Possible leaking/blown coilover.

[wireeater]

What are the typical symptoms of a blown strut/coilover. The rear passenger side of my car has been making a loud thud when hitting bumps for quite some time since installing the coilovers. I checked to make sure nothing was loose. I am going to assume it is the bump-stop smacking the upper bracket.

When I pulled the rear wheel off the other week I did notice the piston to have black grease all over it. I pushing force up to the rear suspension and when it traveled up I didn't seem like there was much resistance. I could tell if the pressure of the coilover was forcing it back down or if it was just the weight of all the suspension but there didn't seem to be much resistance.

These are BC BR coilovers with around 8k miles on them. I purchased them used from someone who has only put around a 1k miles. I didn't test them honestly when I purchased them to see how the piston traveled back so it's possibly it was already messed up because the sound has been there pretty much since installation.

I am picking up a set of sportlines this weekend to put on my PP suspension and most likely will switch over at some point to get the coilovers rebuilt and sell them. However I really like my current stance in the front which I don't think the springs will provide. What risk would there be with just running the rear PP struts with the sportlines and keep the front coilovers on? Maybe just a temporary thing until I can pull off the rears and determine what's wrong and what I want to do.

I hate the thud sound though. It literally makes me cringe everytime I hear it.

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[wildcatgoal]

Call BC and ask them, would be my first step. Perhaps they will help you out with warranty, especially if you fail to mention that you bought them used, just that they were bought from XYZ company. But... if you see grease or liquid, it needs to be replaced/rebuilt - unless you have a axle boot cracked slinging grease around or something (not likely).

 

[Glex25]

They usually charge around $100 for a replacement so it's not terribly expensive

 

[qtrracer]

Some of the other vendors don't use a C/O on the rear due to perceived interference with the stub axle. They do include a conventional spring adjuster for ride height. So long as the shock is valved to control the springs, it shouldn't matter whether you run C/Os all around or just in the front - except the benefit of adjusting ride height.

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