You know i just read the install PDF before i posted earlier and again was fooled/confused to believe the nuts on the bracket should be tightened, as i had done, to 73 foot-pounds. Then i read your post. Then i read the PDF again. You are correct. Not 73. No where does their install PDF state the torque for those nuts. Now I’m almost certain the right one has broken loose or is about to. Time to pull out the thread cutter again.
amazing that UPP would not specify that torque value. When I originally removed my sway bars it prolly was not 73. I used an impact gun (electric) to remove them, so i did not note the installed torque. In retrospect, it was prolly not as tight as the 73 i used.
Prior to installing the replacement bushings that UPP sent me I emailed them more than once to ask the torque. No reply. Maybe they can finally pipe in here and definitively state the bracket nut torque settings.
I guess the good news is that my repair is stronger than the OEM solution.
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UPP sport springs and sway bars, clunk from car on bumps-HELP!
- Thread starter Huskyfan
- Start date
Neither UP or Eibach include those torque specs in their instructions. These are crucial and after a lot of searching I cam across 26 ft-lbs and this seems to be working fine so far. I haven't had my sways in very long but so far zero noise. knock on wood.
What did you torque the rear bushing brackets to? I think those are even less than 26 by 2 or 3 ft-lbs.
Glad you were able to repair the issue.
What did you torque the rear bushing brackets to? I think those are even less than 26 by 2 or 3 ft-lbs.
Glad you were able to repair the issue.
I’ve been fighting this clunking, clicking noise for months. I hope/think i might have figured it out. Guess I’ll find out, when car goes to local SC for new windshield and diagnosis, fixing of this clunk.
Honestly i thought it was a function of loose nuts/bolts/brackets, etc after installation of UPP lowering springs and sway bars. I’ve checked their tightness, etc multiple times. I did not want to take it to Tesla until i had ruled out pretty much anything that had been done by installing aftermarket parts.
About two weeks ago i was driving up my smooth, sloped drive way. I let up on the accelerator pedal for a second and car gently started to roll back a bit. Upon reapplying i heard a clunk or click. Sounded very much like noise from defective CV joints, etc. I ensured axle nut was tight to spec, along with lug nuts (they were). I raised the car and gave the wheel a turn rapidly clockwise/counter clockwise rotation. Sounds like its coming from inner CV joint or transfer case. Left front wheel exhibits same noise, albeit much less pronounced than right front wheel.
Now it makes sense. When you hit a bump your foot most likely comes off accelerator or bump causes slight “slack” in drive train. Question now is what part might be causing this. I can assure you not the lug nuts too loose. Seriously doubt its the axle nut. I can clearly feel the clinking in the drive line. I’m hoping its just as simple as torquing down the inner CV joints. Maybe replacing the CV joints and axles. Perhaps its a need for grease on the axle splines. Hoping Tesla figures it out. It’s really pronounced when driving. Every little bump or entrance into driveway or parking lot makes the noise
Honestly i thought it was a function of loose nuts/bolts/brackets, etc after installation of UPP lowering springs and sway bars. I’ve checked their tightness, etc multiple times. I did not want to take it to Tesla until i had ruled out pretty much anything that had been done by installing aftermarket parts.
About two weeks ago i was driving up my smooth, sloped drive way. I let up on the accelerator pedal for a second and car gently started to roll back a bit. Upon reapplying i heard a clunk or click. Sounded very much like noise from defective CV joints, etc. I ensured axle nut was tight to spec, along with lug nuts (they were). I raised the car and gave the wheel a turn rapidly clockwise/counter clockwise rotation. Sounds like its coming from inner CV joint or transfer case. Left front wheel exhibits same noise, albeit much less pronounced than right front wheel.
