I go over a bump and *BANG*--please help!

I go over a bump and *BANG*--please help!

Last year I installed a lot of stereo equipment in my car (four subs, 3 amps, two capacitors and an extra Optima yellow top battery in the trunk) and the rear of my car sat so low that I bought some coilovers mainly to level out the car. I currently have Tokico blues and Ground Control Coilovers and, since day one, whenever I go over any medium to large bump with ANY speed, there is a vicious BANG from the rear of my car. It sounds as if the entire back end of the car has just smacked the ground (it is not) and is even more noticeable and more vicious when there is anyone in the back seat. I know that the equipment in the trunk with the install is at least 200 lbs but I am not really interested in getting rid of any of it (it cost almost $5K). I was wondering if anyone else on here was experiencing the same problems and if so what was the remedy. I have been considering purchasing the JIC FLT A2's recently as someone on here posted that they had a similar problem before and it was fixed when they put these on. I took my car to a shop and had it corner balanced and they said that the banging was due mainly to the fact that I was using a two piece coilover set up and the problem should be resolved by going to a one piece such as the JIC's. I just want to know if this will solve the problem as I would rather put the $1600 for the JIC's to a turbo or some other stuff but am so sick of the banging that I am willing to pony up the cash for these now and wait til next summer for the turbo if $1600 for some JIC's=NO MORE F***ING BANGING NOISE. This is a huge decision and a lot of money for me so any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to any and all responses. Thanks!

my front right strut is blown and it goes bang

prolly you are bottoming out.

have you tried rolling your fenders?

Hum, I heard that bumper stops need to be taken off when coilovers are put on. I think these usually get on the way, and will bottom out the coilovers. You may want to check on that. You should not be bottoming out on coilovers, unless they are not installed/adjusted correctly.

X

I used to get that alot in the front of my car... it was the top of the coilover hitting the strut when the rod in the strut was compressed all the way, i changed to springs and put in little rubber wedges between the coils of the spring to absorb some of the compression, now I dont ever bottom out no matter what I go over. You could prob put springs in the rear and get the same pieces of rubber from discount... they were less then $5

Thanks every one for the responses so far. I talked to the place that corner balanced my car and they said that the reason for the banging is probably caused by play in the coil over--I go over a bump, the coilover unseats itself from the strut and the banging noise is it falling back into place and reseating itself. Is this a possibility? This was one of the major reasons I was looking at the JIC FLT A2 as it is one piece and would not have this unseating problem. Does anyone here have the JIC's installed? If so, do you think they are worth the cost? Are they really that much better than what I have now?

Speedynole- What types of rubber should I be looking for? Do I just buy some rubber and put it in between the coils of the spring or is there something else I should be looking for?

Laz- Where are the bumper stops? Do I need to take the coilovers off to get to them? I have had them looked a by a shop and they said they are installed correctly. Because of the weight in the rear, the back is 2 turns from the top and the front is almost halfway down. Would this be causing the problem?

Thanks again for all the responses!

the bump stop is a piece of foam/rubber that sits on the strut shaft

its a piece of rubber that comes in sets of 2 they are mainly used for old springs that sag. I bet if u ask the counter clerk they would know where...

the bump stops are at the top of the dust cover boots. if those are not cut down, you will feel like the car just fell apart when they hit. and hit hard. might want to cut them down about .6 inches.

That sounds a lot like what has been happening. Funny it doesn't make the same noise in the front. I will take a look at it this weekend and see if cutting them down helps out at all. Thanks for the info!