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Noise in front end with H&R springs

arttyszka

Active Member
Joined
June 30, 2013
Messages
50
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City, State
Plymouth, MN
Year, Model & Trim Level
2014 Sport
I had a local shop put the H&R (Flex) springs in my Sport last October, everything was fine up until a couple weeks ago when I started noticing a slight "creek" in the front suspension when turning. It got more annoying so I took it into the dealer to check out. They said the driver's side upper strut bearing was altogether missing and that it must have been done by the shop that swapped the springs, seems odd.

So they replaced the bearing, and did a full alignment. Tech says the noise is coming from the sway bar, and that it's because the geometry has changed due to the springs, but it wasn't there before, and now seems just as bad as before taking into the dealer.

Has anyone else with H&R springs experienced any front end noise?

ISSUE RESOLVED - See below.
 



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Im assuming these are Flex H&R springs?
 






Yes, they're the Flex model.
 






Zero noise with my H&R units. Love them for many reasons...handling, looks...all win.

Good luck getting the issue resolved.

Darren
 






Zero noise with my H&R units. Love them for many reasons...handling, looks...all win.

Good luck getting the issue resolved.

Darren

Darren, how many miles do you have on them now? Mine were perfect for 10k.
 






I had a local shop put the H&R (Flex) springs in my Sport last October, everything was fine up until a couple weeks ago when I started noticing a slight "creek" in the front suspension when turning. It got more annoying so I took it into the dealer to check out. They said the driver's side upper strut bearing was altogether missing and that it must have been done by the shop that swapped the springs, seems odd.

So they replaced the bearing, and did a full alignment. Tech says the noise is coming from the sway bar, and that it's because the geometry has changed due to the springs, but it wasn't there before, and now seems just as bad as before taking into the dealer.

Has anyone else with H&R springs experienced any front end noise?

It is not possible for the bearing to be altogether missing... The strut would literally come apart!
 






I have had mine in since December, so not that many in fairness. Not that it is a huge difference but I have the Explorer units...should have very little impact.
 






I'm going to take it back to the dealer, it has to be something else. The creaking isn't subtle, it's to the point that people look at me when I'm making a turn in a parking lot. This doesn't make sense.
 






If it's that loud could be a ball joint or something. Most problems we see at work or strut bearings for pop/creak when turning.
 






I'm going to take it back to the Goodyear shop that did the springs and see what they can find. My dealer is being no help, their immediate (and lazy) response is "well you put springs on it". I know it's not the angle of the sway bar, since that's likely no different than it would be if it were loaded down to Max GVW.
 






I'm going to take it back to the Goodyear shop that did the springs and see what they can find. My dealer is being no help, their immediate (and lazy) response is "well you put springs on it". I know it's not the angle of the sway bar, since that's likely no different than it would be if it were loaded down to Max GVW.

I had creeks and pops coming from the front (stock), noticeably when backing into or out of my driveway. I took it to the dealer and they determined that both front axels were at fault, they replaced both, the noise has not come back.
 






I had creeks and pops coming from the front (stock), noticeably when backing into or out of my driveway. I took it to the dealer and they determined that both front axels were at fault, they replaced both, the noise has not come back.

Do you happen to know if there's any kind of TSB out on the axles?

Thanks
 






Do you happen to know if there's any kind of TSB out on the axles?

Thanks

They didn't mention a TSB, that's not to say that there isn't one. There was no TSB reflected on my paperwork though.

Also there was a thread some time ago with people mentioning that the dealers were replacing lower control arms + hydra bushings for a similar popping while backing out w/ the wheels turned
 






Squeaking Issue Resolved

Hopefully everyone with H&R springs will see this, since I have to believe I'm not the only one that will have experienced it. Back at the dealer I had a contentious and knowledgable mechanic. He pinpointed the issue - there is a rubber bumper, essentially a donut, on the strut rod between the strut housing and the tower, its job is to keep the strut from bottoming out on a big bump. In my case, the top of the strut housing had very little clearance between itself and the bumper, and would very easily make contact - thus the creaking noise when turning and breaking (slight nose dive) at low speeds.

He had 2 suggestions to resolve it, first and easiest was to lube the bumper and the top of the strut where they meet. Pretty easy to do, just jack up the front to get enough clearance in the wheel well, slide up the rubber boot that covers the strut and has the bumper up inside it and spray some silicone lube. Only the silicone didn't provide enough lubrication in my case. His second suggestion and likely the better fix was to remove the struts, take the bumpers out and cut 1/4" or so off them.

When I got home I took some bearing grease and coated the bottom side of the bumper and top of the strut, not a lot, but enough to 100% solve the issue - no more creaking whatsoever. Now I'll see how long the grease holds up, but if it keeps the noise away w/o having to re-grease constantly, I'll skip shaving the donuts down.
 






Thanks for the info. I haven't had any issues. Was the issue with the bearing a bad install? or wrong diagnosis? Thanks
 






Thanks for the info. I haven't had any issues. Was the issue with the bearing a bad install? or wrong diagnosis? Thanks

Bearing was a bad install, but the noise was the strut rubbing on the bumper all along. What's odd is that there must be something slightly different with mine, just a little less clearance than everyone else with H&Rs I guess.
 






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