Struts mounts are small but mighty parts for any car; That’s why many drivers feel concerned regarding new struts making noise when driving.
An unpleasant noisy strut mount distracts your driving and compromises your comfort, especially on bumpy roads.
Thus, it’s no doubt that the issue can be a potential root of many fatal crashes.
That is why many want to learn more about bad strut noise or noisy struts and how to handle them. If you are one of them, don’t miss our post today. Read now!
What Are Car’s Struts?
The automobile’s struts are the apparatus that are firm, enabling the body and chassis, the wheel assembly to have synchronous movements when you hit a dip or a bump during driving.
They are situated on all car wheels and belong to the inner suspension system. The part is attached to the car chassis and the wheel assembly in the front and rear of the automobile.
In addition, car struts:
- Support the car in settling into rough pavements or uneven terrain.
- Assist the automobile’s weight.
They are slender and tall and an indispensable component of the car suspension. Once your car’s struts start to wear down, you might face some annoying sounds during your trip.
From knocking and clunking to rattling noises, defective strut sounds are a real pet peeve. But do new struts make noise? Yes, and the reason is right below.
Why Are My New Struts Making Noise?
Why do my new struts make noise? It is because there is a worn or loose mount.
Its looseness leaves a lot of free play between the new strut and bolts, while a worn-out mount will enable the strut to move up or down easily, creating some noise.
What about bad strut noise with old ones?
Once your car’s strut assembly starts displaying an indicator of wear out or failure, that poor assembly starts to impact the support as well as comfort level when you drive.
Prepare for a wide range of unwelcomed and even hazardous conditions for your car with different unpleasant sounds.
As mentioned, you might catch knocking, grinding, or creaking sounds from the affected zones.
These sounds often chiefly stem from the steering wheel system and the suspension. When your car hits a pothole or passes through a speed bump, these sounds would be much more pronounced.
How To Fix Struts Making Noise After Replacement?
Lubrication
There are some apparatus of the car’s mount which should be greased to settle them down.
The binding strut spring is one of the components that need some lubrication to fix it.
These strut springs run on the part’s seat insulator; over time, this will manifest wear and tear and lack grease. As a result, its coil springs trigger some weird sound even when you install a new strut.
You should have a look at the following steps to carry it out properly:
- Jack up the vehicle
- Detach the defective wheel
- Use silicone spray to immerse the spring-seat dielectric, which aims to lubricate the struts spring.
Also, you can spray the part’s bottom and top components and let it dry for around 1 day.
Then, check whether the sound disappears after changing the tire. Don’t lubricate the bearings or rotors because it will do no good.
Rubber (Vibration) Insulator
The vibration insulator made of rubber aims to dampen the loud sound.
Once the metal components begin detaching from the apparatus, it might produce some strut sounds, especially if the two metal plates have any chance to rub their surface against each other.
There is a wise move to link these elements together. We recommend using acoustic-windshield paste. Spread a great amount of this glue on every cavity that divides the metal from the rubber components.
The dry adhesive generates a very solid rubbery cushion, and thanks to that, the noise can be reduced.
You should do this before installing the new strut for easier access to the full insulator circumference and the strut mount.
Mechanical Fixes
A strut mount or a strut is indeed a self-contained part. Thus, it’s not very difficult to understand when there are just a few options to apply to them.
Like the proper torque specs for brake caliper bracket bolts, you should equip an appropriate torque wrench because almost all fittings, including full replacement or full maintenance, will require proper tightening power.
Note that the tighter will not always be the better; just apply a decent tightening force, which avoids disfiguring the threads, breaking something, or stretching the bolt.
Secure The Strut Mounting Nuts
Normally, every car’s strut mounts have a thread or three bolts in struts, which keep a role in mounting the vehicle’s chassis. Occasionally, one or some of these parts might work loose.
Over time, if the issue is not addressed in a timely fashion, it isn’t hard to hear some new shocks clunking noise from the rear when the whole strut beats against the vehicle chassis.
This might cause some issues on the nut’s threads, which are prone to wear and tear, or it could begin getting away from the mount.
Once the component is loose enough, it gives off a more unpleasant sound, which people call loose strut noise, even when you switch to a new strut.
You can consider equipping some decent size nylon-locking nuts just in case one of these strut nuts is damaged; you can change it timely.
Detach each part at a time, then use an appropriate torque to tighten and install it. This step can eliminate the issue, yet you should keep a habit of frequently checking the part.
Bearing Replacement
As mentioned, the worn-out mount and bearing are why your new struts make noise, so you should replace the bearing to treat this.
Generally, most cars require removing the whole strut to replace the bearing.
But sometimes, you just have to replace the bearing-contained mount. That can cost you a bit, yet it can save some worry about a certain problem later.
Also, this step will save extra energy and time in the long run.
In The Nutshell
Have you reached your satisfactory answer about the new struts making noise? Once you still stay here with us, we bet your answer is yes, and you are now clear about the bad strut sound.
Struts are quite important for your car’s suspension; hence, you should pay more attention to checking them frequently. This will be groundwork to protect you from some possible hazards on your journey.