Now it makes sense. When you hit a bump your foot most likely comes off accelerator or bump causes slight “slack” in drive train. Question now is what part might be causing this. I can assure you not the lug nuts too loose. Seriously doubt its the axle nut. I can clearly feel the clinking in the drive line. I’m hoping its just as simple as torquing down the inner CV joints. Maybe replacing the CV joints and axles. Perhaps its a need for grease on the axle splines. Hoping Tesla figures it out. It’s really pronounced when driving. Every little bump or entrance into driveway or parking lot makes the noise
I have this same thing, i believe it's fairly normal to hear that noise when rocking the wheel back and forth but would love to hear what Tesla says. I also have a faint periodic clunk that i've chalked up to my sway bars (need to get the new bushings) and its especially noticeable when driving on hills.
@mcbarnet007 and i talked about this in the past and i think he had a similar noise on the front hub.
Here's mine:
So is your sound obvious or at least noted/annoying when hitting even minor bumps in the road? I know that drive trains have a certain amount of “slop” in them due to mechanical clearances. If i had to make one reasonably intelligent guess, it sounds to me like a CV joint that was not properly packed with grease, based on my pretty extensive experience working on ICE cars. The balls inside the CV joint are banging about in their retainers. it would not be very noticeable at first when the car was new, but would become progressively more pronounced as wear happened between the moving parts, due to a lack of grease. I’ll let you know what they tell me.
Here’s a relatively long for our purposes video highlighting CV joint noise.
Yea definitely have slight sounds on bumps or uneven surfaces, but the hills make it particularly bad which is what is interesting. I have a ~30 degree hill near my house that is fairly smooth and i get a bit of a rattle every time i go down it and have noticed similar things in some parking garages.
Thanks for that video, makes sense! Curious how much of a hard time they'd give people who have tracked their cars if that's a legit thing though.
Haha yea i know the difference between grade and degrees but my ability to eyeball either is pretty terrible
Here's a pic that sorta shows it, my phone says its about 15 degrees but definitely steeper than a parking garage. I get a clunking every time i go down this hill and the road surface is fairly smooth.
Why does this forum seem to have a number of holier than thou, know it all, sanctimonious jerks like you?? Boys (punks) that think they know everything about everyone and their poop doesn’t stink.
Don’t lecture me about being entitled. Tesla has not confirmed it was my CV joint. I speculated, based on my previous knowledge and experience working on cars, but I’m not a service technician at Tesla.
How do you know what communication i've had from UPP? Do you work for them and have read my email communication with them?
You don’t know me, my background, my mechanical aptitude, experience or ability to work on vehicles etc. It has nothing to do with “entitled”. It has everything to do with UPP providing great customer service and follow on communication with a loyal customer (me) to ensure I’m happy and satisfied with their product (which i am).
First off I don’t recall ever finding in UPP’s instructions the torque requirements for the sway bar brackets.
2nd, i never demanded anything from them. They contacted me, stated they had issues with a production run of the sway bar rubber bushings during the time frame in which i purchased my sway bars that were not to the proper dimension. They were kind enough to send me a pair of the new, correctly manufactured rubber bushings. In the process of installing those new bushings i noted the stud had broken away due to my overtorquing them (I’m a strong guy, having spent a twenty year career as an infantryman in the US army and then another 17 years as a firefighter in downtown Seattle). Yes, i have a tendency to overtorque stuff, hence the reason for my using a torque wrench and trying to ascertain the proper torque setting.
Sure, I overtorqued them. I solved the problem. Fixed it. I let UPP know that i felt they should include that information in their instructions. Their instructions still do not mention the proper torque for the sway bar brackets.
My work to ensure everything was properly secured, nothing was under or overtorqued, along with their new rubber bushings solved the clunking from the front left. Whether that was related to my installation or their out of spec item is subject to debate. The stud broke away from its weld to the frame when I attempted to torque down the new bushings, it was not broken prior to installation of the replacement bushings. That being said, i both repaired the broken stud and also replaced their rubber bushing.
After my repair work i still continued to have an annoying rattle or clunk, but now it’s very pronounced from the right front. In the course of trying to diagnose it I’ve discerned it may be related to a problem with the car, not the products from UPP or my installation. My car has not even been to the Tesla SC yet, so whether or not the noise in the front right is due to some other issue such as UPP's products (which i doubt at this time) or a problem with a defective component from Tesla is unknown.
