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Upgrade Suspension and still having issues...HELP

2K views 10 replies 2 participants last post by  recaro19 
#1 ·
Ok so here is the deal.

bought a 2002 Audi TT 225 back in 2016. Here is the original thread:

https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8183425-Just-Test-drove-a-2002-TT

Anyways.... i was having suspension creaks, squeaks, and clunks. Typical for a 17 year old car that probably didn't have the suspension treated in a while.

So fast forward to today (well a few weeks ago) and i've finally forked out the cash to upgrade the components underneath. Here's what we've tackled:

Upgrades:

- KW Suspension V1
- PowerFlex poly Strut bushings
- PowerFlex poly Sway Bar bushings (F&R)
- PowerFlex poly Subframe bushings (F&R)
- Gruven Rear Control Arms
- Rear control arm bushings (OEM)
- Front Control arms (Poly in rear part/OEM for front - this kit we had was for an mk4 so the fronts didn’t fit the TT arms)
- PowerFlex poly dog mount inserts (full refresh)
- front ball joints
- sway bar links (F&R)

Remaining Parts to add:

- trailing arm bushings (OEM)
- rear bushings for upper control arms (OEM)
- ECS Engine and Transmission mounts

My mechanic and I are knocking our heads trying to figure out where some of the noise is still coming from. It happens mostly on bumpy city roads. Sounds like there is some tension on a component or like metal twisting in some cases in the rear. Sometimes it sounds like a hanging piece of metal bouncing on something. The front also has a clunk/squeak when i go over bumps. It really is annoying and hard to figure out.

Does anyone have ANY insight as to what it may be? I'm really finding it hard to believe that after upgrading all these parts that there are still issues with the suspension. Would love some feedback and help.

Thank you in advance
 
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#2 ·
Forgive me if I missed it, but I didn't see you mention the sway bar end links. Were they changed?


So, I'm going through a similar issue as you, but I've only replaced the A-arms, and upper strut mounts, and ball joints and tie rod ends. I've done nothing in the rear, and no sway bar end links.

I've got a slight "thud-thud-thud" happening ONLY when starting out in 1st or reverse. Not steering related.

I bet, at the minimum, we both need sway bar end links, but I doubt that's the only issue.
 
#3 ·
Hey there! Thanks for the reply. Sorry for my delay but I was out of country. Just saw this now. Front end links were done. Only in the front.

It’s very odd. I get the noise sporadically. Usually get the creakingnsound when I go over speed bumps. My mechanic messaged me a few days ago to tell me that some of the road noise was a bad wheel bearing so we’ll probably do that and change the remaining upper rear control arm bushings while at it.

I’m lost too..... I tried everything from removing the sunscreen for the trunk, to clicking in the passenger side seatbelt to stop it from knocking on the side of the interior. I think I’ll try to empty out the items in the trunk to see if it’s maybe a lose tool that’s causing all the ruckus or the spare moving around.

Seems odd that all this work and still getting creaks and thuds.


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#4 ·
At the risk of sounding like I'm high jacking your thread, (not my intent), I may have solved my noises. Thought I'd post in case this might help you or someone else.

I try not to hold my breath on these sorts of things, but for now, my car is fixed of it's weird noises.

3 separate issues.

I found that my dogbone lower mount had come loose. I could shake the motor back and forth while grabbing the oil pan and tranny.
I fixed the mount, and the noise was still there. I surely eliminated SOME of the noise, but not all of it.

I took one sway bar link off, and went for a drive. Even with the ends worn out and loose, the noise was still there, so that wasn't it. (has been on another car I have).

I then popped the hood and grabbed the intercooler pipe to see if the engine had any rocking from the top. Well, the intercooler pipe was clicking/loose in it's cradle mount.
There is a washer that goes on top of the mount, not under it. (duh). I put the washer on top of the hold down clamp and no more rattle from the pipe.

