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I just got my STi springs installed using V5 STi (GC) struts and 91 rear strut mounts. I am getting a banging noise from the rear, like the strut mounts are banging into the body where they meet. I pulled the struts out again and made sure the spring wasn't loose, I modified the factory spring isolators to work on the tapered STi springs, and I triple checked the torque on all the nuts. The original strut mounts had rubber where the mounts met the body, but the 91 do not. They appear to be metal on metal with the body. I didn't even notice until I pull them out again to find out what the noise was. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a rubber isolator between the body and the mount I am missing? I am fairly confident nothing is going to fall off, and it doesn't affect ride or handling in any discernible way. It is just really, really irritating.

Thanks guys.

Vance

The rubber insulator not being there shouldn't be too big a deal. I would check to make sure the nut connecting to the strut shaft is fully tightened.

do need a washer(s) for putting 91 mounts on gc struts>?

i had bad clunking which i thought was my rear struts, turned out that i just needed to tighten the bolts on my endlinks and it went away

subaru_styles wrote:do need a washer(s) for putting 91 mounts on gc struts>?

i had bad clunking which i thought was my rear struts, turned out that i just needed to tighten the bolts on my endlinks and it went away

That's what I was thinking, check the sway bar links, could just now be showing up because of the stiffer suspension, assuming the struts and everything are bolted down tight.

Legacy777 wrote:The rubber insulator not being there shouldn't be too big a deal. I would check to make sure the nut connecting to the strut shaft is fully tightened.

So there is a rubber insulator between the mount and the body? Mine did not come with them if so.

subaru_styles wrote:do need a washer(s) for putting 91 mounts on gc struts>?

i had bad clunking which i thought was my rear struts, turned out that i just needed to tighten the bolts on my endlinks and it went away

If I did need washers, where would they go? Between the strut mounts and the body? I feel like this might help. I might just order some saggy butt spacers, I would like the rear to be .25-.5 in higher anyway.

As long as the strut top mount is secured to the chassis it shouldn't matter whether the rubber insulator is there. It's You could cut a piece of bicycle tire up and use that if you wanted.

That't what I would think too. Not sure if we are correct though. It doesn't make sense, but I have eliminated the other variables I can think of. I even unbolted the 3 bolts from strut mount to body, then used a jack to compress the suspension, and tighten the bolts back up. That way, theoretically, I wasn't using the bolts to "pull" the strut mount up to the body. They are only rated for 12ft/lbs! I guess I will try to make some rubber isolators.

When you adjust/move things around by hand, do you feel any play?

Are the strut mounts new? They're the one piece mount correct?

Assuming the mounts are in good shap and the mounts are securely fastened to the chassis, that doesn't leave much else. I would probably focus on the connection between the strut mount and strut shaft. If the mounting is different enough, there could be play between the mount and shaft. What you could try is have some friends bounce the car up and down while you watch the nut that holds the strut shaft to the mount. See if moves at all.

I could feel no play when moving things around by hand. The strut mounts are the one-piece design, and they are brand new.

It did not even occur to me that it could between the strut mount and the shaft. That makes a lot of sense. The noise is worse on one side then the other, which I couldn't come up with a reason for. Also the bang is always in the first bit of travel. So even the smallest undulation in the road causes at least some noise from the rear suspension. This would make sense if every time the suspension moves it has to take up a little bit of space between the mount and the shaft. Also would explain the slight bounciness my now finely calibrated butt is feeling from the rear, because possibly that first bit of travel is completely undampened.

I just put 98 outback struts on my 91 L and I went to do the rear and dint have time do to an emergency, but I took the drivers side rear stock strut of and ended up just putting back on cause I needed to go get someone because there car broke down and in the midst of all of this the rubber spacer fell off and I made sure the bolts were torqued and I had the same clunking noise your talking about. I didn't have time to do the rears after I got home and I seen that the rubber spacer on the ground where I was working so I pulled my strut again and put the spacer on because I had to go to work the next day and the noise was gone. I know my car isn't an ss but it sounds like the same problem. The 98 outback struts came with rubber spacer too.