grinc2

So I'm going to reopen a thread about suspension and clunking on a 2007 GT Convertible. I have the following mods - BMR front strut tower brace, lower A arms, sway bar front and rear, lower rear control arms, A arm brace and pan hard bar. Eibach sport springs. SR Performance rear tower strut brace. Everything else is stock. My problem is a rather loud clunking, almost popping, sound at low speed when turning either left or right. No noises on bumps. Only 55K miles. I checked the strut mount bearings. They are in good condition. All bushing are greased with synthetic. It has been properly aligned with Eibach camber bolts. I really would like to hear any thoughts on solving this noise issue. Thanks.

DK Pony

First thing I would be suspect of is if you reused the stock Upper Strut Mounts. They are notorious for clunking/popping after they have been removed and reinstalled.
Just a new set of factory ones will help but the GT 500 mounts are the preferred replacement.
I realize you said you checked the bearing on the USM's but it usually is the issue.
But...
Check the front end links. They are tough to get back to torque specs because of the location. 85 lb/ft. And they are pretty wimpy.
Other than that just check the torque settings on everything.
That's all I've got.
Good luck.

grinc2

Thanks for the response. I think re-torquing everything will help. I think I'll just pony up the money for new strut mounts. Only $104 on AM for the GT500 ones.

DK Pony

Good luck and keep us posted.

grinc2

So, after torquing down everything to spec or greater under my '07 Convertible, I still get a "popping" sound when turning at low speed. I did notice that the creeking and some clunking went away, but not the major problem I had. My next step is to replace the upper strut mounts and see what that does. Wish me luck.

Derf00

Yep on both things. Upper strut mounts should be replaced when you replace the struts even if they 'look' ok.

To get the bottom bolts of the stabilizer bar links torqued down properly, I ended up removing the stabilizer bar with the end links attached, torqueing the links onto the bar while the bar was out, then putting the bar back in with the links already attached. There are two u-brackets (two bolts per bracket) that hold the bar to the frame. These are Torqued to 52 ft/lbs.

The top part of the links (to the strut) are easy to access with a TQ wrench.

Also check your stabilizer bar bushings while you have the bar out. There should be no cracks. In fact I would probably just replace them since you will have the bar out. The bushings can compress and cause play in the stabilizer bar.

Almost forgot, how low are you? You may need a bumpsteer kit. Even if you have cast/camber plates.

DK Pony

OP said he is riding on Eibach Sport springs so I assume he means Sportlines. They are pretty low but bumpsteer kit is usually not needed.

Don't overtighten the upper strut mount to body bolts. the torque specs are only 18 lb/ft if I remember correctly.
I had one snap off after "feeling" for the right amount of torque. Just use the wrench.
Also you didn't mention if you have camber bolts or not. Obviously you don't have cc plates so if you put the arrows on the GT500 mounts toward the engine (normal is toward the outside of the car...I hope I got that right) it will usually correct enough of the camber to not have any problems.

And I had an 08 Vert and there is something you need to watch for on the end links. I installed Eibach front and rear adjustable bars. The top bolt(body) of the end link was loose. The metal sleeve inside the bushing was too short and when I started to torque it it started pulling the body mounts in towards the bushing. At first I though it would be ok but it clunked pretty badly. I put a washer in between the bushing and the mount on both sides (2 per side) and it fixed the clunking.

grinc2

Thanks for the input. I have the Eibach camber bolts. No plates. I'm about 1.5" lower than stock and the bump steer is no problem. The strut mounts arrow is pointing towards the outside of the vehicle. I have the Haynes repair manual and I use that to reference the specs, which helps a lot. When I replaced the springs and control arms, I replaced the end links with Ray Bestos ones I got from the person I bought the car from. They seem to be doing well. I'll let everyone know what happens when I replace the strut mounts.

DK Pony

I should have mentioned that the issues I had with end links were on the REAR of the vehicle. It popped loud enough I thought it was the front for a while.

grinc2

Update #2. So I was on the American Muscle web site looking at the SR Performance Adjustable Sway Bar links and watched a short video about them. They mentioned that when the car is lowered and the geometry changes, the sway bar has more pre-load on it with the factor length end links. My sway bar is adjustable and I put it on the lightest setting (closest to the radiator) and the popping noise is gone. So my next purchase will be the adjustable sway bar links. Thanks for all the replies. Hope this helps someone else.