Then I got underneath again, and thought I'd put a socket to the Control Arm bolts. BINGO. The passenger side bolts were quite easy to turn, they had no torque on them. Not sure if they didn't get tightened all the way when doing the A-arms, or, if they came loose. I snugged them down, went for a drive, and all is well!
If it happens again, I'll have to get some Loctite on them.

No more thudding when driving up the rolled curb in front of my driveway, and no triple tapping noise/feel when starting from a dead stop. I think the thudding was the control arms, and the tapping when starting out was the intercooler pipe.

Moral of the story of why I'm posting this in your thread, maybe your control arm bolts are not tight as they should be. Be sure to tighten while at ride height.
I've had this exact same thing happen on a different make of car. They need to be tighter than it would seem.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Don’t worry. No hi jacking here. I’m happy to hear stories in our quest for solutions.

I find it hard to believe that we haven’t tighten everything. My mechanic and I have gone over ever part underneath and tightened each screw as tight as possible and torqued them where needed. After today though, we definitely need to go over everything again.

People think I’m going crazy and that it’s all in my head but today I recorded four clips on my way home with the windows down and you can clearly hear how loud the creaking and cranking is. I’m lost as to what it could be.... have a listen and as always, any advice is appreciated. For a list of work we’ve done please see first post. I don’t know what it could be but it’s obvious something is up:










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#6 ·
Update!!!

We finally figured out the horrible noise. Even after reading about the was the sway bar bushings and plastic sleeves being noisy it turns out we forgot to remove the plastic sleeves when we repels Ed then during the refresh!!! *facepalm*

Car is clunk/squeaking free now!! So pumped. Was worried we broke something or that it may have been the new coil overs but we’re all good.

Basically, the PowerFlex bushing we put on was a 21 mm which was too small so we squished it onto the plastic sleeve that we were suppose to rip off. After digging some more on various forums, found a post that the member said to buy the PowerFlex bushing we had already and just break the sleeve off. Worked like a charm and can’t believe we forgot to do this even after reading multiple threads.

Guess we were just doing so much work we over looked it.

Now.... only thing left to do is the remaining top rear control arm bushing upgrades from the older ball joint style ones and the trailing arms. After that, body work.

Thanks for all the response guys and hopefully the next tt owner will find this helpful.


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#8 · (Edited)
Just so I'm following you right - You're talking the inner bushings, and nothing to do with the outer end links?

Glad it got fixed.
This is the plastic sleeve that comes on the OEM Sway bar. If you buy the 21 mm powerflex bushings, you basically break this off because it is the culprit of all the squeaking!!! We forgot to break this off and just put the powerflex bushing over top of the sleeve BUT we ended up having to force tighten the bolt into the subframe by vice gripping the clamp down which ended up stretching the threads... big **** up on our part because after we removed it to remove the sleeve yesterday the bolt wasn't tightening properly afterwards. We stripped the threads on the subframe so the bolt was just spinning even though it was threaded in. For now, we put a nut in behind to keep the bolt & clamp tight but I will have to repair the subframe or replace it if i upgrade the sway bars in the future *FACEPALM* I hope it's okay for now.

https://images.app.goo.gl/97avm8cqcRY3CetV6

Here's what it looks like now (This is not my photo because we would never use copper lub like this. Just for visual purposes to show what it looks like without the plastic sleeve).

https://images.app.goo.gl/uh62gZzh9KMyQBHg9

Moral of the story.... if you upgrade the sway bar bushings, break off the sleeve first. would hate to see someone else strip the threads.

I'll have to study up on what to do with the rear end, I'll probably tackle that next Fall.
I just did my rear end as you may have noticed from my build thread/update linked above. If you have questions I can definitely answer them. I seem to have fixed most issues although there is still a slight creak when backing up or holding the car on a hill. I'd think that is normal for any car as you will get suspension noises regardless of how new and upgraded everything is but it's definitely A LOT better then what it was like before the suspension refresh.

Let me know.
 
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