Front Suspension Concerns

[LS1ow]

With about 500 miles on my build, its time to address some small issues.


2000 Z28
-PA Racing Tubular K Member
-Spohn Adjustable Lower control arms(spherical rod ends)
-UMI Non Adjustable Upper Control arms(Poly)
-Strange Single Adjustable Coil overs w. #275 springs
-UMI Solid engine mounts
-No Front Sway Bar
-Stock upper control arm plates
-All Assembled with brand new hardware.

Driving on anything that isnt a perfectly smooth road or highway results in some TERRIBLE squeaks and creaks from the front end. I drove threw a cars and coffee this past weekend and i was getting a ton of looks, and im pretty sure it was bc my cars sounded like a creaky door and not bc there was a 4th gen on Hoosiers in a sea of McLarens.

Now is this creak and squeak just a "nature of the beast" kind of thing? This is my first car with "race" front end components, so its new to me. The car was aligned by a local racer(Carlos Sobrino for those familiar with NMRA Factory Stock ) and all adjustable points on both the front and rear were marked with paint marker, and nothing has backed out or loosened. The sound isnt a huge huge deal to me, but if you guys think something may be up or if there is anything i should look into/lube i want to know. I can deal with the sounds, i just dont want to be damaging anything.

Also when i hit anything with a bump more so than a manhole cover, it rattles the car pretty bad. I very loud sound from the front end. Almost like i bottomed out the shock. I have not touched the settings on the coil overs since taking them out of the box.

[unstable bob gable]

Any time you deal with rod ends you are opening yourself up to creaks, moans, and frequent lubing needs. I have some simple "traction bars" on my car that basically need weekly lubrication to deal with moans and groans. I use silicone spray and let it fly.

[3.4 grape of wrath]

What he said ^ . I also have the PA racing k member and lower control arms on my car . I routinely spray the rod ends with WD-40 or they squeak bad. I also have the 275 lb springs on my front end but my car is a v6. Check your rebound and compression settings that they are equal on both sides. They should be cranked in (+) quite a bit because those springs are loose for a v8 on the street.

[MDSheds_SS]

Also notice a few of those noises when I put my Tubular K in. Double checked that everything was tight, and haven’t looked at it since. NJ roads suck and don’t be surprised if bend or break something on a bigger pot hole.

[ar0ck]

Is your interior in? When I was running the car tin-canned it was noticeably more violent. I run a Spohn Road-Race tubular K-Member and QA-1 coil ovefs, and most of the noise came from the back of the car.

[Blackbirdws6]

If mine makes noise, I wouldn't know it....

[sweetbmxrider]

Lube it and tighten up the shocks a bit.

[LS1ow]

Bob/Grape - Ill grab a can from napa today and hit em. The 275s springs are indeed a bit light for a V8, but i cut a ton of stuff out of the front end and was hoping to get to an acceptable weight for 275s but maybe im just not there.

MDSheds & Sausage Sandwich - Agreed, and especially around were i live. sometimes they are unavoidable too.

Alex - I have the interior in the car, but without any form of sound deadening. The dash is gutted, and the carpet is just Ozite.

BLS- so you are saying buy a blower and the sounds will vanish?

Adam- Tighten the shocks as in like the actual mounting hardware? Or the adjustment knob.

[Blackbirdws6]

Blower with open bypass and problem solved.

Assuming Adams response, tighten the shock settings.