HKS Hypermax Coil-Over Shocks? pretty to look at but!

[superspit]

HKS Hypermax Coil-Over Shocks? pretty to look at but!

Hi all, the rear of my car makes a dissapointing and embarrassing knocking noise when driving over a slightly bumpy road. I was told by a friend that it is caused by the 'helper-springs(?)' located just below the main spring. The system costs about $2500+ i'm told. They don't look old, but I guess that could mean nothing when it comes to these parts. Nice car,, ride is firm but semi-comfortable, but sounds like a bomb when traversing anything but glass smooth roads!!! I can't really afford to replace them, anyone else have a similar exp.? Any ideas on how I could shut these bloody things up.?

Ta, in advance. Mark.

[Jay95R33]

This is what was happaning with my old coilovers.

It had me stuffed for months as to what it was.

I ripped them out one day and found that the very top nut was about 1-2 turns loose !! It was tight to look at, and tighter than finger tight, but with a spanner I could get 1-2 more turns until it was really tight.

Wacked them back in and the chuncking was totally gone !!

I was a happy chappy.

So maybe yours are the same?

Is it just the rears that are noisey? Or all four ?

J

[Endorean]

Hey Mark,

I just put in a set of Hypermax's and I too am having the same problem. It seems to be in the left rear one (the same spot I have a problem with my last pair).

I thought it could be the exhaust hitting the axle, cause the mount seems to be loose and they are VERY close together.

I was thinking of taking it to Pedders for their $14 dollar check and say (what the f*** is that noise)...

Have you found out what the problem is yet, cause I dont really want to take my rear seat out again.

cheers.

Jez.

[king_kw13]

I have HKS Hypermax coilovers.

They dont make any noise at all (except after going to the skidpan and it was squeaking a little over bumps - gone after a while)

The only complaint is that they are still uber stiff even on the softest setting

The rest is all good tho.

[Trust33]

THis has happend 2 my 2 front hipermax 2 shocks.i took them to bd4's and they tested for travel in the cylenders there was and they had to be reconditioned(i think it's got somthing to do with the seals themselves not being abel to hold the pressure to one side of the cylender thus them leaking cre8ing the travel and having that knocking sound.It wasent the springs nor was it the pillow ball upper mounts.It's only a cm or 2 of play but she bangs when she moves over gradients in the road.

here try this place out ther the only place i know of who recos them....if you know of any other places who reco do tell.....

its @>>>

www.shockreco.com.au

[Trust33]

This is what was happaning with my old coilovers.

It had me stuffed for months as to what it was.

I ripped them out one day and found that the very top nut was about 1-2 turns loose !!  It was tight to look at, and tighter than finger tight, but with a spanner I could get 1-2 more turns until it was really tight.

Wacked them back in and the chuncking was totally gone !!

I was a happy chappy.

So maybe yours are the same?

Is it just the rears that are noisey?  Or all four ?

J

Hey J33 how did u find out that u needed 2 turn the very top nut (is it the one exposed in the engine bay?)..Also who did you get this info from to turn it.....It sounds a bit 2 sus to me to be doing somthing like this without the help of a proper profesional.Were'nt u afraid of over tightening it?Tell me why did this solve the problem...what purpose does it have 2 the shock?

[T0nyGTSt]

I just put in a set of Hypermax's and I too am having the same problem. It seems to be in the left rear one (the same spot I have a problem with my last pair).

I HAVE THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM!!!

If it's not a cheap easy fix I'm going to turf the whole rear end and get some Bilsteins.

My fronts are fine as is the right rear but I gotta do something about this as Parra Rd. is not usable.

T.

[Maxx]

from what i heard, 95% sure they are made by bilsteins, with hks spec / name on them.

like their turbo from garret

[Jay95R33]

Guys,

Just rip them out and check them out. It's a really easy job. Probably the most time consuming part is taking the rear seat out !!!

J

[Trust33]

so how did u find out?you never did tell me......

[Jay95R33]

Do'h sorry dude - I didn't even see your post...

Long story as to why I had the suspension out. Basically I sold the coilovers and went to stock shocks and a little bit lower springs (I couldn't raise the coilovers any further)...

Anyway, while we had the coilovers out I wanted to have a good look over them to see what was wrong (why the noise etc). This is when I tested the top nut to see how tight it was.

The noisey strut had a loose top nut, while the good one had a tight nut. So I tightened the loose one up to the same as the good one.

We ended up having to put the coilovers BACK in the car cause I was given the wrong springs (I asked for 1 inch lower springs, and they gave me 4 inches lower !!).

