Hi fellas, I have installed some KYB shocks on my tC today. Now the rears and passenger sides are fine. The drivers side is the one that I hear some knocking coming from. I have completely disassembled and put the shock and springs on three times lol. The springs are TRD springs. My bumpstop is fine, the spring is sitting how it should, the top plate has slid into place, and I tightened all bolts down. I drove around, came back and checked all the strut bolts again. They are tight. I have no clue where the knock sound is coming from. Now the sound only arises when I hit bumps in the road, kinda sounds like something is loose. I can make the sound happen when I'm parked and push down on the drivers side. Only happens when it goes down.

Any suggestions, or things I should try or check out? Please let me know. This site is really resourceful =) Thanks! (I searched already)

 

knocking is usually normal for aftermarket struts or at least I think they are. I could be very wrong but you should check again and see if you tightened all of the bolts. Make sure you tighten you wheels too.

 

Yessir, I checked all the bolts again. Same dealio. So if how you say aftermarket struts knock, then is that them breaking in? I have no idea

 

No, I think its just the natural fitting of after-market parts. No after-market part will fit like oem. But then again, a bunch of things could be the cause of the knocking. I know my Tein Coils knock every now and then. How much did you tq the bolts?

 

Until I couldnt turn it anymore, lol. I dont have a torque wrench.

Now I just came back from a trip to McDs, and dang, lol.

I inspected my bumpstop, and it looked ok, but has a little loose fit to it around the shock. Now, should a bumpstop be tight and snug? Cause I wanna say that maybe the culprit.

 

That might be your problem.
Have you checked your sway bar end links?

 

Ahh, I took a good look at the endlink...and what would you know? It has multiple cuts on each side! Bastard! Lol luckily I had an extra one! Thanks for the help you all provided =)

 

Oh I would have so said endlinks if I knew you messed with them. I just installed a larger sway bar a few months ago and the endlinks were the issue.

 

Yep, one of mine came loose and started making a knocking sound as well.

I've never had a problem with my struts knocking so I don't know if this would always be useful, but I found that a good way to isolate the noise was to swerve at slow speeds. If the problem is the endlinks you can hear that it's the sway bar making the noise as the weight of the car shifts from side to side.

 

No, aftermarket parts should not causing any problems such as this. Especially a good brand like the OP installed and in the suspension.

 

Woot!