I have a 1997 honda accord S.E. in December I swapped out the OEM struts and replaced them with KYB GR2 Struts all four wheels . Then in June I took out the OEM springs and then replaced them with Eibach Pro again all four wheels. Also immediately after I replaced the springs I began to hear a clunking noise when ever I go over a bump. I called the vendor that I purchased the springs from to find out if there are any additional items that I should have purchased because I dropped the suspension and they said no. I then took the car to another shop and had them double check the work that the first shop did and he said everything was fine. He also went around with a pry bar to check the rear bushings and he said those were fine as well. Does anyone know what could be causing this clunking noise and again it is more pronounced on the rear right wheel. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'm facing the same issue now ... just replaced springs and shocks all around with Eibach Pro-Kit and Koni STR.T, and it feels like something is loose in the suspension -- primarily in the rear.

I'd like to think that the parts I replaced are all good and the new noises are just a byproduct of the springs and shocks getting tighter and passing more of the shock to the remaining suspension components and car body. All other rear suspension components are still original (230k) and I did notice that the trunk liner makes a bit of noise when you bang on it.

I'm going to take a closer look at everything this weekend including sway bar and control arms, pull out the trunk liner and spare tire, maybe leave the rear seat folded down ... to see if I can pinpoint the problem.

 

Yesterday I pulled out the trunk liner and spare tire, found some loose screws under the spare that were making some noise, but not the suspension noise.

I can definitely hear the clunking in the rear when I drive over a sunken manhole cover or small pothole. There are no obviously loose parts underneath, although I see a lot of old rubber with cracks in it that I assume I will have to replace. I plan on going through the suspension in this order:

1) sway bar links and bushings
2) lower shock mount bushing
3) lower control arms
4) upper control arms
5) trailing arms and/or bushings

I think that's about all that's in the rear suspension that can be replaced.

If anyone has a recommendation on which of the above is most likely the culprit, please let me know.

Replacing the lower shock mount bushing is going to be a bit of a chore -- I need to find a bushing press tool that I can use while on the car.

I can't even find a trailing arm bushing anywhere ... are these even sold separately for a '96? I only see the complete trailing arms sold at dealership pricing .

 

Just took another good look under the suspension this morning, and found the cause of the loud clunk --

On the right side of the rear suspension, the suspension crossmember was bent at the corner where the lower rear control arm mounts to it, putting the tip of the metal within a millimeter or so of the control arm. With normal suspension travel the control arm stays clear of this corner, but over larger bumps it was hitting, causing a pretty loud knocking sound through the body of the car.

It was easy to bend this corner back out with a pair of vice grips, and now that clunk is gone ...

... and I'm left only with the less pronounced but still noticable "flabbiness" of a generally worn suspension. So I think I still need to go through the suspension and start replacing bushings until everything really tightens up.

Questions:

* My lower control arms were pretty easy to twist (a couple of mm) with a pry bar. Are the bushings this soft or should the arms be extremely stiff? The control arms are easy to replace -- I just don't want to go through the time and cost of doing so if it's not needed.

* Assuming I change out all the rubber, do these suspensions every get really tight? Or do they still flap around a lot over bumps? (fyi I have new Eibach Pro-Kit and KONI STR.T on the car already).

Thanks. John