Are new coil springs noisy when settling in
 

Does a new front coil spring get noisy as it settles? With many test drives of a couple of miles the front o/s loud clunk etc sounds different every time. Sometimes sounds like the front o/s caliper gone wrong or falling off. On another test drive it sounded like a totally shot o/s cv. Then at other times none of those noises could be found just lighter clucks from the o/s area

Does the coil and strut moving and twisting into where they will settle?

I cant find any play when I pull very aggressively on the coil spring, shake the wheel or use a bar on other big parts.

Short answer no, you will have to have a good look round all the suspension joints and fixings and try and identify the source of the knock :eek:
Did the strut come out of the hub or did you have to remove the hub and strut together, if the latter check drive shaft is fully home in the hub and the nut is tight. :shrug:

With car jacked high and o/s front wheel off the only thing that seems out of place is shape/alignment of the inner cv. It seems as if 'the line' is not from the centre but the driveshaft comes out lower from 6 o' Clock out of the inner cv (heading towards the outer cv).

I had this driveshaft from an online breakers and did not disturb the cv. I just fitted it. I am not familiar with inside of these cv inside boot. Could the inner cv come apart inside the boot so it did not press into place correctly?

is the driveshaft the correct length ? . That is a question that seems hard to establish. i know that there are auto and manual sizes , and also different lengths listed on autodoc under their manual or auto separate sizes. Now the question is which are for the 75 , or zt or contempory models. Dont forget that these cars had different suspension set ups .some with shorter shocks and springs to others . Looking at lengths of driveshafts some are only a few mm longer or shorter than others , but why ? Must be a reason to alter them i would have thoght. .. ;)

ED. the springs should have a rubber/plastic seat at the base to seat it. Also the spring needs to be rotated up to the end stop whilst fitting. I have had cases where if this is not done, the spring can foul the droplink bolt. The top mounts are another point to watch for if they are not assembled correctly. they need to be equal both sides when you assemble the springs onto the mount, whilst easing the nut back . Plenty for you to check here for now .. :D

The drive shaft can come out of its location. especially if you have dropped and turned the hub too far whilst fitting. some people support the hub from underneath whist working to stop the hub from pulling it out. It should go back in ok. there is a circlip on the end which supposed to retain , but it does not do much . The shaft should relocate back in with a few turns left to right and be fine.

As I have the old driveshaft and car jacked high here I measured between the boots/joints etc and it seems same size.

It looks like the inner cv is kind of dislocated or not seated correctly within the boot. What do I undo to re-seat the o/s inner cv correctly? take off the lower ball joint nut at the bottom of drop link and bottom ball joint? I have the wheel off with hub hanging low on the lower suspension arm with all nuts bolts tightly done up at the moment.

Regards the strut/coil spring I probably did not do the top by the book. The lower bottom end had a grove shaped stop to seat the end of the spring and I used that. But I suppose sort the o/s inner cv first.

Ed , is the drive shaft fully home inboard, try rotating left to right applying a little inwards pressure on lifting the hub. Whilst your in there check that the tab on the rear of the shocker strut is fully down into the hub. You can compare the position of the tab to the other side. If you dont find an answer then take it off and check out under the boot of the cv joint that its ok.The shaft will be easier to work on then. It seems from the sound of it that the shaft is not located properly inboard. you dont say if its auto or manual.

As I have the old driveshaft and car jacked high here I measured between the boots/joints etc and it seems same size.

From what you said - with car jacked high I just put a socket on the hub nut and spun the driveshaft fast by hand and the inner cv seemed fine - the driveshaft (between inner and outer cv kept a true line, - no up or down or sideways movements

Regards the strut/coil spring

1) The o/s strut lower bottom end (coil seat) had a grove shaped stop to seat the end of the spring and I used that. I just checked the gap as only 3mm between the vertical bolt from the top of the drop link and the bottom end section spring. My thought are when I lower the car onto the wheels the spring may well come down too close to the drop link bolt. But the grove suggests that is where the spring bottom end should be?

2) The top of strut/coil spring I probably did not do the top by the book. I just put it back together.

Most people cut a few mm off the thread of the top mounting bolt of the droplink.They are too long anyway and stop you getting a ring spanner on or off. Arctic has a thread on here to help.