Hello,

I have 2011 WRX. I installed a set of BC BR coilovers about 6-8 months ago.

I have had a constant clunking noise (since the start) from pretty much every corner!

It is more noticeable at lower speeds going over bumps. Going up my drive way kerb is a classic example.

I have checked and doubled checked everything many times. I have played with spring pre-load. Nothing seems to fix it.

I have stock sway bars/endlinks. Could it be these?

Have I lowered too much? Therefore changing suspension geometry and putting too much pressure on the system.

Or is this just normal for coilovers? I don't think they are blown. What are the chances of having all four blown?

The ride is actually great. If there was no clunking noise it would be perfect.

Thanks in advance. It's killing me!!

How much did you lower the car from stock? Has it been aligned professionally since?

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Bye bye betty blue. Hello F6.

Had clunking with coilovers in the past, ended up being the bearing in the top hats.
Applied some lubricant and it went away for a bit, but eventually came back.
Swapping to OEM top hats resolved the issue.

One way to test this would be to jack the front of the car up such that you have 2 inches of ground clearance between the tyre and the ground.
Get a pole/post and slide it under the tyre, using it as a lever pull upwards so that the coil starts to compress and keep an eye and ear out for any movement/noise.
This is ultimately how we found the noise to be coming from the top portion of the strut/strut tower area, next step was to remove, dismantle and inspect the coilover.
Swapped to OEM top hats and thankfully it resolved the issue in my case.

FYI the torque spec for the front end links (assuming OEM) is 35 ft-lbs or 48Nm.

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2015 Forester XT Premium
2020 VW Tiguan Allspace
teejay: If I wanted a comeback Id wank in front of a fan

Nick,

Thanks for you reply.

The wheel arch sits an about an inch above the tyre on all four corners. So there is some 'wheel gap'. I have written down some figures, I just need to dig them out.

I have been waiting for the 'perfect' setup before spending money on an alignment. Didn't see a need given I've had to play with it so much.

Just to complicate it, I also find that the upper two spring locking rings come loose after a certain time. This isn't helping me sort out the issue.

Cheers.

Soksta,

Thanks for your reply. I will try this.

I have a stupid question. Can you replace coilover top hats with factory top hats?Does this mean you lose camber adjustability (fronts in my case) and dampening adjustability?

Cheers.

I did it and yes you do lose the camber adjustments.
At the time I had some aftermarket camber bolts used in conjunction with the OEM ones and managed close to -2.5 degrees of camber (in all honestly -1.5 to -2.0 is going to be more than enough for any street car).

In the case of the coilovers that I had installed (HSD HR) I was able to re-use the nut that came with them, but had to install it upside down and with some loctite.
This arrangement saw several thousand kilometers of travel without the noise and without coming loose.

After typing all of this out I only just saw your comment regarding dampening ability, mine had the adjustment dial at the bottom of the strut.

I'm not too sure if this will work with your current arrangement.

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2015 Forester XT Premium
2020 VW Tiguan Allspace
teejay: If I wanted a comeback Id wank in front of a fan

Another possible idea is that Whiteline does some stiffer rubber versions of the oem top hats. I think these achieve increased castor.

Is it definitely the top hats? I've found my entire car creaks and rattles like an old house every year when the rains start up.

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Air is for pussies.

Whiteline KCA-409.

Also had these on my car once upon a time, not a bad unit, but there were a lot of complaints in regards to failing and noise in the US, not too sure if that was encountered here.

From memory the centre bearings they use are manufactured by Koyo?

__________________
2015 Forester XT Premium
2020 VW Tiguan Allspace
teejay: If I wanted a comeback Id wank in front of a fan

Thanks for your replies.

I know that BC Coilovers are at the cheaper end. So maybe that's the issue. It took me a while to save for them so want everything perfect.

I can't seem to find any specs on BC coilovers in regards to recommended drive heights. At some point it must 'stuff' up geometry of the 'system'. Drive height is one thing I haven't played around with too much.