[s-cars] Front Suspension clunking (still)

[Serge Filanovsky]

Rich,

Its interesting that you mention the side to side play of the fully extended
rod. As I originally suspected the 2B plates, I had taken them apart a few
times, with the strut assemblies still in the car, as you describe. I also
noted the noticeable play side to side, though I could not be certain at
this point if the play is within the strut insert itself or if the whole
insert is loose inside the housing.

I suspect it is the insert, as I have encountered a couple of severe pot
holes, where the front suspension (drivers side, which is where the noise is
most severe) bottomed out, as though if I was riding on the spring, serious
lack of dampening. This was after less than 1 month from installing the
brand new Bilsteins. I know these roads are tough, but I am having serious
doubts about the quality of these Bilstein inserts.

Looks like I may as well get new front inserts while I'm at it.

Serge


> Serge:
> 
> I'm another victim of driving a "clunker" S4 with Bilsteins.  Mine were fine
> for several months after installation, then the clunks started (both left
> and right).  This despite the fact that just about every bushing and link in
> my front-end is new and they car feels tight as a drum.  I tightened up the
> strut collars (that secure the strut to the housing) and the clunk
> disappeared for about a week and then reappeared.  Ray Tomlinson suggested
> in an e-mail to me that it could be the strut clunking around in the
> housing, in his case he shimmed the strut with some fender washers to solve
> his problem.  Others (Neil Swanson et.al.) have found the struts themselves
> to be defective. 
> 
> The clunking most noticeable when the wheels drop into a pothole, speed
> bumps are the worst.  In my case it's definitely up and down, no difference
> on side-to-side.
> 
> I finally removed the top nuts securing the strut rod to the car (with the
> weight of the car on the strut!!!) and let the rod extend fully out.  Moving
> the rod side to side shows very noticeable play of the rod within the strut
> and an accompanying clunk.  The strut itself appears to be secure within the
> housing.  There's no question that the struts are  defective.  I didn't even
> bother checking the other side.
> 
> The good news is that all this can be done without disassmbling the
> struts/springs, so it's an easy check to make.  If the strut rods turn out
> to be OK, you can now easily get at the collar to tighten it before
> reassembling, if needed.  You might even consider Ray's suggestion of
> shimmying up the struts within the housing if that's what you think the
> problem might be.  The even better news is that Bilsteins have a lifetime
> warranty so this should be taken care of by Bilstein.
> 
> Anyone have any experience with Bilstein warranty returns/repairs?
> 
> Since I have H&R V8 springs, it's a good opportunity to revalve the
> replacement Bilstein struts which will better match the H&R spring rates.
> For Eibachs the consensus seems to be that the stock valving is OK.
> 
> BTW, anyone have any experience with how to specify the revalved shocks (10%
> increase in compression / 30% increase in rebound / low-speed vs. high-speed
> compression/rebound, etc.)???
> 
> -- Rich A.
> 
>   
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Serge Filanovsky
> Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 12:20 PM
> To: pkrasusky at ups.com; S-CAR-List at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Front Suspension clunking (still)
> 
> Steve,
> 
> FWIW I have also been struggling with the dreaded front end cluncking though
> I think my case is more extreme. Slow speed pavement irregularities (of
> which there are plenty on my local Brooklyn "roads") make so much noise that
> the car sounds and feels like an old beat up taxi. This started happening
> after Bilstein/Eibach/2B camber plate install a few months back.
> Interestingly, the Bilsteins were installed first with stock springs (don't
> ask) and though I only drove the car less that 100 miles, I heard no noises
> (other than the axle bolt that, ahhemm... Bell Audi...Rahway, NJ ... failed
> to torque down properly). I had my regular mechanic install the Eibachs and
> the 2B plates. That¹s when the noises really started.
> 
> At first I thought it was the plate (only one side seemed to make noise).
> Indeed, the spherical bearing was loose in the black slider housing, it was
> not seated firmly against the large circlip (about 1mm of movement, my
> unmeasured guesstimate). 2B sent a replacement, it did not solve the
> problem, Ken said to torque down on the top strut mount nut (44 lb/ft) which
> I did, no help. 
> 
> Talking to folks at S//Fest I now suspect the inserts are flopping around
> inside the housing tubes. Thanks again, Bell Audi, I will be ripping the
> whole mess apart, as soon as I can find a place to do it. Side-of-street
> garage has been deemed inadequate for this chore.
> 
> 
> Serge Filanovsky
> 
> 95.5 S6 cluncky Avant
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> 
> 
>