Trouble Maker

This weekend was a bust. Removed sway bar (disconnected end links at top), still same noise. I ordered the wrong side spring isolator, the info online was confusing about which side was which, so I made my best guess and it was the other (right/passengers side) part. So I removed strut, compressed spring and re-positioned bottom spring isolator. I also relocked the strut top mount. It may have been incorrect clocked/indexed and anecdotes say the symptom can be what I'm experiencing. But I didn't pay enough attention when I started working on it to be certain which way it was positioned. Apparently the OEM top hat/mount has a direction due to the slant of the mount, but some aftermarkets don't, which doesn't make sense to me. Best info I could find says to face it forward (there's an arrow on it), so I did that. Still has the same noise. I did not completely take apart the strut assy. to inspect the shock, but I decided to order a new (OEM) shock. I'm at a loss for what else i it could be. I just got word from our dealer that they are on backorder with no known ETA. There seem to be little/no OEM replacement aftermarket options that I can find. I was originally going to compare OEM strut VS aftermarket fully assembled strut and I couldn't find those, so OEM it is. So, I'm back to square 0 almost. I think I will completely take apart the strut next weekend to inspect it and see if I can find any obvious issues with the shock or any other parts (mounts, etc.). In the mean time I'll keep searching for alternatives, call some other dealers to see if I can come across one.

Me and my brother would go camping with my aunt, uncle and cousin growing up. My uncle has his own construction company so he always had single cab 8' bed trucks with truck caps. My aunt and uncle would sit up front. The hills and turns down in south-east Ohio and up in the Mohican area are a ton of fun in the back of a truck when you've no idea they are coming.

Some of you have never spent hours in the jump seat of an old S10 and it shows.

If you two were talking about how it can't handle the the back half of the bike straight I would give it to you, but you're talking about the front half and have no idea what you are talking about. But also this is why I got an SUV and not a truck, the space inside is more useful for what I want to do with it.

Yeah, I really don't want to start guessing and throwing parts at this. That's a good way to take a lot of time and money real fast to not fix an issue in an area like this. Worse yet my feeling is I can either put OEM parts and know they are going to be good but more expensive, or maybe replace good OEM parts with aftermarket parts that may not preform as well.

I'll try the sway-bar (end link) disconnect first to help isolate the issue, that's a really good idea Steve. Then I'll likely take the strut off/apart to reposition/replace the rubber isolator and see if there's anything else going on there; strut itself, top mount, some other part I can't currently see (up top for example). Thanks, seems like a reasonable game plan at this point!

I did try and I haven't been able to so far, maybe I need to go eat some fast food or work out and try again. I think I've only tried while the wheels were straight, so I should try it with them at a few different angles. Driving it seems to be a little worse/easier to duplicate with some turning. But, I think it may be easier/worse during turning because of the increased load on the front left corner during a right turn. So same affect as if it was a steeper/bigger bump. Still, it's worth a try. I might as well also try again with the wheels straight while I'm at it, but put some more effort into it.

Hmm, not the same model, but same make and just a few years earlier. I think it would have been taken care of with some part change or increased TQ spec by 2018. But, It seems like it's worth a try since it's so quick/easy. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2016/SB-10083969-2280.pdf

Having a hard time narrowing down what this might be. It's doing the typical only clunks over bumps on the front left. It almost sounds like something is loose at times. The issue is, I've looked at everything, including with the brakes completely off when I did them on Saturday and don't see anything obvious. Every joint is fine, looks fine, is not loose. No obvious damage or play anywhere. This is including both the sway bar end links and the sway bar bushings/mounts. Hard to tell in this state (0g, no turning or load) about CV joints, but the amount of play feels ok, same on both sides. I even rapped around on everything with a hammer to see if there were any 'weird' noises or sounds similar to what I hear over bumps, and if I noticed something also did the FR to compare, nothing. I've searched around on the net and only found 2 things. 2013-2017's have a TSB on a suspension noise in the rear. Similar complaints as me about the front and maybe usually on the right side, but no clear conclusions. Mostly it seems people took their car to the dealer and they threw parts at it. The one thing I did notice and was going to replace is there's a rubber isolation pad around the bottom of the spring, between it and the lower sprint perch. On the drivers side it's half way out. I should have taken a pic but didn't. Could this cause some play in the spring/perch interface which would this symptom? It's this part. https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6110013&cc=3441504&jsn=1384 https://www.acurapartswarehouse.com/oem/acura~rubber~r~fr~spring~lower~51684-tx6-a01.html I'm essentially hoping that either there will be something more obvious when I take everything apart, or maybe replace this and it fixes it. The part is cheap and I like to try to diagnosis and replace what's broken. It seems like a good first step and I'm planning to do it. But I also don't want to take this thing apart and put it back together multiple times to throw small parts at it either. So, just looking for some guidance. Thanks!

