STI newage rear suspension noise

[scoobyPPP]

Hi guys, my STI has started to make the dreaded clunk sound from the rear suspension, unfortunately the car is out of warranty. from checking other forums it sounds as though its gonna cost £1200-1400 to get the problem corrected, is there a cheaper way out, thanks.

[Animal]

If it's just the rear top mounts then it might be possible to just have these replaced. Roger Clark Motorsport will sell you a pair of rear top mounts for under £100.

[scoobyPPP]

Thanks for the reply, has anyone here had any experience with the rear suspension on a newage, I've heard it's a common problem, also if I don't decide to get it fixed what's the downside, have heard of people spending £1200 to get it fixed only for the noise to come back

[Animal]

I had a 2005 WRX, and the rear top mounts started clonking at around 50k miles. In my case, I'd bought from a main dealer and had a 12-month warranty in place.

However, worn top mounts are a known warranty issue and if you bought from a Subaru dealer you shouldn't have much trouble getting them to replace the parts (assuming that top mounts are the problem).

The above notwithstanding, I seem to recall that I was hearing a clonking noise again shortly before I sold the car (less than 10k miles later)!

If the problem is more serious, a full set of Tein coilovers (inc. alloy top mounts) is around £900 inc. VAT. I think BC Racing coilovers would be around £650 inc. VAT.

Have you asked on scoobynet? Always found it to be a very good source of info.

HTH,

Animal

[scoobyPPP]

Mine hasn't got warranty anymore, have checked scoobynet and the general consensus is that it's a common fault. I have the same sound of clonking that you have mentioned, what I would like to know is if I don't get it checked will it affect my car drastically, cheers

[rhinochopig]

Clonks are typically top mounts (as said), worn ARB bushes (if fitted with an ARB), suspension arm bushes, or damper issues. Rather than listening to speculation on here, get it looked at as it could be any number of issues - could even be a loose heat exhaust mount. Without a visual inspection and a good waggle of everything, it's impossible to diagnose.

As an aside, before you buy BC dampers, google BC damper issues. IIRC there have been no end of problems reported in the scoob and lancer communities.

[Animal]

scoobyPPP said:

what I would like to know is if I don't get it checked will it affect my car drastically, cheers

Sorry, I can't help there. Best advice I can give would be to call whichever specialist is nearest you (Zen, Scoobyworld, Powerstation, etc) and get their expert advice.

[scoobyPPP]

Cheers guys, Spoke to Roger Clark today, they gave me three options, 1)Regreasing the dampers and rebuilding them £259 2) Cant remember the second option but I remember it costing about £700 and last option which was a new set of coils, which was about £1000. Asked them what happens to the car if I decide to leave it as it is, apparently it shouldnt affect the car.