficient then stock? I am on a tight budget currently.

 

[BlackKnight]

When you put the new mounts in did you make sure the notch or arrow or whatever was pointed in the right direction? These things are clocked to be in a certain position at rest. Even though they spin 360* they need to be mounted in a specific orientation.

We aligned the arrow with the notch. I believe the arrow was pointing out - away from the engine.

 

[Scord]

A few more questions:

If i replace the bushings, which kind should I buy?

Should I replace the front sway bar?

I noticed the Steeda x5 are slightly pricey - is there anything cheaper that will be more efficient then stock? I am on a tight budget currently.

If its your ball joints actualy going bad... it wont happen over night... just drive your car easily and wait until you can afford the x5 ball joints... there the best that i found for the money on lowered cars.