I had my car lowered earlier this year with Eibach Sportline springs and Koni Yellow struts. Now to the problem, whenever I go over a bump or hole of ANY size, the rear right of the car sounds like its going to fall apart. I'm not sure whats going on, but its very annoying, and very noticable. It sounds like a big clanging or clashing sound. If anyone could help me out I would really appriciate it. Thanks.

check your rear strut mounts, it is possible that the metal thing inside the rubber part came detatched or they are just worn in general, since you would of had to drill it out when you installed the yellows. Did you install the suspension yourself?

Im going to say its your mounts, not much else back there to go wrong...other than that check the bolt at the bottom of the strut where it attaches to the car. it could of came loose or fallen out, very very unlikely and very dangerous, but something else to check.

I didn't install the suspension myself, but I was there as it was being done. I took it to a shop last week to get an opinion, and they told me that I was probably going to need a whole new strut. The bolt at the bottom is still there. So should I purchase new strut mounts and see if that fixes my problem? Thanks

If they're sure the strut is bad, then replace it. Koni has a great warranty. But I doubt there is anything wrong with it.

I would suspect the mount as well. Could be the bushings on the axle, but still most likely the mount.

I even had the problem before my car was bagged, it was a loose lumber noise. Now its just as you say, every time you hit a hole it sounds as if something is going to break. I was told it was the upper strut mounts, a factory defect type of thing. You can fnd info listed on this site about it. I have not corrected it yet, everything is tight, so I'm pretty sure thats what it is. I have just gotten used to the noise. My husband has a 96 cavalier, and it makes a similar noise but from the front. And it has gotten worse since we bagged that car also.

i;d say mounts...

rears on konis are just a ring which holds the coilover sleeve or spring perch, which ever you have...

strut mounts are more prone to go...

i just had agx's and progress put on, and i had a similar sound coming from the rear of my car, what the noise actually was, was the coils rubbing together on the bottom of the spring because of how close together they were.

there may be a sleve kit to put on the springs, but there wasn't any for my springs, i ended up using some body kit type tape(3m i believe) on the coils, and my noise is gone, not sure if this will help you, but that's just the experience i had.

Thanks for all your help guys. I guess I should just take it to a shop and see what they say? Do you think they would be able to correctly identify the problem? I can't imagine the konis going bad after less than a year. How much are strut mounts and what does it take to install them? I am pretty comfortable working on cars myself, but I have never really dealt with suspension. I will get it to a shop first thing next week, and possibly the dealership to get some opinions. I really need to get this problem fixed. Thanks again, although I'm still kind of confused on what the best route to take is.

I guess my first step is to buy new mounts. Does anyone know a good place to buy them? I am not sure what to get or where to get it. Thanks

any auto parts store carries them, although i dont know where your from, there were about 75$ CAN from up here in canada

and it does sound like a strut mount to me....

i went to autozone.com and they dont have strut mounts? wut else are they called?

I get alot of stuff from Napa, not the cheapest, but good quality. And they're 5 minutes from my house.

They call them Bearing Plates:
Front: NCP 2613442 $120 each
Rear: NCP 2613198 $22 each

I have a napa close, I will call them and get them in asap. Do you think I should just replace the one that is making the noise, or should I replace both rears? Also, how much would an installation run me. Im located around Indianapolis. Thanks for all the help.

Similar sound here too i got Eibach Sportline springs too and kyb gr2 struts and it the sound is still there. I honestly think its because you sit on the left so that side of the car has more weight on it so that side of the car doesnt jump as much. When i have someone in the pass side it doesnt make the sound as much unless i go over something really big. Hope this helps!

I didn't think the gr2 struts were made for lowering? I could be wrong. But I still have the noise when I have passenger(s). I just need to know if I should replace both rears, or just the one acting up. As well as what installation should run.

Just the one that is acting up if your doing rear. No alignment is necessary, so usually you want to limit the cost. Having one new and one old is not going to wear on one more than the other, or anything like that.

With a bit of time, a jack, a few sockets, a few wrenches, and a spring compressor; you can do this yourself. I'd give it 3/5 wrenches, mostly cause of the spring issues. But there are only 4 bolts/nuts were talking about here.

Alright, I think I should be able to do this on my own. Anyone have some instructions? If not then I'll just have at it. The only thing I don't have is a spring compressor, but I should be able to get a loner from someone or a parts store. I will go tomorrow and order the rear mount. Thanks

Oops, I lied about the 4 nuts/bolts, it should be 5.

1. In the trunk, find the top 3 bolts/nuts (2 bolts, 1 nut) the hold the strut on. Loosen them, but do not take them off yet. Don't touch that center nut, we'll deal with it later.

2. Jack up rear end, not under the axle; the axle must hang freely. Jack it up high enough so the wheels are just barely off the ground (less than an inch). You can jack just the one side in your case.

3. Take those top nuts and bolts loose. Be careful because they are the only thing holding that tire and axle up (on a stock car, after-market sway bars complicate this a bit). Note where the nut was, to put it back in the same hole later.

4. Take the nut/bolt at the bottom of the strut loose. Remove the strut out the bottom of the car.

5. Use spring compressor. See it's directions for proper use.

6. Use two open end wrenches, take the top nut off the strut. One wrench on the nut, and one of the rod. You should see what I'm talking about when you do it. (or you can see basically what it looks like if you look at the struts under your hood).

7. Replace the strut mount. Follow any prepping directions that came with the replacement. Some need to be greased, some come pre-greased, stuff like that.

8. Put the nut back on the same way you took it off.

9. Take the spring compressor off. Put the strut back up into position in the car.

10. It is helpful to have a friend on this one, but not necessary. Loosely reattach the top nuts/bolts, preferable in the same holes they came out of.

11. If you only jacked you car a tiny bit higher than was necessary, you will probably be able to shove the bottom bolts back into place. Otherwise you'll have to slowly lower your car until you can put the bolt back in place. Tighten up the nut and bolt.

12. Lower you car, take the jack out.

13. Tighten up the top nuts/bolts.

14. Double check everything. Mentally go over what you just did. Make sure you have no "spare" parts. Do a slow test drive first. It's a good idea to look at it again a week later and just make sure everything still looks tight.

Hey CTS thanks a TON. I went and ordered a new mount today from a local auto parts store. I won't be able to get to this project for a few days, possibly even next weekend. It sounds like a fairly easy thing, that shouldn't take to long. I will post back to let you guys know how things turned out. Thanks a lot for your help I really appriciate it.

Hey guys, I need some more help. I went to install everything and realized the problem was the strut mount. But I also realized the cause was the fact that you have to drill a larger hole in the mount in order to accommodate the koni yellow struts. So my question is; is there a strut mount I can buy that I wont have to drill a hole into in order to work with my struts? It seems as though I am going to have the same problem everytime due to the having to drill out the mount. Thanks

Can anyone help me out? My car is not drivable and I need some help asap. Thanks

We don't know of any that you don't have to drill out. It's possible they're out there.
Drilling gently will not damage them, just be very gentle about it.

Gentle... it took me a day and a half. But I got everything done and put back together. I dont know if the problem is completely fixed but its 100% better. At least it seems to be. Thanks to everyone for their help with this, I really appriciate it.