lowering spring not captive

[soven]

What could cause a spring to not be captive but only on one side?

Celica 98 non-superstrut . Lowered with new toyota shocks and tein springs. Only the front passenger side spring is move-able when the car is jacked up. Clunks sometimes when i turn the steering enough at slow speed(springs unbinding?) and also creaks when I go over a bump etc. All this just on the front passenger side.

Can a damaged top mount cause this? springs were installed twice(once by shop) with old shocks and I took it out to reinstall when I bought new shocks but the problem is still there(torque'd to specs). Just want to know if anyone have an idea of what might be the cause, instead of blindly changing out stuff.

[Bling]

did you use a rattle gun to tighten the tophat down or by hand with power bar? if you didn't use a rattle gun the top nut wont be tight enough.

could easily be something else.... but i'll put money on the above if rattle gun not used.

[escortman]

yeh sounds as tho the top hats loose

[skoty]

Spring around the right way on the passenger side? Had a similar problem with the spring around the wrong way (mine wern't marked). Caused the spring to move in the top hat as you described while turning and make noises when going over bumbs. Problem was instantly solved afterwards.

[Loudtoy]

could easily be something else.... but i'll put money on the above if rattle gun not used.

Is it not possible to torque things up to the right torque using a torque wrench rather than a rattle gun. I've done shiteloads of things up with torque wrenches to manufactures specs but never used a rattle gun - should i go and take everything off and do them up only with a rattle gun

Oh and i'd suggest your spring may well be in upside down or your tophat is stuffed. One option is you have been sold a mismatched set of springs, got one for another car by accident - wouldn't be the 1st time it's happened

[soven]

tightened it as much as I could with big socket wrench for now but sound still there. Will jack it up on the weekends and hopefully it is something stupid like installing springs the wrong way

[Bling]

could easily be something else.... but i'll put money on the above if rattle gun not used.

Is it not possible to torque things up to the right torque using a torque wrench rather than a rattle gun. I've done shiteloads of things up with torque wrenches to manufactures specs but never used a rattle gun - should i go and take everything off and do them up only with a rattle gun

I'm not knocking using a torque wrench, I also use one. But after installing my springs and shocks by hand, I found it would clunk etc.... took it to a mechanic and got him to tighten them up with rattle gun and it fixed the problem.

A rattle gun can tighten the nut without turning the shock.

problem is, how fast can you turn that torque wrench? a shock will turn when you tighten the top nut when it gets pretty tight.... so unless you are superman, rattle gun ftw

[EVL20V]

ahh yup, u mite need to take another coil off the spring with a makita if u have one handy. then shortn the shocks mate

[Loudtoy]

could easily be something else.... but i'll put money on the above if rattle gun not used.

Is it not possible to torque things up to the right torque using a torque wrench rather than a rattle gun. I've done shiteloads of things up with torque wrenches to manufactures specs but never used a rattle gun - should i go and take everything off and do them up only with a rattle gun

I'm not knocking using a torque wrench, I also use one. But after installing my springs and shocks by hand, I found it would clunk etc.... took it to a mechanic and got him to tighten them up with rattle gun and it fixed the problem.

A rattle gun can tighten the nut without turning the shock.

problem is, how fast can you turn that torque wrench? a shock will turn when you tighten the top nut when it gets pretty tight.... so unless you are superman, rattle gun ftw

Ever spotted the flat part of the shock right near the top where it goes into the tophat and wondered what it was for?? Either that or the top hat (can't say for all but definately the ones i have done) has a key type design that locks into the shock shaft so you can tighten the top hat nut without turning the shock shaft

[Mike-]

Ever spotted the flat part of the shock right near the top where it goes into the tophat and wondered what it was for?? Either that or the top hat (can't say for all but definately the ones i have done) has a key type design that locks into the shock shaft so you can tighten the top hat nut without turning the shock shaft

dont wanna bring up an old topic but what tool do you use for this?

a spanner is way too fat, supercheap and bnt didnt have anything

[escortman]

Ever spotted the flat part of the shock right near the top where it goes into the tophat and wondered what it was for?? Either that or the top hat (can't say for all but definately the ones i have done) has a key type design that locks into the shock shaft so you can tighten the top hat nut without turning the shock shaft

dont wanna bring up an old topic but what tool do you use for this?

a spanner is way too fat, supercheap and bnt didnt have anything

that flat part is what the top hat sits down on2

[Bling]

dont wanna bring up an old topic but what tool do you use for this?

a spanner is way too fat, supercheap and bnt didnt have anything

good work using the search, shame more people don't search before asking questions

[Mike-]

Ever spotted the flat part of the shock right near the top where it goes into the tophat and wondered what it was for?? Either that or the top hat (can't say for all but definately the ones i have done) has a key type design that locks into the shock shaft so you can tighten the top hat nut without turning the shock shaft

dont wanna bring up an old topic but what tool do you use for this?

a spanner is way too fat, supercheap and bnt didnt have anything

that flat part is what the top hat sits down on2

ive tried pushing it down but the tophat still spins freely independent of the shock, there must be a way to do it without a rattle gun or vice grips

btw its on a ke70

[Zak]

It slots into the top spring perch not the top hat, you want the top hat turning, thats why it has a bearing.

Hold the top perch and try and tighten it, then once it's in the car, tighten it again.

[gmacrae]

tightened it as much as I could with big socket wrench for now but sound still there. Will jack it up on the weekends and hopefully it is something stupid like installing springs the wrong way

powerbar/rattle gun, wont make a difference if you know what you're doing. Maybe you have the tophat tightened up but not aligned with the flat spot on the shaft so it hasnt slid down the strut as fat as it should - you get what i mean?

[escortman]

It slots into the top spring perch not the top hat, you want the top hat turning, thats why it has a bearing.

Hold the top perch and try and tighten it, then once it's in the car, tighten it again.

hahh yeh opps its not the hat its the bit below it