Other than the issue with their relatively ambiguous instructions I have nothing but positive things to say about them. That's evident by my installation of their lowering springs, sway bars and front lip spoiler. They obviously have no animosity towards me or feel I've done them a disservice publicly, since they were kind enough to send me some free merchandise for my troubles. I’ll continue to purchase from them and recommend them to those that ask me about the quality of their products and their customer service.
Why don't you worry about your own issues instead of passing judgement on someone you don't even know?
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That’s a steep hill. We have some really steep ones here in Seattle. Not sure if they are SF steep, but steep. Good workout walking up and down them (or dragging a hose line up them).Haha yea i know the difference between grade and degrees but my ability to eyeball either is pretty terrible
Here's a pic that sorta shows it, my phone says its about 15 degrees but definitely steeper than a parking garage. I get a clunking every time i go down this hill and the road surface is fairly smooth.
View attachment 588200
took my car to SC for new windshield and annoying clunk on bumps from right front suspension.
Here’s what Tesla SC said. Quoted from my invoice.
“Technician inspected, found aftermarket springs on OEM struts, aftermarket sway bars front and rear, and all sway bar end links. Noise is caused by lowered springs on OEM struts, struts bottom out on jounce movement of suspension. Strut is gas to soften the jounce travel, since vehicle sits lower, strut is not allowed to fully soften jounce to its abilities allowing strut to bottom out. This noise cannot be covered under warranty due to aftermarket parts. ‘
I disagree w technician. It makes noise when not even going over bump etc. if it was as they said, then does not seem that it would make noise when slightly accelerating/decelerating on completely smooth terrain.
I have not picked car up.
Any suggestions in what to say or ask of Tesla? They said they could remove aftermarket parts etc to solve issue but I would pay for parts and labor.
Here’s what Tesla SC said. Quoted from my invoice.
“Technician inspected, found aftermarket springs on OEM struts, aftermarket sway bars front and rear, and all sway bar end links. Noise is caused by lowered springs on OEM struts, struts bottom out on jounce movement of suspension. Strut is gas to soften the jounce travel, since vehicle sits lower, strut is not allowed to fully soften jounce to its abilities allowing strut to bottom out. This noise cannot be covered under warranty due to aftermarket parts. ‘
I disagree w technician. It makes noise when not even going over bump etc. if it was as they said, then does not seem that it would make noise when slightly accelerating/decelerating on completely smooth terrain.
I have not picked car up.
Any suggestions in what to say or ask of Tesla? They said they could remove aftermarket parts etc to solve issue but I would pay for parts and labor.
We wrote about this before, hope thet dont blacklist your VIN given the note above.
Supposedly latest Tesla internal policy (no source) is to tag aftermarket part presence and until/unless removed (by them or by you), will not warrant any even loosely related warranty work.
And yes, sadly the clunks and clicks are not a result of the aftermarket parts. Little do they care, just like all other manufacturers.
Supposedly latest Tesla internal policy (no source) is to tag aftermarket part presence and until/unless removed (by them or by you), will not warrant any even loosely related warranty work.
And yes, sadly the clunks and clicks are not a result of the aftermarket parts. Little do they care, just like all other manufacturers.
When you have aftermarket parts it often gives dealers an excuse to not warranty based on a wild guess but even if it doesn't have a lot of merit, they are in control of the decision. I somehow doubt the struts are making the noise but it's a bit of a pickle to prove them wrong. At least if they said its the struts that are making noise based on the different operating range of the lowered springs, you could put stock springs back in to see. btw, are the noise isolators of the springs in the right orientation? If the noise remains with stock springs then it's not what they say it is. Yes, I understand changing the springs is a PITA but you might not have a choice. Also, if you replace the springs to stock, it's difficult for them to now say it's the swaybars since they've pegged it to be the spring/struts. From your previous video clip it seems to be axle related. Did they check that?
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