Installed 5100's, light rattle upfront... advice on tracking down...

[PwAg]

Replaced XREAS over weekend with Bilstein 5100 on 08 Sport, 45k miles. Turns out one of the shocks was leaking. Lame for such low miles.

Running 5100 at 0.85" upfront, stock Sport springs.

After install, have a small rattle upfront, only noticeable on very rough pavement. Nothing when going off-road over rough terrain, nothing on normal road.

Top shock rod nuts were torqued to spec, always use new nylon locking nuts.

Would this order make sense...

1. Remove front-skid plate, test drive (done, not issue)
2. Drive truck for a week, let suspension settle out (doesn't entirely make sense as it's not a new spring, already settled)
3. Remove front sway, test drive
4. Remove suspension, retorque and change top rubber shock mounts (had to reuse old ones, Toyota dealer ordered wrongs ones, noticed when truck was apart, grr).


Anything else?

Some things I noticed during install:
With springs compressed, springs came off stock shock with much snugger fit than when putting on new strut (same degree of compression). ie more distance from 0.85" mark to top of strut mount than on stock shock collar to top mount. If I had used the 0" lift mark on 5100, may have even been able to move spring around by hand after spring compressors removed. It's as if this shock was built for only lifting coils, not stock springs like I was led to believe.

Tx


BTW, were Toyota engineers playing some sick joke with rear shock top strut bolt/removal process? No room to get vice grips in along with wrench, metal was soft and stripped easily. If anyone does this, strongly recommend you keep a Sawzall with Diablo metal blade (heavy metal, 1/2" rated blade, swiss made... skip the chinese garbage). Had to cut those nuts off.

 

[kaizer427]

Some things I noticed during install:
With springs compressed, springs came off stock shock with much snugger fit than when putting on new strut (same degree of compression). ie more distance from 0.85" mark to top of strut mount than on stock shock collar to top mount. If I had used the 0" lift mark on 5100, may have even been able to move spring around by hand after spring compressors removed. It's as if this shock was built for only lifting coils, not stock springs like I was led to believe.

This part doesn't sound right, I am wondering if you weren't given the wrong shocks up front. No way I could of put my stock spring on my 5100s without compressing them, or even close.

The fact that you moved them over with the spring perch moved up and had more room on the stock shock leads me to believe you have less preload now than you did originally.

How is the ride height compared to stock?

Other than whats mentioned above, I would go back through and retorque everything. Make sure the spring is seated on the shock correctly, etc.

 

[dthudon]

Did you verify the correct model number for the 5100s?

 

[PwAg]

Fronts were Bilstein 24-186711.

Purchased these: Bilstein 24-186711 Monotube Shock Absorber | AJUSA.com


It drives very well. If the shock was wrong size, would think the drive would be quite poor?

Ride height is exactly as anticipated: 34.85-35" ground-fender, stock was 34". Rears did not budge (36")

I heard some loud coil pops when taking it first test drive, which was normal when putting on KW/Ohlin coilovers on my M3 & Audi. Maybe the truck is just settling out in a strange way. We'll see.

 

[sonerick]

Is this a rattle or a clunk? Could it be the coil hitting the sway bar? Do you need the sway bar relocates?

I've seen people install the spring perch on the Billies upside down. Sounds like that is not the case, but you never know...

What do you mean by "top rubber shock mounts." The bushing at the very top? Or the rubber in between the coil and the upper shock mount? I reused all of my rubber parts from my old x-reas, no problems and I had about 100k on it.

Did you install all of the bushing washers? there should be (2) for each shock/strut, and they essentially sandwich the rubber bushings on either side of the upper shock mount. Order should be washer>bushing>shock mount (part welded onto vehicle)>bushing>washer>top nut. I forgot to put the bottom washer on first go-around during my install.

 

[ebg18t]

I heard some loud coil pops when taking it first test drive, which was normal when putting on KW/Ohlin coilovers on my M3 & Audi. Maybe the truck is just settling out in a strange way. We'll see.

You sure all the washers in the upper mount are in order and the main top bolt is torqued completely? I know what you mean about the popping... My first STaSIS setup did that, my Ohlin Motorsports are nice and quiet though.

 

[PwAg]

Is this a rattle or a clunk? Could it be the coil hitting the sway bar? Do you need the sway bar relocates?

I've seen people install the spring perch on the Billies upside down. Sounds like that is not the case, but you never know...

What do you mean by "top rubber shock mounts." The bushing at the very top? Or the rubber in between the coil and the upper shock mount? I reused all of my rubber parts from my old x-reas, no problems and I had about 100k on it.

Did you install all of the bushing washers? there should be (2) for each shock/strut, and they essentially sandwich the rubber bushings on either side of the upper shock mount. Order should be washer>bushing>shock mount (part welded onto vehicle)>bushing>washer>top nut. I forgot to put the bottom washer on first go-around during my install.

Tx for replies everyone.

Sonerick: You got it, perches/collars in correct orientation per Bilstein install schematic. Washer-bushing-frame-"-" orientation was also correct.

Yes, referring to rubber seat cushion that is sandwiched between top of spring and metal top hat. Re-used the old one as it looked ok. But then again, I don't know what a new one looks like (thickness wise). Could have been overly compressed/worn down.

You sure all the washers in the upper mount are in order and the main top bolt is torqued completely? I know what you mean about the popping... My first STaSIS setup did that, my Ohlin Motorsports are nice and quiet though.

ebg: Yeah, just a few pops on 1st test drive while it settled out. Now it is perfectly silent albeit the rattle I heard on especially rough road yest.

Have to say, drove it quite a bit today, and did not hear the sound. Drove very well. Can't help but start to think this may be some strange settlement issue. Will give it more time.


What does sway bar relocate entail? I will put painters tape on possible coil-endlink contact areas to see if that is issue.

If issue continues, just going to rip them out, install new top mounts that dealer messed up on. New nylon nuts etc. After that, I'd be lost.

 

[Greydog]

I would try #1, then #3, then #2.

I've resused the top rubber mount stuff, as long as they are torqued down well and the rubber bushings are compressed so they are the width of the washer (or even slightly more) they should not be rattling.

Perhaps double check the spring is rotated to sit in the lower perches correctly, its not a flat cut spring as you know.

Otherwise, I'd vote its the sway bar rattling in the frame mount bushings (more of a clunk over big pavement seams or speed bumps) or the links are tellign you they are done (more of a rattle).

 

[PwAg]

I would try #1, then #3, then #2.

I've resused the top rubber mount stuff, as long as they are torqued down well and the rubber bushings are compressed so they are the width of the washer (or even slightly more) they should not be rattling.

Perhaps double check the spring is rotated to sit in the lower perches correctly, its not a flat cut spring as you know.

Otherwise, I'd vote its the sway bar rattling in the frame mount bushings (more of a clunk over big pavement seams or speed bumps) or the links are tellign you they are done (more of a rattle).

Greydog, appreciate it. Now that I think about it, when removing that front sway, endlinks were completely floppy. Perhaps normal, but zero rigidity in those ball joints. Going to go ahead and order new ones (aftermarket prothane perhaps) for both front and rear, plus new sway bushings. If nothing comes of it, at least it will be a inexpensive experiment to see if it tightens up the ride.