Well my xA is now the Ex's xA but for some reason I find myself fighting this battle. She's been in another state for a while but called me about a sound she had been hearing from the front of her car. I told her to take it to the dealer up there and have it looked at.

The sound is a popping while turning. Like a large metal pop similar to a busted ball joint but I know it can't be that. She took it to the dealer and they looked at it and said it's the strut bearings. The odd thing is it only happens every once in a awhile and only when hot. The Vegas dealer says it's because it was lowered. I put the springs on there myself and they are Tien greenies S tech I think, I swapped the bump stops and also added a strut brace. The brace is a cheepie so I think I'll just pull that off but I would really like to know if anyone else suffered bearing failure from lowering an XA or XB.

So please pop your info int the poll, I'm trying to not have to come out of pocket for this as I paid far too much for an Extended warranty that says they won't touch it because it was modified.

 

I had a nasty-looking upper strut bearing / mount... but it was because the plastic "dust cap" was not on there... make sure both are there as their job is to keep crud out of the bearing...

My car was not lowered at the time.

 

You swapped the bump stops or you shaved them???? I have had my S-techs for about 2 years with no ill effects.

 

Lowering by itself would not have hurt the strut bearings, but your workmanship in re-installing the springs, struts and strut bearings might have. That is why the dealer is denying the warranty claim.

 

I replaced the strut as well as the spring. Put some Sensa-trac's on there when I did the spring. When i put the springs on the strut the I just barely needed to press on the sring to get the nut on, then I tightened it with an impact gun to about 85 lbs. I never thought about the tension on the strut bearing being too much as I thought it was only holding the spring on. Not sure how one would check the torque on that nut without the strut being mounted.

 

mine did it after a few months when i put on the air ride, and they wouldnt help me out either, so i fixed it myself, just remove them and pack them with axle greese, pack them like you would a older style wheel bearing, and if you dont know how just ask a older mechanic and they can tell you how, and reassemble it, its best to use a strong impact gun to make sure they are tight, because if you leave them loose it will case damage and noise too

 

The noise you are describoing sounds like the center nut came loose or the strut wasn't centered when you tightened it and now it is loose. I've had them do that and you get funky noises when you hit tiny bumps. Like a taping or clicking noise. Just recheck that both are tight.

 

Just get some new strut mounts, and follow all torque specs when reassembling. It is all out of pocket for you.

A Mcpherson strut setup cambers very little when bounding, so the lowering springs did not a have a direct effect on the strut bearing failure. It was how they were installed that made them fail. There is a rubber dust cap for the top and a dirt seal for the bottom of the bearing, any one of those not installed will make those bearings fail. Not torqing the strut mount bolt to the strut correctly (too loose or too tight) can make the bearing fail as well.

Aftermarket lowering springs = automatic warranty denial on any suspension component.

What did you expect going in to the dealer with a suspension concern having aftermarket spings and wanting the warranty to cover it?

A warranty warrants the OE components against defect. Aftermarket spings alters the way the suspension performs and no longer operates in the warrantable OE threshold.
(operating beyond suspension performance design)