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Suspension clunk, faulty Koni?

B

bluemoose

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2015
Location
Hurdle Mills, NC
First things first, the video pretty much explains it (when I hit the small pothole and then again when I pull into the driveway):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOILKT6UFqY&feature=youtu.be
Yes, I have a big rock chip in my windshield :)

When the suspension abruptly unloads I get an obnoxious clunk from the left front. I can't feel anything, it is just audible. I have about 500 miles now on new IPD springs, Koni Sports, Kapelhenke strut mounts, all new front bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, sway endlinks, etc. Full front suspension overhaul and upgrade. I am certain that there are no loose nuts or bolts. The strut retainer nut is very tight and within about 1mm of contacting the top of the strut tube, which is consistent with the instructions provided by Koni.

The only odd thing I can observe with the car jacked up is that if I lift up on the hub on that side by hand, the first 1/2" of travel requires almost no effort. I wouldn't call it "loose", but it certainly isn't firm. I cannot make it clunk by hand despite my best efforts and jerking it up and down.

I got the tires balanced recently at my local performance shop and they checked it out while it was there. They thought I might have a bad strut, and said they have had to send a few back to Koni and Bilstein both over the years.

Any ideas as to other causes, or to help rule out anything but the strut itself as the culprit?
 
No time to really describe what it felt like and what happened with my car but I had a new set of Koni yellow struts (using 40mm lowering springs) go bad in a few months. Felt like a very loose wheel bearing (play) and first few strokes gave no damping at all. Quite annoying..
Threw in some Bilstein B6 and much better. Same driving style and those have been fine for 7 years now!
 
if you cant feel any, it is less suspiscious for a spring unload.. if they flex and your strutbearing is defective this *clunk* noises are typical.. but you should feel it.. a bit at least..
 
Even with the suspension raised off the ground, the springs are still not loose in their seats, there is still some compression, so I do not think the spring is clunking. The strut bearing could maybe be a possibility, it's new but you never know with parts these days.

After speaking with Ben last night, I'm going to try to take the strut out without removing the strut mount (in order to not lose my alignment and save a lot of time), then see if I can notice anything suspicious when I disassemble it. If not, I'm sending this strut back to Koni. :(
 
I sent in the warranty claim today and they called me back, interesting conversation with them. Of course they are skeptical, and I don't blame them. The strut was the last thing I suspected as causing the noise. I'm sending them links to the videos, and of course the strut itself.
Anyway, they said this style strut will make some noise if you shake it out of the car, that the crimps at the top of the strut tube get compressed when you torque down the retainer nut and it should not make noise when it is secured in the insert/spindle tube.
 
bluemoose said:
I sent in the warranty claim today and they called me back, interesting conversation with them. Of course they are skeptical, and I don't blame them. The strut was the last thing I suspected as causing the noise. I'm sending them links to the videos, and of course the strut itself.
Anyway, they said this style strut will make some noise if you shake it out of the car, that the crimps at the top of the strut tube get compressed when you torque down the retainer nut and it should not make noise when it is secured in the insert/spindle tube.
Click to expand...

Funny you mention that. Koni warrantied a brand new strut I had because it sounded clunky before I installed it.
Edit: Yep it made that exact sound right out of the box. Now I'm questioning which side i put the warranty replacement on. I have a clunk on the pass side like yours.
Perhaps an excuse to revalve some bils?
 
bluemoose said:
I sent in the warranty claim today and they called me back, interesting conversation with them. Of course they are skeptical, and I don't blame them. The strut was the last thing I suspected as causing the noise. I'm sending them links to the videos, and of course the strut itself.
Anyway, they said this style strut will make some noise if you shake it out of the car, that the crimps at the top of the strut tube get compressed when you torque down the retainer nut and it should not make noise when it is secured in the insert/spindle tube.
Click to expand...

I talked to Koni about it, they said that it can happen when the parts are being installed if an impact gun is used the socket isn't deep enough. With enough force the adjuster can be spun enough to loosen the internal parts.

A side to side noise when its uninstalled can happen without issue, it comes down to how far the tube is crimped. When the gland nut is tight, you are no longer relying on the crimps to keep the internal parts seated so the slack will get taken up.


Homer said:
Funny you mention that. Koni warrantied a brand new strut I had because it sounded clunky before I installed it.
Edit: Yep it made that exact sound right out of the box. Now I'm questioning which side i put the warranty replacement on. I have a clunk on the pass side like yours.
Perhaps an excuse to revalve some bils?
Click to expand...

I have a set of JRZs with your name on it, ;-)
 
Interesting. I only used hand wrenches though on the install, no impact tools. If they come back and suggest I may have installed it wrong I'm going to refute that.
 
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