Noise in suspension when car is cold

[03 raw nsx]

Hi All,

I installed KW v3's 4 months ago. I have Thom's camber kit installed in the rear.
The car sounds great when its warmed up, but when its cold the suspension sounds like something is loose.
The shop that did the install did a quick look and found nothing. But it is still there

Does anyone know a good shop in the SF Bay Area that could check it out?
It would have to be kept overnight due to the nature of the issue, only to be heard when the car is stone cold.

I tried Don @ Hilltop Automotive, but he must of had some REALLY REALLY bad experience with another NSX owner and has refused to even look at the problem. I feel bad for him because he has done excellent work for me in the past. And the local Acura dealer is out of the question.

TIA
Rich Wong

 

[liftnot]

Rich,
I had Thom's kit and he installed for me a while ago....
Make story short, you need to find a pair oem upper control arms the sooner the better. Hopefully some one has a pair for sale. I found mine at Source 1. You may need to call around.

this problem is not solvable by a new part(no longer made anyway) but going back to OEM.
There is a long thread and I explained my problem basically his kit/bushings have worn out and its not replaceable.
It will clunk under acceleration or under braking and when we removed the bushings, sure enough it was all worn. This is after~ 20k miles.

*shipping your switch tomorrow morning.:wink:

 

[03 raw nsx]

Way ahead of you...

Actually I am really happy with Thom's Camber Kit. I not had any issues with the kit. My NSX is more of a fun driver that is not tracked and I am happy with the adjustment the camber kit gives me to get more even wear on my tires. The bushings in the kit are replaceable, in fact I have replaced the bushings on my car and in the 'spare' kit. You just need to know where to source the bushings. What happened to you old upper arms with the Thom's Camber Kit?

I have 2 sets of upper control arms. Just because of the issues other people have had from the camber kit.
one pair with another Thom's kit
one pair that is OEM.

The noise I am hearing happened after the KW v3's were installed. It sounds like a loose coilover or like the same noise you would hear from 'gear lash' (when you suddenly decelerate and accelerate). The previous setup were Eibachs on OE coilovers - no noise issues.

Rich

 

[liftnot]

I used to have the spare igus bushings but after failure inspection, I decided its not the way I want to go and went back to oem. My rear toe is not aggro enough to cause rapid tire wear and one less problem to worry about.
loose coilover are easier to solve than the camber kit.

 

[solidol]

Hit up Jonathan at http://www.trackspecauto.com

 

[silver2002]

1) Are the "top hats" OEM?
2) Is the noise from front or rear?
3) Hear it on bumps?
4) Any chassis bars or aftermarket sway bar?

 

[jmarksnsx]

1) Are the "top hats" OEM?
2) Is the noise from front or rear?
3) Hear it on bumps?
4) Any chassis bars or aftermarket sway bar?

Did you replace any of the OEM top hats bushings?

 

[03 raw nsx]

1) Are the "top hats" OEM?
Yes, I bought some OEM top hats from another prime member and replaced all 'wear' parts & nuts.
2) Is the noise from front or rear?
Sounds like the front
3) Hear it on bumps?
Yes on bumps, not as I thought before when I 'blipped' the throttle
4) Any chassis bars or aftermarket sway bar?
Yes, both front chassis bars. No, aftermarket sway bars.

 

[silver2002]

I asked user = coz to chime in.

 

[Coz]

What throws me off is OK when warmed up but makes noise when cold suspension wise.
A few things you can check to be sure.
Make sure the Hats are seated in the strut towers.
With the car on the ground, have someone hold the steering wheel and push/pull on the top if each of the front wheels to check for play, then do it side to side. Checks wheel bearings and tie rods for looseness.
Also check the sway bar for clearance issues under the hood on the corners of the battery tray (depending on what sway bar you have), also push the front end up and down to check for sway bar bushings either making noise.
Then with the front end up in the air.
Check to make sure the sway bar brackets are tight and the bushings are in place and not worn out. If you can put a little grease on them, try that and see if it disappears.
Check the helper springs on the KW's and make sure everything looks right.
On the passenger side, check the steering rod that attached to the tie rod shaft by pushing it up and down to see if it moves and makes noise. Could be you have a loose steering rack rod shaft from age where the steering rod comes out of the steering rack housing.
I had a front end noise that I chased for a long time, drove me nuts.
It finally turned out to be my steering rack rod shaft making noise when I went over bumps. But the noise happened cold or warm.
I installed a bushing I had made and it solved my issues.

 

[silver2002]

I'd also re-check all of the strut rebound and compression settings/clicks - its easy to make a mistake and get one side completely out of whack. If you're using track settings around town, it's going to clunk.

 

[03 raw nsx]

I have had a shop that does a lot of 'specialized custom' cars look at it.
They are the ones that installed it. No luck.
My rebound and compression settings are in the middle.

I did talk to Jonathan at trackspecauto. I'm going to send it to him for a couple of days so he can drive it 'stone cold'

 

[B2FiNiTY]

Good luck, looking forward to the result.

 

[Kitaka]

Good luck, looking forward to the result.

I replaced my front shocks with Bilstein and hear the same type of noise from the right front shock tower area. Once the shock warms up after a few miles of travel........no noise. I've checked the area for loose bolts and connection and re-torqued mounts and fitting to no avail.

Another prime member reported this problem in the past but I don't remember reading about the solution

 

[03 raw nsx]

Hit up Jonathan at http://www.trackspecauto.com

Car is in Jonathan hands...will update when I he calls me

 

[goldNSX]

Common problem with KW although some say it's not. I had the same with my KW. Throw it out or live with it.

 

[scammy]

mine had some squeak type noises when cold, when I installed the ilift tophats it all but went away. My car is quite tight with the spring rates and sway bars so thought that was to blame but those nice billet tophats seemed to fix it

 

[jmarksnsx]

Those of you with the KW V3 squeaking issues were the 8 rubber bushings replaced when you installed the KW V3's? Might answer why when you installed the iLift tophats the squeak went away. They come with new bushings installed.

 

[goldNSX]

Mine didn't squeak, they clunked.

 

[03 raw nsx]

Update....
Trackspec found
- sway bar bushings were dried out
- brake shield was bent
- also re-torqued suspension bolts under load, they found that this will fix most issues.

they are doing one more test drive this morning.

- - - Updated - - -

Just picked up my car....rock solid :biggrin:

Jeremy @ Trackspec did a great job. NO squeaks, creaks or rattles.
They also did a brake flush & coolant flush.

Highly recommend Trackspec - Jonathan & Jeremy

Rich Wong

 

[scammy]

Those of you with the KW V3 squeaking issues were the 8 rubber bushings replaced when you installed the KW V3's? Might answer why when you installed the iLift tophats the squeak went away. They come with new bushings installed.

I bought new OEM top hats when I bought the KW's and we went over everything more than once to check what was worn and what might be loose, it was definitely a cold morning squeak

 

[bngl3rt]

Just picked up my car....rock solid :biggrin:

Jeremy @ Trackspec did a great job. NO squeaks, creaks or rattles.
They also did a brake flush & coolant flush.

Highly recommend Trackspec - Jonathan & Jeremy

Damn, maybe I need to pay them a visit. I have had the same issue for about two years since installing my Bilstein shocks, but only notice it about half the year when the weather is cold. Literally do not hear the noise at all in warm weather or once the car is warmed up.