The top hats generally sell for around $70 from the stealerships ... not $12

If you look here, the "top hat" is part # 8
hitme

Inside that is the top of the strut where you thread the Big Nut to hold everything together. For the guy above, if you have a clanking from the passenger side, i would guess that this top hat isnt seated properly, or the Big Nut is loose. Also, the gap in the top hat should only be about a 1/16 to an 1/8th gap between the base and the circular tube where the Big Nut is inserted. If its any more then that, then you have a blown top hat. Probably from hitting a hole too deep too fast. It happens.

 

BTW .... has anyone found replacement bushings for numbers 12 and 15 in Poly yet?

 

My bad, it's not usually the "top hat" that is the problem, its part #7 whatever that plate is called, and it is about $12 from the dealership.

 

What happens is the "spring seat" doesn't get lined up with the notches in the strut piston and eventually rounds out the hole because it isn't seated properly.

 

Ok thanks guys. The last few posts really shed some light on this. Since I only have about an 1/8 inch gap on the top hat or strut mount then I guess I won't have to replace it which is a relief cuz it's the most expensive component in that part diagram. I guess I'll take it apart once more today and make sure I didn't round out the hole in the spring seat(part #7) from having it in there misaligned for a few days. Hopefully it's still in good shape and I can just line everything up once more and tighten it down to fix the problem. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks again.....

 

you guys are sally you dont deed a spring compressor thats weak sauce man up lol i did it with just a ratchet then once you get the nut of stand on the spring and wack the top of the strut it only shot about 2 feet so yeah man up

 

So I went ahead and ordered a new strut mount and upper spring seat for my car hoping that this would fix the clanking sound on the front passenger side but it didn't.
I checked and double checked that everything was lined up properly when I put it back together and after I saw that it didn't change anything, I swapped the entire right side strut mount/strut assy with the left side but I'm still getting the noise on the passenger side. So I guess this eliminates the entire strut assy as a suspect.

This is a real mystery and it's driving me nuts. I can't cruise in peace wondering if somethings gonna drop off my car while I'm driving you know? If anyone can offer any advice I'd appreciate it. Here's some more info.

I only hear the clanking at low speeds when I hit a small bump. The smaller the bump, the louder the clank. I parked the car in the garage and put it in neutral and placed a 22 pound weight plate right in front of the front passenger wheel. When I pull the car up to the weight plate, I hear the clank sound as soon as the front right tire touches the weight plate. It really sound like the spring is making the sound but as I said before, I've already swapped it with the left side which is nice and quiet, but it didn't help.

What else could be loose down there that could cause that noise? HELP!

 

maby the rotor shield got bent just enough that it vibrates at that seten speed and over bumps to touch the caliper.

i don't know man, im just tjinking of anything that i would check if i was having this problem

 

Yeah but when i have the car in the garage , i put it in neutral and grab onto the radiator frame and pull the car over a bump at < 1 mph and can hear the noise then. If I go over a small bump REALLY slow it sounds more like a creaking sound instead of a clank which makes me think it's the spring but as I mentioned before I've already swapped the left with the right side and the noise is still coming from the right. Is there anything the lower end of the strut is attached to that could be loose and causing the spring/strut to move around?

 

Happy to say I'm finally enjoying a quiet ride with my S.Techs! I must've taken that damn suspension apart 6 or 7 times trying to find the source of my clanking noise. So it turned out to be a loose bolt on the suspension arm. There are 2 bolts there, the one that was loose was so bad I could spin it with my finger! Supposed to be torqued at 97 ft. lbs. Anyways, after replacing a strut mount and a spring seat and taking it all apart many times to make sure everything was right, my problem had nothing to do with the strut at all. It was a good lesson for me and I learned alot about car suspensions. So many people have fixed their problem by tightening the top nut on the strut or realigning the seats that I was blind to other possible problems. Hope this might help someone with a similar problem.

 

One more thing. After reading up online about suspension troubleshooting, i was pretty sure that my car's symptoms were pointing to a bad ball joint. I did check for play in the ball joint and didn't feel any but since the ball joint is part of the suspension arm a loose bolt in the arm could mimic the symptoms of a shot ball joint. The play in the suspension arm was allowing the strut assembly to bounce a bit causing the clank, It also allowed a little too much lateral movement in the strut which was causing the creaky spring symptom too.

 

im glad you found the problem and that it wasn't anything bad (yet)
look at it this way, you learned alot and now you could take it apart and put it back together blind folded.

anyway, glad you got it fixed.

 

You nailed it with the blindfolded thing. I did learn a lot and I've never really been into working on cars until I got the xB. First time in my life I've ever done my own oil changes too. There's something really inviting about that little toaster....

 

man you have been missing out by letting someone elts work on your cars.

ive always worked on my own cars, just knowing that it was done right.
i would never let someone touch my car with a wrench, they don't have the hart for it like i do.

 

Yeah, I'm having a lot of fun with it. Gives me an excuse to grab a beer and get out of the house for a while. BTW, thanks for your help.