2001 w/ SRA rear shock advice

[Drpeckr]

Good morning SVT members!

I have a 2001 Cobra w/ SRA conversion. Recently I started getting a squeaking noise from the rear suspension. This is probably a terrible explanation of the sound, but it reminds me of the squeaky truck beds on our farm trucks when I was growing up. It seems to get worse once the car has been heated up. I'm assuming it's an issue with the shock but I'm not sure. The car has ~88k on it and since I didn't do the SRA swap myself I don't know what the mileage on the rear suspension is..

Currently the car is mild bolt on ~300RWHP, at some point I plan on FI (hopefully turbo) ~400-600HP. I use it off and on as my DD. I would like to at least drag a bit with it, and maybe do some tracking at some point.

My questions are this: does this sound like a shock issue? If so, what shocks should I replace with?

 

[blacksheep-1]

lean on the fender and bounce the car up and down a few times, when you stop the car should immediately stop as well, if it continues to bounce, the shock are waaayyy past due. If that doesn't work have someone else do it and look under the car and try to locate the source. of the squeak.
Trying to diagnose a "squeak" on a forum board is about impossible.

 

[Drpeckr]

Yeah, diagnosing noises, esp suspension noises which would be hard to capture are probably not suited to "forum" diagnoses.. I just figured I'd post up to see if anyone else had ran into a similar situation.

That said, If I determine that I *AM* going to replace my shocks, what should be my deciding factors when choosing the shocks themselves? Any particular brand/model work better than others for the $$?

 

[Roots-type]

Check the torque on the upper control arms. Mine came sightly loose a couple months back and were making squeaking noises.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Well tracking the car and drag racing the car are not really mutually compatible.at their extreme ends. I've had some good luck with Tokico blues, although some folks think hey are not so good, but it's a decent inexpensive shock, you might try Tokico illuminas, they are adjustable so you could adjust them for street/ drag or tracking and are not too expensive. There's always Bilsteins. IMO any of those would give you some decent options, without breaking the bank.

 

[zPipes]

Mine makes a bit of noise, but I am pretty sure its because I have no isolators back there. Do you have lowering springs, are all 4 isolators in there? Are they in good condition? I know you asked about shocks but this is just some other option for diagnosing the noise.

There are lots of possibilities for the noise, gl. I just chalk mine up to the many upgrades, the stuff thats still 13 yrs old like unreplaced bushings or stock worn parts, and the fact its a muscle car not a luxury vehicle.

In regards to what to use as a replacement, you have a few good options. Used bilsteins from an 03/04 Cobra, Bilstien, Tokico, and Koni. Tokico has a good stock replacement for a value price, or you can get some upgraded models a bit more.
I went with Koni, and love them. Just need to get the fronts now.

 

[Drpeckr]

Thanks for all the responses guys, I FINALLY figured out what the noise is... I took the car into get my 4.10s installed and I asked the shop to take a peek at the noise. They told me that they thought the non-stock exhaust hangers were the problem. So with that information I jacked the car up and climbed underneath to look. I found that the hanger on the side that was making the noise was one of the stock looking rubber OEM hangers.. BUT, I found my Borla pipe had 2 hangers on it, one going up and towards the center of the car, one going down and towards the passenger side of the car.. the hanger pointing towards the passenger side was actually hitting/scraping on the passenger side frame!! There isn't enough room to cut it off the offending hanger with a hacksaw so hopefully this weekend I can get my brother in law to use his dremel cut off wheel to remove the offending hanger.

 

[TBCobra]

I have some squeak from my sra as well. I figured it was from having no isolators in the rear. I just got new exhaust so I will check everything out while I put it in.

Glad you figured it out.