Having a Problem with either Top Hats or Coilovers

Blivitt02 · Post by **Blivitt02** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:33 pm

Whats up guys, I just got my car back on the road (it was in storage for winter) and I have had a popping/clicking noise in the suspension, I had it last year but its worse than ever now. Upon some investigation I found that when I push/pull on the top of the wheel/tire assembly either the coilover body or the top hat is causing the clicking/popping. When I am driving (at a slow speed) and I quickly turn the car back and forth I can hear the clicking and popping, but I am not sure where to go from here. It's my daily driver so I don't want to tear it apart without having a better idea on what the issue is going to be. Another concern of mine is that after I put in my energy susp kit I had to raise my car about an inch on all four corners because the only place I could find to give me an alignment demanded I do so. As a result I am concerned that the threaded portion of the strut body is not very deep into the lower coilover body. Thus maybe causing some flex in the total assembly? I know that the bearings in the top hats have a tendency to go bad when using coilovers so this is the direction I am leaning... Any thoughts?

Suspension setup:
IPP Coilovers (Damping adjustable)
Hotchkis Sways w/ Custom endlinks
Full Bushing Kit
DC Strut Bars (semi irrelevant)

Blivitt02 · Post by **Blivitt02** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 9:42 am

Bump for a better ride

krc21 · Post by **krc21** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:08 am

its the bearing in your top hat.. just throw some grease on it. it will stop right away.. they dont come greased very well. im sure hudson will add more cause thats who i learned it from.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 3:55 pm

lol... here i am

yeah, they don't come greased very well. i had this same issue with my Megan Racing coilovers. i dropped the coilovers out and pulled the pillow ball mount off and took WD-40 to it then 80-90 gear lube. now i put a drop or two of 80-90 in there whenever i change oil. i gaurentee if you do that, you'll never have problems again. the dry winter air fucks with them

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 11:22 am

Hudson_Neon wrote:yeah, they don't come greased very well. i had this same issue with my Megan Racing coilovers.
i dropped the coilovers out and pulled the pillow ball mount off and took WD-40 to it then 80-90 gear lube.
now i put a drop or two of 80-90 in there whenever i change oil. i gaurentee if you do that, you'll never have problems again. the dry winter air fucks with them

Great advice.

Thanks for the tip !

-Nick