GAZ Golds and a rattle from the rears

[clio_ross]

Evening all,

I’m in need of CS guru’s help to try and track down what it making a near constantly rattle from my GAZ Gold rear coilovers that’s appeared after a fitting full set to my 172.

Bit of background; These coilovers were bought new by me with 400lb front & 300lb rear spring rates and fitted 5/6 weeks ago. Car is only a weekend toy that goes out on dry days with the occasional track day (being saying that for 6 years and still not got there). Rear axle bushes were replaced last year and car runs a whiteline rear ARB.

I had the GAZ’s on the car for about 60 miles!(my first run out after fitting them) and there was a near constant rattle from the rear, that didn’t get much better the harder the dampers were set. This noise wasn’t there before fitting them (was on new cup shocks & Eibach sportlines for 4 years prior and approx 2k miles), so the only thing that’s changed is the fitting of these new coilovers.

Spoke with GAZ (who were really good tbf to them) and returned the units to them to have them inspected. They replaced the seals & spherical bearing in the NSR coilover, put both units on the dyno and both units were proved good.

Got them back and fitted them again, this time with Powerflex upper bushes, as I’m not a fan of the bushes GAZ supply (they have no sleeve/bush to stop you over-compressing them). I’ve also removed my rear k-brace, to ensure this wasn’t amplifying a small noise, but the noise is still there and noticeable

Attached is a video filmed from above the NSR damper which shows the noise:-

On my standard CS perusal for anyone with similar issue, I seen that Mark (@Jekyll) had issue with a set of GAZs he had previously, that was down to valving, but GAZ have assured me mines are good.

So over to CS for any help/experience anyone can provide that would help me resolve this…..sort of throwing them in the sea.

As always, thanks in advance for any help.

 

[aldo_87]

Seems from the video that it's coming from the damper or top mount.

You could disconnect the lower bolt, leave the top in and give it all a wiggle to see if the noise repeats?

 

[clio_ross]

So I’ve been out again and spanner checked everything yet again, just to be sure and all was tight, so ruled that out.

Then had another play with the damper settings and found that the noise now pretty much disappears (for the moment!!) when stiffening up to 6 clicks from full soft and upwards, so hopefully my post above was just slightly premature and this resolves the issue.

Going to try and refit the k-brace as well, just to see if it was also a factor in amplifying the noise…

 

[Martin_172]

I had this exact issue on a twingo which runs the same setup as a MK2 Clio, AP coilovers, rattle from the rear, I switched the top mounts, bump stops, was over everything with a fine comb, couldn't get to the bottom of it. Swapped the rear dampers for Apex ones and the noise disappeared I was getting it on both sides!

 

[JamesBryan]

I used to get a noise like that too with Koni adjustable shocks.

Never managed to cure it.

Now have BC's.

It almost sounds like the threaded part of the damper rod is hitting the hole which it passed through into the top mount bush.

 

[clio_ross]

interesting that the same issues don’t seem to be confined to a single brand of rear damper/coilover.

@JamesBryan that’s exactly where my mind first went and why I swapped to the Powerflex upper mount (and made a s/steel sleeve with the same ID as the GAZ shaft diameter) as the rubbers supplied with the GAZs don’t have a sleeve, so nothing to prevent you over-compressing the bushes or to help stop the damper rod hitting the hole in the shell.

Getting ready to go to Le Mans this week, so won’t get much opportunity for any further trials until post-Le Mans recovery is complete, but I’ll keep the thread updated with any further progress.

 

[ripp]

So, any news on this?
I am on my second set of GAZ GHA coilovers and they have always made knocking noises, front and rear. The rear on mine doesn't sound like yours, It's not tik tik tik like you have but rather a deeper knocking noise over bumps- still drives me mad. Also on the front it looks like there's a knock coming from the right side, but no one so far managed to source it. Everything looks OK if you take a look under the car.

 

[clio_ross]

The combination of having a now 1 year old, the wife being back at work and the rubbish Scottish weather, means I haven’t driven the car, other than to move it out the drive a couple of times; so no real update unfortunately.

Have you tried playing about with the damper settings? Essentially, I started at full soft and gradually increased the stiffness of dampers until the noise disappeared, which was 6 clicks for me. It might not help, but might be worth a try to rule it out.

Also, have you approached GAZ about the issues you’re having? They were really helpful when I flagged potential issues with mines, so if they’re still in warranty, it might be worth speaking with them to see if they can assist.

Suspension knocks & rattles are a PITA and infuriating, so no wonder it’s driving you mad.

 

[ripp]

I haven't spoke to Gaz, I know they're very nice and helpful but I recently bought the B14s so fingers crossed I'll get rid of all the noises. I also noticed that on firmer settings the noises kinda faded on the rear, but even on 6 clicks or so the car is too bouncy even on decent roads.