rear clunking after lowering springs installed?

[ImPLiCiTS14]

tonight i installed some eibach sport lines on my s14 and for some strange reason the rear is clunking bad like its going to fall off. The wierd thing is i tightened everything even with a air gun any suggestions?

[upsdude]

if it's coming from the rear then check your subframe bushings. seems to be a common ailment to s14's. my rear subframe clunks if i brake too hard or accelerate too suddenly. already ordered some new energy bushings from www.frsport.com (http://www.frsport.com/) but they're backordered :cry:. good luck.

[ImPLiCiTS14]

but this happened immediately after installing the sportlines.

[clv5045]

it problem isnt anything serious that can stop you from driving it, it's just annoying. when you lowered it you probably brought something that was already loose close enough to something else to knock around, i have no idea what exactly it could be, but i would just check everything that is around the axle like sway arm, torsion bars, etc to see if any of them are loose, broken, or have bad bushings

[Kiwi]

actually, subframe bushings CAN be a real problem. eventually it can bend the studs where the bushings go in.
implicit, maybe you're bottoming out, that can cause some sort of a clunking. anyway, i'd still check the subframe bushings just in case

i don't know how low your car is now so that would be what i suspect

[Bigsyke]

what da fuck!

Installed with air tools...rear shocks on an S14......14lbs/ft of torque.

[ImPLiCiTS14]

the sound is very very loud tho like the suspension isn't tight at all. i didnt even need spring compressors to install rear.

[The Chad]

Time and Time again...almost allways comes back to subframe bushings. Same thing happened to me after i lowered my car and install new shocks. I head the phantom clunk! Searched around and found the problem...the subframe bushings on S14's are notorious for wearing down over time.

You can either buy NEW bushings and pull your subframe (EEEK!)

Or simply buy some $30 spacers/inserts avail through many parts distributors online for S14's.

I just installed the Aluminum inserts and Presto!...No more clunk! Took no more than 20 mins too :) Much easier than pulling the subfram and torching out bushings/hammering in new ones. :)

[Drft_S14]

just make sure ur springs are lined up right with the top hat, sometimes if its not it tends to make that annoying noise, goodluck

[Bigsyke]

inserts made my clunk ALOT worse.

[ImPLiCiTS14]

i took a look today and its seems there is a big gap between the tightened center nut/thread and the tophat even thought its all the way down to the end of the thread.

[s14_mike]

you need to hold the center shaft off the shock at the top not where the shaft goes up and down(there should be a little rectangular peace to hold) with a pair of channel locks or vice grips and then tighten then nut with a wrench. just because you used air tools to tighten the nut down to hold down the top hat doesn't mean that you bottomed out the nut. The shaft could have been spinning the whole time you were trying to tighten down the nut with the gun.

[Bigsyke]

alan wrench usually, or use a box wrench that fits snug

[ImPLiCiTS14]

i had used a pair of vice grips to keep it from moving -=i know dumb move=-

[Bigsyke]

^^I did that on a honda, the alan port collapsed, thus I had to use the piston shaft, which destroyed the shock.