This top nut kept the pillowball assembley together ! So when it was loose it allowed a slight bit of play in the pillowball which caused the clunking. Once tightened it was perfect.

There was absolutely no sign of wear in the pillowball mount, just proves how strong these things are.

I wasn't scared of doing it. It was pretty easy, it was a loose nut that needed tightening, and it 100% fixed the problem.

It was one of the rears that was noisey on mine, and to get to the top nut you usually have to take them out of the car as they should have top caps that sit over the top of the strut.

Basically, once the rear seat and parcel shelf is out of the car, and the wheel is off. It's a matter of undoing the 2 top nuts that hold the strut to the car, and one nut down the bottom, and the whole strut/spring assembley will drop out....

We took out the coilovers, put the stock stuff in, took the stock stuff out, put the coilovers back in, all in about 4 hours (with many smoko's ).

Now this may not be the problem with all noisey coilovers, some may be totally stuffed, but you won't know unless you spend an hour getting it out, having a look at it, and putting it back.

J

[Trust33]

Yeah i guess.The pillow ball has no play......So by going on what your saying it wont help me..Ill have to leave the car up on stands while i send them away to be fixed...these struts are not suited to australian road conditions :goddam:

[Jay95R33]

Just double check how tight the top nut is, like I said, mine was tighter than finger tight so is looked tight, but with a spanner I could get 1-2 more turns out of it.

Good luck - I hope it's something simple like mine was.

J

[superspit]

hi everyone. woah!, excellent responses! this is what i've done..problem was with rear only, front was just too tight, now softened only. The helper spring, located just below the main coil-over spring simply rattles around the OD of the shocker itself, even when on the road and 'captive'. This is just the design of the HKS system, it's built only for track/racing work..unless ofcourse u can put up wid da noise. Now u can 'smear' the whole lower 'helper' spring with heavy grease( messy and lasts for a little while)..or you can see my mechanic and he will exchange your current, good condition springs (all 4 of them on the rear in my case) for koni, bilstein or what ever brand that fits around your shock. It is now a no-nonsense, single spring per shock, quiter and smoother semi standard system that still handles ace and is still fully adjustable via the lowering nuts under the spring as per usual, fine and other adjustment are made via the top part still.(apparantly, there are around 36 seperate settings that can be made on this particular shock) my rear now sound like a proper car (no F***** bump noises) is smoother and not embarrassing me infront of my passenger friends!!. Mike, my mechanic, also fixed my 'spiggot bearing' today as it shit itself after only 5 weeks in Australia...now that was noisy!!! If you want his number, pls send me a private message and I will give it over.Mike works in Moorabbin, on Porcshe and Nissan race cars....and he's no rip off either...ace bloke. You wouldn't think that HKS would make something this noisy, but they are for the race-track...really.

[superspit]

hi everyone. woah!, excellent responses! this is what i've done..problem was with rear only, front was just too tight, now softened only. The helper spring, located just below the main coil-over spring simply rattles around the OD of the shocker itself, ......................

by the way guys (and girls?.......) the Hypermax 2 shocks (pictured) don't appear to have 'helper' springs...so I must have the Hpmx1's, other than that, the same shock.....Mark

[Al]

Just a precaution, If you replace the HKS springs with a other springs make sure they have similar spring rates because if they are too soft you will end up damaging the shock.

I'm sure that your mechanic has considered this when installing the new springs.

[rs73]

If it's caused by the helper spring rubbing coils, go to a suspension workshop, they should have some sort of insulator that they can wrap around the coil to quieten things down.

[superspit]

Just a precaution,  If you replace the HKS springs with a other springs make sure they have similar spring rates because if they are too soft you will end up damaging the shock.

I'm sure that your mechanic has considered this when installing the new springs.

Thanx! All things considered......

This was similar to my initial thought, but then my mech suggested that

'rather than add something to reduce the noise, replace something that is making it'.......... Kool, and it appears to be working!

[siksII]

i have seen these problems in a few cars, and most of the time its not the shock itself its the mount at the top where the shock sits in the body. ie. the front is filled with ball bearings(so the shock can turn with the steering) and these bearings often crunch up.

it only seems to become noticable or happens when u fit harder suspension...

i have forgotten what the mount is called but u can see it pretty easily.

[Endorean]

Hey all,

has anyone had a defenite response as to what is causing this problem, I'm very keen to get some ideas before I take it to a professional (can anyone suggest someone that is good with the HKS's in the sydney area, preferrably on the north side of it)

siksII - interesting idea with the mount... do you mean that there is a mount that is on the car that contains bearings, because from memory when I was fitting mine, I dont remember seeing any mount, it just looks like it was slotting straight into the body of the car.

cheers guys.