Squeaking Front End - I'm Lost

Pe0plez

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Hey all, about two months ago I installed my Tein Flex Z coilovers along with new 18x8.5 +35 wheels wrapped in 245/40/18 Michelins...

All was good except for a creaking noise from the front passenger side. I figured this might just be the springs settling in. Fast forward a month and a half and it's still there after ~4000 miles. So, I take the car up undo everything and re-tighten it all. Now whenever I go over a bump or dip in the road at speed (30+mph) I hear a squeaking sound. It sounds like rubber on metal. At first I thought I was rubbing on my fenders so I raised the car up a bit. Still there... So next I maxed out the camber on the coilovers to see if that'd fix anything.... It didn't.

So just today I took everything out again, lubed up the coilovers and reset everything to the reference values in the manual. I then raised the ride height to fit my car and torqued it all back up... still squeaking... at this point my front end is raised way higher than the rear and it's still squeaking so I don't think anything is rubbing. I even stuck some painters tape under my fenders where I was rubbing before I raised it back up and that all looks fine and hasn't torn.

Does anyone have any ideas what this could be? I'm all out of things I can think about atm...
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Doc_Mello

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When does it happen? On bumps, sure, but on compression or rebound, or both? After everything youā€™ve done, I wonder if itā€™s the strut itself. Try dialing back the stiffness to full soft, and see if that eliminates it. If so, dial up the stiffness until it returns, the dial it back by one.
 
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Pe0plez

Pe0plez

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When does it happen? On bumps, sure, but on compression or rebound, or both? After everything youā€™ve done, I wonder if itā€™s the strut itself. Try dialing back the stiffness to full soft, and see if that eliminates it. If so, dial up the stiffness until it returns, the dial it back by one.
It's sort of hard for me to tell as it only happens at speed so it's pretty quick. I am able to reproduce a similar sound by jumping on the door well of the car and it occurs on rebound then.

Juat tried taking it on a 10min drive with the softest damper setting and it's still there.
 

Doc_Mello

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Juat tried taking it on a 10min drive with the softest damper setting and it's still there.
Try tightening it up to see if that changes it.

if not, it might be the strut itself. Thatā€™s known to happen, however rare.
 


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Pe0plez

Pe0plez

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Try tightening it up to see if that changes it.

if not, it might be the strut itself. Thatā€™s known to happen, however rare.
Tightened up it's still there. Less often but on medium to large dips/bumps in the road it's there.
 
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Pe0plez

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At this point, you may want to contact Tein, and lay out everything youā€™ve done. Then, see what they say.
Ok yeah, I just sent their California office an email laying out everything I've done and asking for suggestions. Here's hoping they have a solution or can help me get non-squeaky ones if it is the struts. :bow:
 

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Ok yeah, I just sent their California office an email laying out everything I've done and asking for suggestions. Here's hoping they have a solution or can help me get non-squeaky ones if it is the struts. :bow:
If all else fails turn up the radio and floor it all the time...it'll wear off šŸ¤ŸšŸ˜Ž
 


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Pe0plez

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If all else fails turn up the radio and floor it all the time...it'll wear off šŸ¤ŸšŸ˜Ž
That's pretty much what I've been doing the last 2 weeks haha! So much so my average MPG has dropped from 32 to 30.
 
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Pe0plez

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Still waiting on a response, it'll probably be a day or two.

But I was doing some more research in the meantime and I saw on a few other forums that people with similar issues (usually different brand coilovers) fixed it by removing the spring "silencer" at the bottom.

Any thoughts on this being a potential fix? I'm at work and can't try it now but maybe tomorrow morning I can.

Honda Civic 10th gen Squeaking Front End - I'm Lost 20220523_142251
 

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With my Si, I don't have this issue, even though my Flex Zs look identical to yours. Could be a Coupe / Hatch difference in the front suspension, but I doubt it.
 
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Pe0plez

Pe0plez

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A follow up on this issue:

I heard back from Tein and they asked me to send them some measurements to double check the coilover settings. They let me know that there was slightly too much preload on my springs, so I adjusted these but still had squeaky suspension. I investigated a little further and have seen several other people have similar noises/issues because of their sway bar links in the front. I have ordered a new set of whiteline end links in hopes that this will solve the issue. If not, I will be sending the coilovers in for Tein to take a look and check for any potential issues causing the noise.
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