Cranked Tbars 3 turns - odd clanking sound?

[firstruck]

I cranked the tbars 3 turns to raise the front of my 1500HD (looks nice) Replaced shocks w/ bilstiens and Now I have an annoying rattle sorta clanking sound from the front. Oddly it only happens on smaller sharp bumps(or small washboard pave) in the road almost to small to actually feel. Happens on both sides I think. It also won't happen if I apply the brakes even just a tiny bit(Imean barely toching the brake pedal).

 

Things I've done:

 

raised the tbars 3 turns (front fender height at 36.25")

put approx. 3/16" spacers under jounce bumpers (bumpers are in contact with lower swingarm)

Put washers under the upper shock mount (approx. 1/2 ")

Pretty much eliminated it from being any kind of body noise (to clanky-mechanical sounding)

 

Any ideas? comments as to what I might look for?

[facn8me]

Sounds like a loose shock. Maybe a bad one? Hard to diagnois a noise over a computor, but in my mind if you changed something and the noise started go to what you changed. Maybe swap sides on the shocks. See if it changes.

[firstruck]

thanks, I have read something about the lower shock bolt tolerance being oversized a bit on the bilstiens, causing a "rattle". doesn't sound like that but it'd be worth a looky

[shiden_kai]

I cranked the tbars 3 turns to raise the front of my 1500HD (looks nice) Replaced shocks w/ bilstiens and Now I have an annoying rattle sorta clanking sound from the front.  Oddly it only happens on smaller sharp bumps(or small washboard pave) in the road almost to small to actually feel.  Happens on both sides I think.  It also won't happen if I apply the brakes even just a tiny bit(Imean barely toching the brake pedal).

 

 

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Did you get an alignment done after you raised the ride height?

I don't know if you are aware of this, but the very first step

in an alignment on a GM truck with torsion bars is to check and

adjust the ride height. The reason for this is that any adjustment

to the torsion bars affects the camber/caster settings, which in

turn will affect the toe settings. You cannot just "crank" up the

torsion bars and not expect there to be a (sometimes) significant

change in the front end geometry. I've done alignments for years,

and have checked and documented the actual changes that occur

in the measurements of the caster/camber/toe when you move

the torsion bars around, and it doesn't take much torsion bar

movement to throw the alignment right out of spec.

 

Not sure about your noise, but just thought that you should

be aware of the alignment issues so that you don't wreck a

set of tires.

 

Ian

[firstruck]

Thanks Shiden, I'm scheduled for an alighment this week. As for the noise.. I was poking around under the truck saturday and may have found the source of the clanking-metallic sound. It appears to be front "loose brake pads", that would explain why it doesn't make the sound when I even lightly apply the brakes. So, now the question becomes, whats up with that? Worn pads? crappy replacement pads that don't fit so well? caliper problems? missing pieces? recalls, upgrades to the original units? The pads seem to have plenty of life left in them but they are loose to the touch and I can easily mimick the clanking sound by just probing into the pad and lifting it in the caliper, any clues as to what might be a good place to start?

[shiden_kai]

Thanks Shiden,  I'm scheduled for an alighment this week.  As for the noise.. I was poking around under the truck saturday and may have found the source of the clanking-metallic sound.  It appears to be front "loose brake pads",  that would explain why it doesn't make the sound when I even lightly apply the brakes.  So, now the question becomes, whats up with that?  Worn pads?  crappy replacement pads that don't fit so well? caliper problems?  missing pieces? recalls, upgrades to the original units?  The pads seem to have plenty of life left in them but they are loose to the touch and I can easily mimick the clanking sound by just probing into the pad and lifting it in the caliper,  any clues as to what might be a good place to start? 

 

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I've never run across that problem with factory brake pads...if anything,

the factory brake pads actually tend to sieze up. I wonder if the pads

were replaced at one time with some cheap aftermarket pads. If you

are really worried about it, I would suggest you buy the GM pad kit

which comes with the new inserts that the pads ride on. Just make sure

you clean up the surfaces that the inserts sit on before installing them.

 

Ian

[firstruck]

I cranked the tbars 3 turns to raise the front of my 1500HD (looks nice) Replaced shocks w/ bilstiens and Now I have an annoying rattle sorta clanking sound from the front.   Oddly it only happens on smaller sharp bumps(or small washboard pave) in the road almost to small to actually feel.  Happens on both sides I think.  It also won't happen if I apply the brakes even just a tiny bit(Imean barely toching the brake pedal).

 

Things I've done:

 

raised the tbars 3 turns (front fender height at 36.25")

put approx. 3/16" spacers under jounce bumpers (bumpers are in contact with lower swingarm)

Put washers under the upper shock mount (approx. 1/2 ")

Pretty much eliminated it from being any kind of body noise (to clanky-mechanical sounding)

 

Any ideas? comments as to what I might look for?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

FYI - Today I finally replaced the front disc brake pads with new OEM one's from the stealer( about $170 for both front pairs and retainers) OUCH!! But it seems to be money well spent, as now it's as quiet as a cadillac - yahooo... It looks like the old ones were aftermarket and bad ones at that. The actual steel stamping looks to have been made a tad to small....

 

looks like it had nothing to do with cranking the T-bars

[billbarr100]

anyone know what the actual ride height for a 97 1500 4x4 should be? When i bought my truck, one of the torsoin rod bolts had come out of the key thingy and i had to crank it down and put it back in. So i just guessed at the ride height. Anyone know how high it should be and where they measure from?

[Supercop8100]

Me curious too for a 2002 HD. Just wanna level it out.

[firstruck]

Me curious too for a 2002 HD. Just wanna level it out.

 

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I don't know what the actual ride hieght is, seems there're all over the place. I have mine set at 36.25 to the lip of the flare. It took some screwing around and IIRC I ended up with about 3 turns on the pass. side and about four on the driver side. I like the improved looks(just a tad nose down, empty). the ride quite a bit stiffer, but with the other mods I did(see my original post) its tolerable

[J45p3r]

To get the proper height you need to measure the Z-Height. You can probably do a search on here to find that procedure.