I have an early 2005 GT that has been lowered by the delaer with Eibach springs shortly after purchase in Jan '05. At about 6,000 miles it developed the strut bushing pop that is common. The dealer replaced both sides with new formulation bushings. All was well for about another 6,000 miles or so but then the popping reappeared. Again the dealer replaced both sides. Now at 20K total miles and the right side has been replaced again. The dealer insists they have the correct formulation.
Has anybody had this much problems with these strut bushings? Could it be the spring set? The dealer now uses Roush springs but only Eibach were available when I bought the car. Any suggestions or ideas appreciated.
Mine was built in October of '04 and also had this problem - there is an extra note in the TSB that the earlier models need an extra part or two than those that were built after Feb or March (I am not sure of the exact month) of '05. While I would like to think your dealer is smart enough to figure this out, mine was so incredibly stupid that it took 4 trips to get the problem resolved. You may want to check on this.
I kept the stock suspension until a month ago when I overhauled it with the Steeda system.
Good luck.
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'05 Black GT Auto - Steeda Carbon-fiber CAI w/SCT SF3 tune, CDC sequential turn signals, Saleen HID Headlights, Ford Bullit Axle-backs, Steeda UDPs, Steeda G-Trac Suspension - Stage II, Cragar 610C 18" x 9" & Nitto Extreme 555 255/45ZR18
I'm in the same boat, mine was built in april 05 and I've had the TSB done two times already and it still does it. It's kinda of weird, it only pops when I turn (right) up a driveway. I will back up and go (right) up the driveway again, and it goes away. I have the eibach prokit installed from the dealer and I suspecting it's the springs moving around. It's driving me crazy
I just now have about 4,500 miles on the 06 and it's been lowered with BMR springs since the first week of ownership. Mine is intermittent but seems to be happening with more frequency now concerning the popping. If there's a TSB out on it will the dealer try to deny my warranty work on it since they are aftermarket springs? I feel for everyone that has this problem as it's an embarrasing noise to hear when you're driving around people and they hear it. It just sounds like a sound you shouldn't have on a new car.
I was hoping to take it in for the 5,000 mile dealer check and see if they'd fix it.
Thanks all!
Snack
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66 Coupe Tahoe Turq - 200, Pertronix & Flamethrower, 3 Row Rad, Cliff. 6/2 96 GT Vert Laser Red - FMS pulleys, Bullet ProM, BBK CAI, Prof. Prod. Elbow and 70mm TB, MAC Off-Road H, Borla side exhaust, Tokicos, B&M Ripper, 18x10 & 18x9 DD Bulletts 06 GT Tungsten, UIP, Red Leather, Stick, 18" blades, Steeda CAI, SCT XCal 2 w/ MC Racing 91 tune, MACs, BMR SP010 springs, BMR Adj Panhard, CDC ducktail & quarter louvers, Rear louver, painted black stripes
Are you sure it's your struts? When I lowered my car with the FRPP handling pack I all of a sudden had popping sound just like I had with the 'front end popping noise TSB". It turns out the the sway bar linkages in the front were not bolted down tight enough. I put some torque into the linkage bolts, sorry don't know how much, a lot, and haven't heard a pop since.
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2005 Mustang GT with 04 Cobra iron block, 300 ci, Kenne Bell 2.6l twin screw, P&P S3 Heads, SS valves, Comp S3 cams, Currie 9+ 9" rear end and DS (coming soon), Hurst shifter, BMR K-member, A-arms, LCAs & UCA, JBA long tubes & mid-pipe, Accel COPs, GT500 fuel pumps, much more... 659 RWHP, 598 Tq @ 12 psi & 5800 RPM
Each time the bushing has been chewed up and this last time it fell apart in the tech's hands while they were fooling around with it after removal.
I originally had the mod done thru my dealer. I am now dealing with the shop that did the work for them and will get the car back today after new springs and a new right hand bushing were installed.
The shop will no longer do anything as they feel it is a Ford problem if it comes back again after the new springs were installed.
To say the least I am frustrated with the whole deal, feel like selling the car but who would buy it with this issue...and the Ford service guy tells me that if I continue to claim that Ford will deny it because the car is modified!
I found out what my front poping sound was, it was actually coming from my rear springs rubbing on the inner tunnel area. check your rear springs to see if they are rubbing. after lowering my car with the pro-kit eibach springs the poping sound began.
Is the "popping" being caused by the upper plastic bearing casing popping open and shut? By the bearing operating without all the ball bearings because some fell out?
With lowering springs (especially the really short springs) there might not be sufficient spring force on the bearing, when at full droop, to keep the bearing from opening up.
Also- since the upper strut bearing can be installed in 4 different positions ( or is it 2 ?), and there is only one proper position to install it, is it possible that after lowering, the upper strut bearing was installed 90 or 180 degrees out? I need to take another look at it, but I could have sworn that if it is not installed properly (with the upper cut-out facing outboard), that it will affect upper suspension geometry- perhaps enough to put an uneven load on the upper bearing?
Just an idea, but it is easy to visually confirm that the upper bearing has been rotated into proper position- you can feel the cut-out with your finger, and see it with a flashlight.
I haven't had the problem, but it intrigues me, because the mustang front end is such a simple design, and you would not expect to hear people having so many problems with it.
I know squat about shocks, struts et cetera. My Dec. 06 '04 ordered car came in to the dealer Mar. 28, '05. My gt got the pop nasty fixed in Aug. '05 w/ 2533 miles on it. My point is the parts list seems minimal for the TSB fix. The people who change their springs and shocks/struts w/ let's say steeda and tokico d specs. Aren't you removing all the factory parts that are causing some to pop anyway? I've only put on 2634 miles and 14 months past since the TSB fix and all is well. I want to do the above shock/strut/spring install, but not if it's going to cause problems.
I know squat about shocks, struts et cetera. My Dec. 06 '04 ordered car came in to the dealer Mar. 28, '05. My gt got the pop nasty fixed in Aug. '05 w/ 2533 miles on it. My point is the parts list seems minimal for the TSB fix. The people who change their springs and shocks/struts w/ let's say steeda and tokico d specs. Aren't you removing all the factory parts that are causing some to pop anyway? I've only put on 2634 miles and 14 months past since the TSB fix and all is well. I want to do the above shock/strut/spring install, but not if it's going to cause problems.
Yes, all of the strut parts come apart when we replace our springs and struts. But, the factory parts are reused to mount the new strut rod to the the chassis at the strut tower. I even managed to let the plastic bearing case slip open, and the bearings rolled around on the floor. I picked them up, cleaned them off and put them back. Everything went back together, and there has been no popping.
I did have loose sway bar end link nuts that 5twenty mentions. I spent about 6 weeks hunting for the "clanking rattle" before I identified that it was the end link nuts. They needed to be torqued to 85 lbs and the problem was solved.
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'06 GT, manual, Satin Silver, lt. grey cloth int., IUP.
MODIFICATIONS - Goodyear F1 GS-D3s; 245/45 on 18x9, 275/40 on 18x10| Progress Technology springs & sway bars| Steeda adj. panhard bar, panhard brace, front control arm brace & bushings| strut tower brace| Tokico D-Spec dampers| CHE adj. LCAs & BMR relocation brackets |drilled & slotted front rotors| C&L intake| BamaChips SCT tune| FRPP 4.10 ring & pinion| Pypes off road H-pipes| FRPP GTA mufflers.
Strut Popping Keeps Coming Back! 
