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About to take GC kit off and throw in the woods!!! Please help.

6K views 58 replies 16 participants last post by  DisposableHero 
#1 ·
I still have noises coming from what sounds like the GC kit. I just got back from lifting the car up and without any weight on the suspension I can grab the spring and move it back and forth REALLY easy. I may be wrong, but it seems to me like that when I go over bumps, brake, let off brake that the spring MAY move and make these noises. Cause it is just metal to metal. Maybe I need to do some adjusting? I have the Nitto 255/45/18's on it. It is 27.5" in the rear and like 26-7/8" in the front. I have the spacers on the rear. If anybody can help, it would be much appreciated. Leaving in the morning for Indiana and I would love not to listen to that all the way there. Thanks.
 
#3 ·
Over bumps and at a start and stop, it sounds like a clunk. I have that RMD bar on and all that looks really tight. I just put the spacer in today with the rubber washer. It still makes noise. I'm driving around with the entire back seat out. It's not gremlins I swear. My buddy was in the back seat the other night and he was like what is that noise?
 
#6 ·
Sometimes when you jack the car up, a rear spring will not seat properly in the perch when you lower it back down. When you then drive off and go over any small bump, that spring will reseat in the perch with a BAM !!! Scared the crap out of me the first time it happened.
 
#7 ·
double check the center shock bolt at the top... mine came off when driving 3 days after install (talking rear here) and made a huge bang.. but if you are getting noises i'd say you need to add the spacers in the like feffman found out for us... i have ZERO issues with my GC and i love it.. (except for the front squeeking, even with the $33 bearing per side in the front BIGGEST WASTE OF MONEY!!!)
 
#8 ·
The more i read about the GC kit the less i want to take the plunge..so many mixed results

Has anyone installed the GC kit and retained the stock ride noise quality?(minus, those creaky ass TSB Spacers, now those were a waste of time) I just keep on hearing about bad results from this route and prolonged mod hell..
 
#12 ·
I am still on the fence about Ground Control because I will need a new set of shocks at the same time.

Whether I get replacement FG2s, QA1s or anything else + Ground Control, + the other bits & pieces required to make GC quiet I get a cost roughly equal to a set of KW Coilovers that reportedly have no issues.

Therein lies the conumdrum.
 
#13 ·
What exactly is the Feffman fix? Are they the bearings for the fronts? I am in need of a suspension overhaul. I really don't want to go into another mod hell as my sway bars are my nemisis right now.
 
#15 ·
The bearings dont work! it still squeeks.. i bought the $33 each bearing and it squeeks, but to all on the fence... jump on over! do the Feffman fix in the back and the back will be fine... in the front if you want to do the bearings dont get the sealed ones for $66 just do unsealed ones... i can get 2 of them for about $25 lol...

as we all can see some people cant stand a click of creek, where i will deal with a fcking squeek for the great handling.... PUSH THE THROTTLE DOWN AND YOU WONT HEAR THE SQUEEK!!! lol
 
#16 ·
Well. I raised the ride height (now it looks raked out)HA. I took the strut bar out. Tighten all of it back down. Made sure to smash the center pillow with tightening of the center nut. AND I STILL HAVE THE NOISE. It's killin me. I don't know where else to look. Maybe I got a bad fg2. They were brand new? Can I throw on my original shocks and test? Are there any bushings back there that could be bad?
 
#18 ·
Did fhe feff fix (made noise). Did the spacers (made noise).
 
#21 ·
Did fhe feff fix (made noise). Did the spacers (made noise).
Are you using 2 spacers as suggested by TBJIS? If your are I would try 3, the symptoms still sound like the shock, not the spring.

The bushings in the rear are within the control arms - they usually get "squeaky" but would not "clunk" unless they are pretty far gone. The bushings are not serviceable and require the replacement of the control arm.
 
#20 ·
Does anybody know the outside and inside diameter of the adjuster ring in the rear? Thinking about putting a rubber bushing right there.
 
#22 ·

 
#26 ·
I've had some Squeaking/Clunking issues after jacking the car up, or after some rainy days. Usually Jacking it up, moving the spring around, and spraying some White Lithium Grease on the Upper, and Lower parts of the seat - and Whala!
 
#27 ·
That's what I was going to try next. Glob some grease on it.
 
#29 ·
There is a guy on the 09 forum that put in some Eibachs and had some squeaking coming from the front, so he wrapped the coils with rubber hose. I guess it eliminated the metal on metal noises.

Other than that, the randomness of this happening to some people and not to others is probably the most annoying part of this. I haven't taken my suspension apart to put springs in, but might there have been a bushing or washer on one of the suspension parts (sways/toe-rods) that you forgot to put back on.
 
#30 ·
I'm going to look on McMaster-CARR and correct these noise issues with some good ol rubber.
 
#31 ·
Were you thinking rubber oring or hose to slip over the spring itself?:confused:
 
#32 ·
Anywhere I see metal to metal, I'm thinking sandwich some rubber in there. The only thing is the adjuster may not spin as easy with a piece of rubber between it and the spring. I'm not to concerned about adjusting on the fly anyway. I might rap that sleeve to. McMaster has everything. They have those throw out bearings for like a couple of bucks (unsealed kind).
 
G
#34 ·
Justin: Please take some pics of the top of your rear shock mounts showing how the rubber is compressed and the spacers are installed. I'm guessing you clunk in the rear has to do with that area. Did you tighten the top bolts after the car was back on the ground or when the suspension was still unloaded? Do you have the thin rubber washer between the shock's dustboot and the mount? Did you consider modifying the internal metal sleeve inside the mounts instead of/ in addition to adding the Feffman washers?
 
#35 ·
Justin: Please take some pics of the top of your rear shock mounts showing how the rubber is compressed and the spacers are installed. I'm guessing you clunk in the rear has to do with that area. Did you tighten the top bolts after the car was back on the ground or when the suspension was still unloaded? Do you have the thin rubber washer between the shock's dustboot and the mount? Did you consider modifying the internal metal sleeve inside the mounts instead of/ in addition to adding the Feffman washers?
You sir are a machine. :abuse:
 
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