GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

on the 03 GT 1 year ago I installed a set of Sportline lowering springs and replaced the Struts in all 4 corners with monroe. After a week or so of driving the car was aligned. No problems at all for 1 year. April of this year I added a Hotckiss RSB, 17" wheels and new tires then had it aligned again, no problem. This past June been hearing the springs shift on the rear when taking corners or hitting a bump. I tore them down and inspected and found no issues an reinstalled. Again the noise continued and then recently installed new mounts on the rears, again the noise continues.

What am I missing? Next going to Stock RSB back in and see what happens? Can the Strut tops wear allowing the spring to move?

HELP!!!

Try putting silicone lube on the rear trailing bars, those bushings can make some noise. Also check the bushings on the shocks at the bottom where they bolt on, and look at your exhaust hangers. I'm going to message you on FB, but leaving this comment here for future reference.

The springs are moving without a doubt. Had to remove the wheel to move the spring back into upper mounting bracket and reposition the insulator. I put the stock RSB back in last night and no issues so far. The bushings look OK but I can see if they are going south the stiffer RSB could cause the upper springs to shift.

Have you considered getting a pair of Tokico Blue HP rears? I don't have a thicker RSB, so I can't tell you if the HPs would help with that, but it may be related.

Are you sure the shocks are assembled "tightly" enough on the spring?

I'm not trying to doubt you, but I haven't heard of this issue before so I don't know what to suggest. I've seen rear spring insulators before for the Vibe, but personally don't have them. I'm assuming that the springs are twisting when you hit bumps (since the coils get torsion exerted on them when they are compressed). Are the strut tops the originals? This is seriously weird.

Well after putting in the Stock RSB, driving 80 miles, there's no issues even after hitting a few corners and bumps that would normally cause the noise.

The Strut top brackets, insulators and Bump stops are original. The mounts, Struts and springs are new.

My thoughts are one of two things.
1) The Hotchkis RSB wasn't Torqued down enough.
2) The rear control arm bushings are going bad and the combination with the stiffer RSB it's pushing the struts around.

Considering this is a 12-13 y/o car with 160K+ miles with performance parts it will expose problems. I believe #2 is my best guess but #1 is easy and cheap to confirm. However need to wait for the heat index to drop 20F before attempting either.

Salsa Guy wrote:However need to wait for the heat index to drop 20F before attempting either.

I would do it for Abitas Purple Haze or Shiner Prickly Pear, but you're like 600 miles away and I would mope and whine the whole way, like this: