Alright guys, my Koni's need help

[Krautmobile]

About three months ago I installed the Koni coilovers on my 2.5l. The install went smooth, and I loved the results. I replaced the front strut mounts, replaced the stretch bolts, really tried to do everything by the book.

Now they haven't given me a single problem, except this gosh darn rattle noise from the rear. For a reference noise, it sounds like the little peg that holds your spare tire rocking around. But Ive removed this and the noise is still there.
It happens when you go over uneven surfaces. Not bumps, just... uneven surfaces it seems. Bumps usually cause no rattle. It doesn't seem to have much of a rhyme or pattern to it.


Now I know that there's a million threads on this, and I don't know any better way to describe it but a plastic rattling noise. I emptied the entire rear of my car including spare tire, jacks, carpet and everything to no avail.
I completely removed and reinstalled the entire rear suspension and re-torqued to spec, and while the rattle went away for about 5 miles, It came back at this point, and seemed worse than before.
The car sits about 24 FTG, I have both raised and lowered it to no avail, It's aligned and everything correctly...

Im losing my mind.

Any ideas? Im really bummed.

 

[jay745]

check the rear endlinks to see if the joint is loose at all. Might need to be replaced

 

[Krautmobile]

check the rear endlinks to see if the joint is loose at all. Might need to be replaced

Will be my first thing to check this weekend. Going to try and make a list of everyone's suggestions and kill this evil rattle.

 

[Krautmobile]

So those are all right. Any other ideas?

 

[Krautmobile]

Tanner,
Thank you for contacting us here at KONI NA, and I am sorry to hear you are experiencing some noise issues after the install of your KONI Coilovers. It is very unlikely the shock itself is making any kind of rattling or plastic rattling sound as there is no plastic inside the shocks, and I have never heard the internals of a shock rattling unless something was damaged, which is very unlikely with your brand new set of shocks. Rattles with any coilover, or strut shock set for that matter typically come from one of just a few locations. The most common source of rattling or clunking is the strut/shock mount. If not properly installed with all necessary components and torqued properly, mounts are notorious for suspension noise/rattle. The second would be making sure the adjustable spring seats and lock rings are properly tightened. If the threaded seats are free to move and not properly locked, they can at times slowly spin on the threads and in combination with the spring pressure cause a metallic rattle/squeak. Endlinks, bushing, and ball joints really any moving part of the vehicles suspension can be the source of noise. Noises can often times be difficult to pin point, as they can come from several areas of the vehicle, an using a friend to help replicate the noise as you try to locate the source often help to better understand the issue, and then determining the remedy.



Mason O’Hara
Technical Sales Represenative
KONI - an ITT company

So that was Koni's reply to me. The problem is, my Koni set didn't come with locking rings for the rear spring perches. Did anyone else get locking rings? Or did these not come with them?

 

[snobrdrdan]

So that was Koni's reply to me. The problem is, my Koni set didn't come with locking rings for the rear spring perches. Did anyone else get locking rings? Or did these not come with them?

The rears don't have "locking" rings.
You just spin the perch to the height, slide the plastic ring onto the perch (sits between spring & perch), and then put it on top of the spring and slide it into the lower control arm and tighten it all up.

When you tighten up the rear lower control arm, you want to load the suspension. So line up the bolt and lightly put the nut on, THEN jack it up close to ride height (simulating load on it) and THEN tighten the nut down on the LCA bolt.

The fronts have 2 rings, where the lower one is the "locking" ring (I suppose)

But your noise is from the rear

Double check your install is all I can say.
May sure the shock mounts are tight to the shock.
And the shock mounts are tight to the body and the shock is tight to the hub assembly.
And then the LCA bolt/nut are tight.
And make sure the springs are seated properly into the LCA. The need to spin & then "lock" into the rubber bushing in the LCA.

Other than that...nothing else gets touched.

 

[Edmundo]

In the picture above, I don't see the plastic gasket on top of the adjuster base

 

[snobrdrdan]

In the picture above, I don't see the plastic gasket on top of the adjuster base

Huh?

The black plastic ring is in-between the spring & the perch.

I've never put one between the body & the perch...that wouldn't do anything or help at all