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Thread: Suspected coilovers banging and jerking when compressed?

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    Suspected coilovers banging and jerking when compressed?

    I've done a fair bit of searching, and couldn't really find anything that seems to describe whats happening with my front coilovers. Coilovers are HSD Monopro's, seem to be in decent shape, everything moving freely - they're around 5 years old now.

    My front end started getting a bit knocky and creaky, so I changed my droplinks, checked everything else steering and arm/bushing/connection related and all seemed well, as did a largely visual check of the coilovers, minus the shock rubber cover being split. Problem still remained, so I thought maybe the top mounts/plates had had it, but then came the banging and jerking (ohh err).

    Basically, I have to come off of my driveway at an angle that compresses one side of the suspension while lifting the other. Recently, when this happens, the car makes a lot of creaky noise without the coilover compressing, then all of a sudden comes a loud bang and the coilover suddenly compresses to where it should be. This is a pretty harsh bang and sudden movement/jerk, that I can physically feel and see through the level of the car. It'll keep doing this until it's level again. Checked the ARB bushes and everything else I can think of, and the way it compresses makes me think it must be the coilover.

    So, has anyone experienced this at all? If so, did you find out what the problem was, and is it something serviceable or a new set of coilovers jobby? I have a feeling it's time for new coilovers, but I wanted to check first as they seem spot on otherwise. Any advice is much appreciated!

  2. #2
    Dorset & Hants Rep pointz's Avatar
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    Have you checked your ball joints they can clunk harshly when turning!

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    Quote Originally Posted by pointz View Post
    Have you checked your ball joints they can clunk harshly when turning!
    Yeah, I checked them, they seem all ok, and I'm fairly certain it's the coilovers because of the way the car levels out - the sudden travel in the suspension. It's like they're extremely stiff, nearly seized and then suddenly give and compress a bit. Cheers though!

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    Dorset & Hants Rep pointz's Avatar
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    Very strange that they would keep seizing and upsizing tho good luck

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    Any other ideas/input from anyone?

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    Slacken the lower arms and the tension rods at the chassis and tighten them while the wheels are on the ground.

    If you tighten them while they are in the air, you get tension in them that the coilover has to overcome which it can do suddenly.

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    I'll have a look today, thanks bud.

    Also worth mentioning - This only seems to happen when the car's been driven for a while. When the cars just been started, even when driving off the driveway at the same angle, the coilovers don't seem to do this?

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    I had lots of fun with lower ball joints making noise that couldn't be located. When I put a camera under the car I was able to film the joint jumping as it was turned from lock to lock.

    1: Find somewhere flat and dry with a good grippy tarmac. Any loose stuff or poor grip and it won't work.
    2: Apply brakes.
    3: Turn steering to full lock one way.
    4: Turn to full lock the other way and if it's the lower joint it will knock at near to full opp lock.
    5: Turn it back the other way and it will knock again.
    6: Repeat until utterly F'ed off with the knock.
    7: Replace lower arm or ball joint.

    Still knocks? That's because they were both doing it.

    Can also get this on braking in reverse/forward alternately but not so reliable.

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    If it does turn out to be the ball joints, Camskills do the arms for just under £100 posted for both arms. They come with balljoints (with different colour BJ covers so you don't fit them the wrong way round) and new bushes at the other end. Good quality too.

    I just bought a set

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    Just thought I'd post how I sorted this out incase anyone else has these symptoms - It actually did turn out to be the coilovers, and it was actually a pretty simple fix!

    The dust boots/covers had split open and I imagine just let in some dirt and dried them out a bit, which caused the shocks to become stiff and jerky. I removed the coilovers, cleaned them thoroughly, and lubricated/regreased them, including the pillow ball top mounts as they were dry too. Refitted them and they're now silent - no knocking, jerking, banging (ooh err) or rattling at all!

    Cheers for all the advice though, ball joints will probably be replaced soon too

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