LOL I read the whole thing... I guess that was a pointless post. Thanks for the spoon feed!!! I like being fed.. I like being cared for and cuddled.

 

Should have my parts back on the 15th and hopefully will get the chance to do this fix by the 16th. Will keep people updated and see if this might be a fix for some people with the SPC clunk

 

Well news is looking good for this fix. Got parts back and installed (of course did test ride to confirm still had the problem....yes still there). Did some measuring, guess what I found. Way out of front to back balance and even one corner lower than the rest. SO FAR... did two adjustments and got to about .090 and sound has diminished a lot. Now only getting clunk, which should be the contact points in the earlier pictures, on fairly large pot holes or big bumps. I would give JasonZ's advice a big THANKS and . The measurements are Front:25.75 and BACK:26.75 approximately, which I believe is still off by about .05 roughly of the .971 ratio my car should be. Correct me if Im wrong Jason on how much more correction would need to be. So I'm going to drive it around the next couple of days and confirm these findings. Then probably this Monday or so will try to find a better parking lot for better measurements and try to dial it in close and see if clunks go away completely. Shooting for 25.75 front and 26.50 back.

 

my SPL is doing the same thing also on the passenger side. I hear a thump on uneven roads or bumps.

 

So I confirmed my measurements today. front left was 1/4" lower than everything else. And over all front was lowered by almost 2" versus .9" in back...... So far my new measurement have me off by about 1/4" to 1/2" on the ratio of front to back that JasonZ mentioned earlier in this post. I raised the front by about 1/2" and will be dropping the back a 1/4" on Monday probably. So far there is a night a day difference...very little clunk(contact) and seems to happen on LARGE bumps or really BAD(pot holes on both tire sides at same time). And even then I can tell from the sound its a lot less contact. I think when Im done I will be almost 1.25" lowered all around. Havent given it a full on freeway test at 65+ yet but I think the result will be the same.

 

^ awesome man...see i knew that was the 1st thing that needed to be corrected....

tons of people buy coilovers and simply install them, but never "set" them up correctly!

get the front to back ratio as close as possible, and of course matching left to right.

from there if your still hitting at big pot holes you can add some preload on the spring of the front coilovers.......as in, turn the front lock rings that jam with each other with the funny wrenches that came supplied with your coilovers.

you will be physically shortening the spring by tightening the rings...as in if the spring at rest is 8 inches long, then give it a few turns to where the spring is 7.7 inches long and go for a test drive...

Location #2 shown here, but on of course on the front coilovers:



ALSO,
I know you are considering how low you are mentioning that you are 1.25, but for reference my car is lowered 1.5 inches!!! with a .966 ratio and I have zero issues on any size bumps!

-J

 

Jason, you told him to match the front and back ratio by raising the front part a little bit with COILOVER. But my brother's car is not lowered with anything and still make's the clunking sound badly. So you think the SPC a-arm itself is messed up? lol

 

^ jack the front of the car up, take a pic of where exactly its hitting.

is the spc eccentric ball joint tightened??? it has a high torque spec...

-J

 

I don't think that the clunking is from the arm touching anything. I just simply drive on moderately flat road with little bit of bumpiness and there's clunking noise. i heard something about SPC arms themselves make clunking noise.

 

that must be then, not torqued to spec or a crappy ball joint.......if its a crappy ball joint, then there's nothing you can do.....

Ive seen, worked, etc....... the spc upper arms.......what a crap-tastic design....

-J

 

I don't think it's the SPC the reason why I say this is because I REMOVED the SPC and put back the OEM and installed coilovers and now I hear a clunking noise on the front passenger coil. I also hear it when going over small or large bumps it sounds as if something is loose and metal hitting metal. The only thing that I can think of is the uneven drop. My car looks like it's nose diving and I have to check if I tightened all the height adjusters. And by the way I had SPC for 2 years and never heard a single clunk.

 

I guess the coilover could cause that. but my brother has the spc arm with stock suspension. no noise before and noise after installation

 

I have another R oem control arm I'll replace that and see if that resolves the problem. Does anyone know if I need to put grease on the bolts or the control arms where u stick the bolts in.

 

I've got the SPC and BC coils as well. Mine didn't start clunking until I added the BC's...

 

Ok..so after alot of taking suspension off and on heres where I am....did more preload on the 10k version springs up to about 10mm and still had the problem. It did get a little better but the ride quality started to suffer a little with more bounce. Then since I have been dealing with the nicel guys at BC and had already got higher spring rates I put on 12k on the front for testing. Still have the problem but not as dramatic with the lower rated springs with equal 5mm preload. My question would be how much preload would work or do you think you would try? Also have contacted a company that makes some bump stops specifically for racing or similiar issues of suspension bottoming out. Now I know this is probably the last resort but at about 60-75 dollars tota I can get what I need to keep the A Arm from hitting. I was thinking of using a progressive bump stop if I was to do this. Any other solutions or Ideas? Not having fun working on car 2 days a week trying to get this fixed and would like to be able to spend a couple days and have fixed hopefully. This weekend will be disconnecting endlinks to test and then remove springs so I can confirm clearance issues by raising suspension up in to wheel well. At that point I will measure travel distance so I know what size bump stop I will need to go to if I go this route. The current bump stop in BC shocks is not progressive and is only about 1.25" long (I confirmed this when I changed springs).

 

Just so you know, I get the same thing on my SPL's, so I don't think it's just the SPC's that do it. I get it on both sides. I'm not too worried about it, but I'll re-read this thread and check the ride height and see where mine's at, and go from there...

 

FYI, I have the SPC A-arms and TEIN basic coilovers. My A-arms have hit the frame ever since installation. I even had SPC send me the "newer design A-arms that specifically were supposed to address the issue. I am dropped 1" all around (keeping the ratio the same). MY oem A-arms never hit but the SPC design is taller and is not formed to the shape of the inside of the fender like the OEM ones. I have learned to deal with the clunk noise. Just make sure your setup is square and level, thats about the best way to mitigate the noise. Yes a higher damper setting and spring rate will almost eliminate it but at the sacrifice of road manners. keep us posted.

 

I have the spc arms and stance gr+ coils and have the same problem. sounds like the arms are banging off of the fenders.

my measurements are 25" F & 25.75" R.

 

Ok so for any one that has SPC A Arms with clunking noise these are some pictures that show what might be happening. I have BC coilovers but Im pretty sure this is somewhat common with other coilovers also so it shouldnt be blamed on them. Pretty much if you dont want to clunk or bottom out you have to use very stiff spring rates like some complain about on Tein mono flex for example. Or, I have gone with getting some custom made spacers made out of Delrin. Picture 1 shows the bump stop not engaging before suspension bottoms out (took springs off to test this theory and jack them up till contact made). Pictures 2 and 3 show where Im bottoming out at. Pictures 4 and 5 show the spacers. I have not put them on due to it has been raining most of the time on my days off but hopefully soon I will have pictures with project complete and I know this will stop the clunking(thanks from help from Jasonz and also a racing suspension company this is 1 fix that Im going to use). The other is very simple just raise your car until you stop bottoming out.

http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0006.jpg

http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0008.jpg
http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0010.jpg

http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0248.jpg
http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0249.jpg