New Suspension-Issue

[Woollie]

Well I Picked up my SV6 S2 on Monday and had the suspension, wheels and tint done yesterday. Very happy with how it sits and looks (will post some pics soon).

My question is with the suspension, although the guy did say it would creek and bang around for a bit while it settles in, there is a loud bang every time I go over a speed bump or something similar(front end only). Is this a normal thing when you have the car lowered? Has anybody else experienced this before?

Just so you know I did Pedders suspension, as low as they had anyway. Sits 630mm rear and 640mm front.

Can anyone put my mind at ease or should I just take it back and get it looked at?

Cheers,
Clint

[IGNITIONSV6]

Hmm i did pedders coil overs and mine never cluncked and banged....i would wait a few days to let it settle and if it still does it take it back. I had a cheap shop do mine b4 i took it to pedders and it made loud bang in the front and it wasn't right.....did the just change springs???

[Woollie]

Yeah, just had the springs only done. Cost me $440

[IGNITIONSV6]

mmmm i would've got them to change the shocks 2....my local pedders said they couldn't even change springs that cheap..id take it back and ask them to test drive it and see what they think

[UFO]

should definitely be no noise, but I gotta ask.... when you say "go over a speed bump or something" you are taking it slow right?
do you hear the noise at any other time, like when driving at speed, braking, going around a round-a-bout?
my initial thoughts are that you are hitting bump stops on the front end because you arent driving slow enough. i've got Pedders SportsRyders and havent had a single issue.

you also said you went "as low as they go" from pedders, but you didnt mention if they changed the shocks too?
because lowering it a little bit with pedders on the SportRyders doesnt require new shocks (thats what I did, never hit bump stops), but if you dropped it significantly you need to swap over the shocks too. standard shocks in suspension too short will continue to hit the bump stops in the shocks.
long story short, we need pics and more info.

[IGNITIONSV6]

I Concur ^^^^^ lol

[UFO]

Yeah, just had the springs only done. Cost me $440

a) if you went 'as low as they go', springs only is no good.
b) that's damn cheap (almost too cheap) for legit SportsRyders from Pedders. $600-650 is about as cheap as anyone can normally find. take a look underneath- what colour are they? red or black?
c) is this a pedders reseller or a legit pedders store?

my spidey scenses are tingling...

[Jonno]

knowing pedders they probobly compressed ur springs and put em in
now their ####ing up u gotta take ur car back and they will list all this shit wrong with ur car
fix it and expect u to pay even if i didnt tell them to fix it

[Jesterarts]

My money is either on loose strut top nut.

When you get new suspension, creeking is acceptable... banging is not.

Banging is caused by their 2 objects that should be hitting into each other, hitting into eachother or when something in the geometry is wrong preloaded tension is released on a component. Eg turning from lock to lock you get a bang when instead of the shock and spring having a smooth rotation it catches loads and then suddenly rotates.

Hope you get this sorted mate.

One quick question, what wheels? Any chance its a wheel hitting the inner guard or something?

[Woollie]

OK.....in my opinion the car isn't that low. At the front about an inch above guard and back is about level with guard. That's why I didn't bother with shocks. I rang Pedders and they said it could have something to do with the top of the strut, can't remember what exactly. The top nut is about half a centimeter down the thread, feels pretty tight there.

There is definitely no noise during driving and the bangs happens only when going over a bump slowly. Certainly doesn't seem normal to me.

This was done by a pedders reseller and the springs are RED. I'm going to take it to Pedders tomorrow for them to have a look see.

Wheels are BSA Velocity 20". Apparently perfect for the Commodore.

[Jesterarts]

Yeah, even if it all feels tight when you play with it by hand, it's a whole new story when the car's weight applies dynamic forces on it.

Seems pedders things its the same thing as me then.

Hope that will sort it out for you mate. 2min job for them.

Let us know how it goes.

[Woollie]

Let's hope it's easy fixed. Not dishing out any more money.

Will let you know how it goes.

[TinSnips]

Not necessarily helpful - but are all the insulators on? I just had springs fitted and am missing an insulator - no issues with it, but I'm aware of the noise. I'll grab a replacement insulator at some point.

I agree with the strut top issue causing a bang, but thought I'd suggest another possibility for an odd noise from new springs.

[Woollie]

Just got back from Pedders........the guy that did the springs hasn't put the coil wrap onto the new springs, that could be one of the issues. The other could be that the washer could be in upside down or something. It's going back to him tomorrow to be fixed hopefully.

[IGNITIONSV6]

You would think they wouldn't make mistakes like that...hopefully that's all it is

[TinSnips]

Not all springs use them, so if the place that fitted them doesn't solely fit pedders (or kings, I think use them as well) then it may not be habitual to fit them. Not that I'm throwing up excuses for them, just saying.

[UFO]

yeah... as Tinny said not all places use them (or need them). A previous car had yellow King springs installed, and they definitely had this white plastic coil wrapping on the top of them (and the bloody things still clicked when I was turning slowly), but both my other cars with Pedders (red springs) didnt have any plastic wrapping.

[UFO]

There is definitely no noise during driving and the bangs happens only when going over a bump slowly. Certainly doesn't seem normal to me.

This was done by a pedders reseller and the springs are RED. I'm going to take it to Pedders tomorrow for them to have a look see.

Good stuff that springs are red.... at least you know they aren't compressed cheapo jobbies.
Now that you say you are driving slowly over the bumps, I dont think it could be the bump stops in the suspension. Is it more like a clicking sound or higher pitched (metal hitting metal), because to me a 'bang' is a loud dull sound like something is being hit.
I know it's hard but maybe describe the sound a little more.

Otherwise Jesterarts suggestion sounds logical, but I'd be pissed if they didnt do up the strut top nut! That would mean the spring is sitting in there all loose... very bad and should have been picked up on a test drive (wouldve made noises just getting it out of the driveway and onto the road) .

[glenn l]

the top spring plate is timed and has to go on a certain way, if its on incorrectly the top seat can foul on the top of the strut body.
the kings ve coils come with a black coil wrap on them from the factory, and the pedders coils dont and you should reuse the original grey wrap that comes on the factory coils in roughly the same position as the factory coils.

[Luke V8]

messed up my quotes... lol

[Luke V8]

take a look underneath- what colour are they? red or black?

Pedders touring springs are black.

[glenn l]

Pedders touring springs are black.

touring coils are grey.

[Jesterarts]

Pedders Touring coils I took out of the VZ were black...?

[IGNITIONSV6]

Pedders Touring coils I took out of the VZ were black...?

It's a conspiracy...there actually green but colour blind people see them as grey lol

[UFO]

i'd stick with SportsRyders (red).