ok, sooooo, after about 300 miles of mostly highway driving, one thing stands out.
i get a "metallic" sound from the front suspension.

i pretty sure it comes from the 22mm tarett swaybar.
i checked all droplinks (had one come loose saturday) and everything is thight, no wiggle.

anyone else who can confirm this?


also, on hard cornering, i now get a "cracking" sound that alomst sounds like the chassis is coming apart.
is that just the sway bar moving?
or should i start checking my spot-welds?

Andy

You use poly bushings? You grease them?

I've heard noisy bushings make the sound you describe.

-Aaron G>

nope, bushings are still all original 9eleben rubber ...
didn't have any of those noises before i got the sway bar and the cage.

i guess my question is:
is a swaybar of that size somewhat "noisy" or is my car, with both, the cage and sway-bar, now so thight that it starts ripping my chassis apart????

Andy

I noticed that my tarret bar was a bit of a tight fit, and might be rubbing on the gas tank towars the middle of the car

nice avatar you got there Chris, but mine is BIGGER

Andy

hmmmmm, that can be checked ...

I put a bit of bearing grease on my bar to allow it to slide in easier. Now my avitar is more life-like!

check to see if it can slide from side to side.
mine did that. i pulled the lever arms and installed travel-limiting collars cut from garden-variety PVC; end of problem.

The Tarett bars should have the side-to-side limiting collars already.

Is there any noise when traveling in a straight line or is it only when turning? Does it tend make noise as you hit bumps or is it random?

Checking the side to side collars is a good suggestion. Make sure that they are both up against the bushings.

When you checked to see if anything wiggled, you need to do it without the swaybar loaded. If it’s loaded you may not be able to wiggle something that may be loose when the car is on the ground and the bar is not loaded. This means the front needs to be up on jack stands, but not under the a-arms. Both arms need to be hanging freely. While you have it up there, check your ball joints and tie rods.

Check all the hardware again and post some pictures, if you have a digital camera. Maybe it’ll be something obvious that we can see.

If nothing helps, use the process of elimination. Remove one of the drop links and see if the noise goes away. If it doesn’t, remove the other one but make sure that the arms can’t drop down and catch on anything before you drive it.

Post your findings or send me a PM. I’m sure we can figure out what the problem is.

Ira

Ira, thanks for the help.
i won't be able to look at it or post pictures this week as we're leaving for the M-US-R tomorrow.



turning does not seem to be the problem.
bumps yes, but not always. random yes.

i'll get back to you next week.
thanks again,
Andy