DumbasSi

This may sound very vague, but I'll try my best to describe my problem.

My 98 Si is equipped with H&R Sport springs and Koni Red shocks. The suspension is otherwise stock and all original. Nothing has ever been replaced or repaired. The springs and shocks are a few years old, but in my opinion, not worn/blown. The car rides and handles fine. No excessive bouncing or any problems related to blown or worn springs/shocks.

I have started to notice the the rear suspension is becoming very, very noisy like it's loose and falling apart. Driving over small bumps, potholes, manhole covers all result in loud banging and rattling. The ride and handling is still fine, but the noise is driving me nuts and I'm starting to hate driving my car.

The car is going into Honda for an oil change later this week and I'm going to get them to check it out. Is there anything that could be broken or worn out causing all of this noise that I could tell them about? Strut mounts, bushings, broken bolt? Honda issued a TSB for worn trailing arm bushings I'm wondering about too.

Any input would be appreciated.
Thx.Mike

imported_gatherer

check the bushings on the lower control arm...specifically where it connects to the body....

imported_GoldBadge

I have a similar problem with my OMNI coilovers. It's loud and sounds loose in the rear. I have inspected everything, torqued it to spec, preloaded them properly, etc...

I have OMNI rear LCAs and maybe the bushings in those are affecting it, but I doubt it; they're brand new.

I also did the washer trick, so maybe that is the culprit. I don't think it is, though, because on my alignment report the rear camber was within .01 degrees of each other. So I don't think it could possible be a loose connection.

Basically, I'm at a crossroads between two things:

1. Could be a bushing somwhere, but it does it on both sides. I don't think it is a bushing related issue because my car only has 64,000 km.

2. I figure it may just be due to the fact that the rear end of the car is not deadened like the front is. There's no firewall/engine to absorb the noise.

That's all I can think of. If your car has never done it before, then I would have to think it's a bushing. Is it coming from both sides?

zeeman

iTrader: (1)

if you have a rear sway bar i'd check that out....maybe an endlink is loose or one of the D-brackets.

DumbasSi

No rear swaybar, so that's out. I'm pretty positive it is the trailing arm bushing.

GoldBadge, here is a copy of the TSB. If you replaced your LCA's, then you are probably hearing the same noises coming from the trailing arm as me. I'm going to print it out and tell them to look at the parts mentioned.

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

my trailing arm bushing squeaks a lil bit. nothing as savage as yours though.

DumbasSi

Update if anyone has a similar problem.

The good...
I had my oil changed at my local Honda dealer today and I had them inspect the rear suspension. They found that the 2 trailing arm bushings were cracked and probably causing the noise.

The bad...
The new bushings are $60 and they want 4 hours of labour to change them.

Si98

you'll need to get a wheel alignment too. that's another $100.

civicnation

honda is ****ed to swapping bushings. They wanted 300$ to change to bushings for me. I took it to a guy my cuzn recommended and he did it for 40$. It's an easy job if you have the machinery to press out the new bushings and press in teh new ones. I provided him with new oem bushings which i paid $30 for in total so it was 70$ after everything was said and done.

Si98

btw, sometimes the bushings look cracked but if you look carefully they are not. the grime and salt over the years may give the bushings a cracked look. its best to jiggle your trailing arm with a crow bar or something similar to see if those cracks in the bushings actually open wider. you may want to get a 2nd opinion.

czeto

Mike, I got the same prob wit my SIR. I h&r race wit the reds and the same slapping noise. I asked my mechanic and he seems to think its just a curse of having a lowered veh. Because the susp is lowered, there is less travel in the susp, so when you hit the ruff stuff, the springs slap. My buddies 97 Accord does the same thing wit eibach sportlines and stock shoks, just not as much.

imported_SaYjAiBaO

my car is lowered and my spring is really compressed. i don't get any slapping noises in the back. 60 bucks for bushing, should have gotten polyurethane ones.

RDub99

iTrader: (1)

I had the exact same problem with my omni's.. they sounded so loud from the rear.. about a month ago I built a deck for my sister.. after loading the trunk with my tools and driving with them for about a week the noise seemed to disappear, and now they make what I'd call normal noises on bumps, etc.. maybe they just needed wearing in? I really don't know what it was, but I'm glad it's gone..

Si98

I have squeeking noises coming from the rear passenger side. I recently changed all four arms (lca, uca, ca, and t-arm) on that particular side and the sound hasn't gone away yet. I then decided to inspect my shock/spring assembly and discovered that the top two coils were rubbing against each other as shown by the rust and abrasion in the photos. So then I decided to remove the rust and cover the exposed area with liquid rubber. Unfortunately that didn't do the trick and I'm still getting the annoyings sounds.

Right now I'm guessing the sound is coming from the chassis itself -- perhaps the area where the seatbelt mounts to the metal frame inside the trunk as shown in the pic.

cibs

that's crazy cuz i have the same noise too, and it does sound like it's from the seat belt area, but i really think this bushing thing could be it...

imported_gatherer

the easy way to test the bushings is to put the car up on jack stands... remove the shock/spring assembly... then move the suspension through it's motions while listening for squeeks and other noises...