Tokico lowering springs (problem with rears) Question

[SportZ2]

Does anyone here run Tokico lowering springs and have the clunking sound in the rear every time you go over a bump (either medium or big)? The rear springs are under load only when the wheels are on the ground. If I hit a bump, the spring gets loose in the perch. This does not happen in the front, the springs are tight even with the car is off the ground. If I jack the rear end up to change a tire and I'm by myself, there is no way I can lower the jack and hold the spring in place to make sure it seats properly unless the jack is right next to me. I called Tokico and they said this is normal. So if this is normal, does Eibach's springs do the same thing because I'm thinking of switching to them. Thanks in advance.

[JMortensen]

The springs won't be LOOSE unless you completely droop the suspension, we're talking Dukes of Hazzard style jumps here. Just going over bumps or dips in the road, not going to happen. You might check and make sure that the springs are in the perches correctly.

[z2go]

I remember that being a problem when I installed a set in a 280z I had several years ago. When I installed Eibachs in my current Z, they fit with a small amount of compression on the spring in the perch. As a comparison, the fronts had to be compressed with spring compressors to get the hat on, the rears I was able to do with two people, one pushing down on the hat, the other putting the nut on. When you put the hat on the rear, did you have to compress the spring at all? If not, I would bet that the spring is too short for the shock. Like Jon said, if it's seated correctly, it probably shouldn't bounce around under normal driving.

[Edmund]

Did you make sure your install the spring correctly? Ending with F for front and R for the rear. I had similar problem because the mechanic installed it the other way around and once he correct it, the clunky noise is gone. Hope that's the case for you.

 

 

Ed

[SportZ2]

I'm positive that they are the right springs for the rear. I can definitely tell when they are not in the perch because the metal to metal noise is very loud. The seal went out on the rear strut, so Tokico sent me a replacement. I will put that in and see if the springs do any better. One thing I can say, I never heard sounds from the rear with stock springs installed. There is no load on the spring when I installed it. The spring sits loose. All I have to do is lift the car an inch off the ground and the spring is loose. There is enough room for me to turn it 360 degrees.

Edited May 17, 2011 by SportZ2

[JMortensen]

I'm positive that they are the right springs for the rear. I can definitely tell when they are not in the perch because the metal to metal noise is very loud. The seal went out on the rear strut, so Tokico sent me a replacement. I will put that in and see if the springs do any better. One thing I can say, I never heard sounds from the rear with stock springs installed. There is no load on the spring when I installed it. The spring sits loose. All I have to do is lift the car an inch off the ground and the spring is loose. There is enough room for me to turn it 360 degrees.

Longer springs in rear is the key. Loose is normal with lowering springs. They are intended to be loose. Do a search here or at www.classiczcars.com and you'll see countless threads from people installing the springs wondering if the springs are going to fall out just like you are. Zip tie them up if it makes you feel better, but it is very unlikely that you would be driving around and the spring would come loose, unless like I said, you were catching some big air and the suspension was drooping all the way down to where the spring was loose.

 

My guess on the noise is that based on the strut going bad the insert is loose in the housing. When you tighten the gland nut there should be a couple threads showing. If the nut bottoms out on the housing and the strut is still loose, it will make all kinds of noise when you go over bumps. It also beats up the strut, hence the seal going bad. Search "gland nut" here and on classiczcars.com and you'll see that this noise also happens pretty frequently. It happened to me with a set of Illuminas on my 240. I had to put a big washer in the bottom of each strut housing in order to fix it.

[BallZ]

I will buy your defective springs....Ryan