THSCC Forums

(raising my hand) I know the answer!

So I was hearing this clunking sound coming from the rear of the car, which started just before the rallyx school & got worse afterward. It had finally gotten so bad that it clunked almost continuously while driving down the road, just from little bumps in the pavement. Didn't do it when I pushed down on the rear of the car or rocked it side to side. So I thought that maybe it wasn't the suspension, but something else loose underneath the car. Looked all over & couldn't find anything, so I just figured I'd drive it until whatever it was fell off the car and then I'd know for sure.

Had the stock springs on at the time (which made the car pretty spongey-feeling & apparently masked the damping problem), but recently went to the ground controls with over double the spring rate. Well, now the rear was going "boing-boing-boing" after bigger bumps on the road. Definitely looks like the dampers are busted (no fluid has leaked out or anything, so they don't "look" busted). So I order new inserts to use while I send the originals off to be revalved (was planning to do that eventually anyway, because of the stiffer springs). Take them off the car, compare to the new ones and DAMN!!! are they busted. Not even close to the new ones. Oh, and the clunking is gone - so no more waiting for parts to fall off.

Moral of the story: don't take your brand-new (or any, for that matter) Konis out in a severely rutted & bumpy field and expect them to survive.

And Rally-X is not hard on cars.

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.

No fair asking the question and then answering it too! Yep, the clunking or banging noise is a giveaway. Also, if you take a gas pressurized strut or shock out of the car, and it stays collapsed, that's a pretty solid indicator too.

Do the new springs lower the car? If so, did you do anything to restore the normal range of travel for the strut, like shortening the strut shaft or install camber plates that raise the mounting point?

Art

George - yep, but rallyx is a little harder on some stuff than it is on other stuff. Just happens the Konis don't like to be rallyxed. I played around a LOT in the field and other rutted areas & gravel roads when I had the KYB AGXes on the car, and they felt "almost new" when I sold them after getting the Konis.

Art - the springs are installed on a ground control coilover kit, and the ride height has been lowered about an inch in the rear & a 1/2 inch in the front, which supposedly is within the acceptable range. I'm getting the rears rebuilt for the new setup, so should I tell them I'd like to get the shaft shortened an inch?

I always thought you could tell when they were busted by the handcuffs on them.











(sorry couldn't resist)

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.