Okay, I'm kinda freaking out right now...
I installed a strut bar tonight and as I was driving it afterwards, I heard a knocking sound when I turn. I checked all of my work and everything was tight. Then I rocked the car back and forth a bit, and the engine was shaking... Is this really bad? I haven't seen an engine shake like that.

 

hmm...

its usual for the engine to shake a little (as we have really soft motor mounts)

...as for the knocking, you have me.
if the nuts are tight on the top of the strut tower, and you didnt remove anything down below...

i dunno.

 

double check that you didnt leave any tools laying around inside....i drove my jetta aroun for three weeks with a screw driver in the rain tray...

 

Nope, there's nothing left in there...

 

did you take the rain tray thing off?

 

if there is notthing laying around in there then the only thing i can think of is that the spring came unseated. when does it make the noise? try going over a speedbump and see what it does.

 

I took the wiper cowl off... the car was not jacked up.

 

hmm then i dont think the spring was unseated, either there is something the wiper cowl, the cowl isnt put back correctly or its something totaly unrelated to the strut bar

 

take the strut bar off. go drive around see what happens. put it back on..see what happens.

 

Before you take it off, have a friend drive it around in a parking lot and see if you can hear it outside the car and pin point where it is coming from. Also, sometimes your mind plays tricks on you. On my old car, after I install a ton of stuff including springs and a keychain. After driving around I kept hearing a knocking, freaked me out also. After several hours of trying to figure out what it was, while I was driving I saw the keychain hitting when I turn. Yea, I was a loser. Anyway, let us know what you find out.

 

haha i did something like that also! m keychain would vibrate at a certain RPM and i was pushing all over the dash trying to make the vibration sound stop. thought i was the speaker grill

 

Also, is it just when you turn in one direction or does it do it in both directions.

 

Well the dealership wanted to charge a $96 dollar diagnostic...
The clunking is happening over bumps, so I think the left strut is loose... Time to take it apart again.

 

did you install springs recently?

 

^ It turns out that the front right spring was the problem.

I pulled the bar and it was still making noise. When I took the car up, I noticed the spring was about 1/2" from the lip. I rotated it until it was sitting right. Reinstalled the bar and everything sounds like it should.

The springs have been on for about a month now, and this is the first noise I've heard from them. Seeing as I removed the wiper cowl to install the bar, I don't know how that happened, but it doesn't really matter now.

Thanks guys.

 

rock on! enjoy the new parts!

 

I was about to suggest that the strut nut above the spring sometime come loose after a careless suspension installation. It sounded exactly like my ride after I installed the Eibach Proline (in the rain) so I did it hastily. The nut nearly came off while the spring pounding the car chassi. I broke a wrench tried to loosen the mounting nuts on top coz it's all bent and stripped.

 

^ I'm going to check that too...

 

You also may want to check the alignment of the strut shaft and the upper spring perch. The upper perch has a keyway that should match up to the shape of the strut shaft. If it doesn't align up properly, the perch could be smacking into the misaligned strut shaft causing a loud "clunk" sound during suspension travel.

 

Yea, I took a hard corner a few minutes ago and there was a clunk... damn. It's not as bad as it was, but still... I'll check that top nut. I should be able to access it without removing the strut, right? Just pull off the dust cap?