clicking suspension

[huj2000]

i recently changed out all the struts in my car and whenever i go over a bump i hear a clicking sound coming from the suspension and im not sure whts causing it

[SoSleek]

It's probably everything getting seated. Likely your sway bars. If it continues for over 100-200 miles I would get it looked at.

EDIT: I'm not too familiar with gen 1's...do they have front and rear sway bars?

[ToyoSolV6]

i recently changed out all the struts in my car and whenever i go over a bump i hear a clicking sound coming from the suspension and im not sure whts causing it

when you changed your struts did you change your strut mounts, if you didnt its most likley that, every time you go over a bump you will hear a clunk sound or a click because they are really old and begin to wear out after a long time.

[02slera]

i agree its probably the strut mounts or a loose bolt or nut. damn i feel bad for you, i know you went through a lot changing out those struts, i did mine a few months ago, i installed all new strut mounts at the same time and tightened the hell outta everything i got no problems. i hope its coming from the front as that should be easier to fix.

[huj2000]

lol ya the fronts took a while but they werent as bad as the back oh wow did i have to go through a lotta interior to get to the rear struts lol i spent the first half hour trying to figure out where the tops were and then i realized i better get my trim puller out, im gonna check my ball joints first just incase but it seems like the reality is im gonna have to take it all apart all ovber again

[amabsolute]

check your sway bar link nuts first before your take apart your interior, i if they are over tightened they have a tendency to loosen. if you can tighten the nuts more, loosen them up and add lock tight.

[huj2000]

ill check those when i check my ball joints thnx for the advice

[huj2000]

if it does come out to be strut mounts will i be able to just change the strut bearings on the front or should i get a whole new strut mount because i dont really see how the strut mount can fail other than the bearing

[unbalancedwood]

Most of the time once you change your suspension you will notice a problem or two, most of the time its the improper tightening of the front struts.

This happened with me a few times since I had various setups with the solara.

If you noticed that your struts have a 'notch' on the top of them, and the strut mount also has this same notch (where they have taken a circle & flatened off the 2 sides) you know what I'm talking about. I have sketched up a ghetto picture below.



Basically, you tightened the 19mm nut when the strut mount & strut were not seated properly 'inside' each other. Try loosening up the nut a bit, driving around a little till you dont hear it, then tighten it back up Or you can remove the front strut assembly and redo (I considered the fronts easier then the rears since its pretty easy to do it by yourself.

[02slera]

^^^ haha yea i figured that out when i did my struts...
i was trying to tighten that 19mm nut on top, but the whole shaft was spinning, i was like wtf! how are you supposed to tighten this? i didnt want to damage the shaft trying to grip it with pliers or something, finally i realized that when the mount properly lines up with the shaft, they lock in position so that the shaft will not spin without the strut mount coming with it, so then i could easily hold the strut mount in place while tightening the 19mm nut and the shaft could not spin. in summary... Shaft, Mount, Nut

[unbalancedwood]

Well as I recall...its been awhile...when you have the assembly (strut+spring+strut mount) off the vehicle and you trying to tighten the nut down, just tighten it enough to hold the shaft in place with the mount (lined up correctly).

You will be able to tighten it down fully/torque when you have the vehicle resting on the ground & all is complete.

[02slera]

i was referring to having trouble tightening the nut when the shaft and mount are NOT lined up correctly.
i tightened mine completely while off the vehicle.
its a good thing too, this is how i saw the problem happening and was able to correct it BEFORE installing the new strut on the vehicle.
more than one way to skin a cat i guess.