So, what's the final verdict? Are these actually as bad as people say or is there something reasonably priced and sized that's better for a few times of use? I definitely don't want/have the space for what Skinner posted above and it feels pricey for maybe/hopefully 1 time now (probably more later) of use.

Makes sense. RE my towing thread, we'll all use the Jeep for now. My parents are still talking about getting a 3-5 year used truck, especially when/if they do a multi-month trip out west. It's great to hear real world experiences, especially since the weight you quoted on your new trailer is pretty close to what their camper should be loaded. They are still stuck in a mindset of needing V6's over L4's from when V6's had less power than most 4 cylinders do now. My dad was convinced he wants a 3/4 ton, but I think it's too much capability with no real benefit for them over a 1/2 ton but with downsides; rougher ride, higher cost, higher fuel consumption all of the time. So I'm trying to steer him towards a half ton since they are so capable now. But, I'm still torn about steering him towards something in the capability/towing range of the 2.7L ecoboost or more towards the 3.5L ecoboost level trucks. I think after they tow with the Jeep some they might want more margin, but I think he'll realize a mid-level capacity 1/2 ton will be enough. I've got some experience with the 2.7L w/5k#s towing and I think the capability there is awesome. But that wasn't through the mountains, and their camper will probably be closer to 6-6.5k#s loaded. So I can't decide if the 2.7L with a good towing/payload package behind it will be enough/easy enough for them to tow with or if the 3.5L is 'necessary' there; worth the price and fuel economy hit.

Derek, I'm curious about the reason for the truck change, why go to the 3.5L or 2.7L? Just to make it easier to tow?

We've used them for pruning & trimming and were really happy with the results. We're planning to have them back out again soon. I'm pretty picky about communication and results so if in using someone a second time things went well.

Yup, couldn't even get that much for one that looks similar and clean enough to my uneducated eyes on BaT. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-lincoln-mark-v-7-2/ Edit: I guess these are a different gen, have different styling on the outside. I do like the Mark III better from what I can see in those pictures.

Why are you powder coating a banana?

Make sure you don't disconnect any harness to the seat without research first. I'm guessing these instructions take that into account since you say just unbolt and move back. But I know if it were me doing this, I would want to disconnect and remove the seat all together to make more room to work. I'm not a pro mechanic (far from it) so ease of doing something trumps speed, I like removing more stuff. Butt a pro's going to want to do it as quickly and do no harm as possible, so that probably means just unbolting and moving the seat back without disconnecting. Depending on the year there could be a ton of stuff in the seat, including airbags. Just disconnecting without some process before could make some system unhappy to see something in there disconnected. That could be as simple as disconnecting the battery, or something more complex. Sometimes the system will be happy when things go back to normal e.g. reconnect the seat. But sometimes the cure is much harder than the prevention in these cases, at least needing some code reset in an ECU reset that 'needs' an 'OEM' tool. So, that might mean having to go to a dealer and paying a tech 0.5 hours to do a few minutes of work. All for something that could have been prevented by a battery disconnect.

Seems better than driving an hour+ round trip, gas cost, wear and tear on car.

IDK if this still works with iPhones but it did at one point, or if it would have every worked with Androids. I know when they've changed the camera software on Androids the way things like panoramic work has changed. I haven't taken one in an iPhone in a while. If you get on a creeper and put it in panoramic mode and slowly slide down the length of the car, you can get a nice wide single image of the whole underside of the car.

Double post!

That's not true for primary residence right? https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/capitalgainhomesale.asp Green Bastard, you should finally consult your realtor and/or a tax professional.

How's this one taste? https://dukecannon.com/products/hick-high-viscosity-body-wash-bourbon-oak-barrel

TL;DR

We're going to find Biggie, big foot, 2Pac, Elvis and JFK all up there hidden on a mars base.

It looks like there is a manual coupe available in the 'current' one, which is unique and relatively cool in my book in today's market. Was the last time a manual was available in the CTS-V was gen. 1?

Yeah, kinda hard to compare stock to modified, even if only 'lightly' modified That list seems to get a good bump in power/accel on CTS-Vs. But it's maybe also a fair comparison since the modified CTS-V is what you have and the stock ATS-V is what you would get. I imagine an ATS-V with intake, downpipes and tune might get to a similar level?