I recently put in front and rear Cusco strut bars as well as a rear Cusco adjustable sway bar with Perrin endlinks. I'm also running Cusco Zero 2R coilovers on my car. About a week after I had everything installed, a clicking/tapping noise has developed in the right rear of the car. It sounds like it's coming from the strut top area. My gf was nice enough to sit in the back with the pass-through open and said that she heard it was coming from the right rear, but that she couldn't pinpoint it exactly.

I have since taken out and reinstalled the coilover and rear strut bar as well as removed the rear sway and wrapped the bar with some teflon tape where the rubber mounts go. The only thing that I'm not sure about is that it looks like the Perrin endlink is angled and laying against the sway bar. I know that sound travels in the car, but could this be the source of the tapping? It really does sound like it's coming from the strut top, but as I said earlier, I have already made sure the strut top nut is tight as well as re-torqued the shock mounts to 15 lb-ft.

Anyone have any ideas?

Calvin

 

My right rear seat assembly vibrates over rough worn out roads or over rumble strips. At first I thought it was the strut tops not tightened, but I recently fixed all that with some Koni's and retorqued it with an impact gun.

 

I've checked the strut tops a few times already and they're on there tight. I had a suggestion from someone that it may be the preload on the spring so I'll readjust it tonight and see if that changes anything. Thanks for the suggestion though. . .any other ideas?

Calvin

 

OK. . .so I took out the Perrin endlinks just to eliminate any possibility that they were causing the noise and no change. I also added some preload and that didn't improve anything either. Could this just be pillowball noise? I'm not sure as I've never heard pillowball noise before. It sounds like metal on metal tapping and it's kind of random. When I take a long sweeping turn either left or right, I don't get any noise. It's usually only when going straight. Any ideas?

Calvin

 

You could just get a stock strut. . .I'm sure someone has one here or you could get one from the dealer. They're probably in the $150 range.

Just an update. . .I've put the endlinks back on as they weren't the problem and I've also replaced the top nuts with new ones. The noise is still there. I don't think it's the coilover. . .read somewhere about the rear parcel deck clips getting loose so I'll look into it tonight if I get a chance.

Calvin

 

Calvin,
i can't really comment on the tapping noise, but i gotta ask: how does the car handle with that setup? i've been looking at the Cusco Sway Bar, Cusco strut top and perrin end link package offered by Mauro Motorsports (they want like $685 for it) for my stock WRX. i'm planning on adding a high quality coilover kit later on (DMS/Tein/Leda or something similar), but i'd like some improvements for the time being. what's the build quality on the Cusco components like? did you do the bars, tops and links before or after the coilover kit? thanks.

 

For anything Cusco, I would get them from Gruppe-S. They can get all the bars for $140 shipped. I also got my coilovers from them for $2000 shipped with an additional set of 6/4 springs. The build quality is very impressive and of very high quality. The coilovers are a work of art. Very sturdy, good welds. I did the coilovers first, then the other stuff. If you are strapped for cash, do the rear sway first as that will probably give you the most improvement. The strut bars don't really help until you've stiffened up the rest of the suspension.

Calvin

 

cool thanks, i'm glad to know that the Cusco stuff is built well. i've had a hell of a time trying to find a Cusco site in english (though i did find their japanese site), so i don't know that much about them. why'd you choose the Cusco coilovers over all the others out there?

 

I chose the Cusco's over Tein RA's and JIC FLT-A2's because I've never heard of anyone complain about the Cusco's. Also, heard many good things about them from friends. I'm happy I chose the Cusco's and am totally satisfied with their performance.

Calvin

 

Calvin,
great, thanks. i may have to consider the Cusco coilovers in addition to some of the other ones that i've been looking at. are the Perrin end links pretty wel build too?

 

I am experiencing some weird noise from the driver rear side also. I had looked under the rear end and notice that the Perrin endlink had twisted. Instead of facing straight back, it points in about 45 degrees. I had pushed it back and a week later, its back angled again. Has anyone ever had this problem with any end link?