# Fianally soved my clunk/knocking noise.......I think



## Scuba*A3 (Feb 2, 2013)

So I have been trying to solve my front suspension clunk/knocking noise now for about 2 years. For reference my clunk/knocking noise sounded like bad ball joints that you find on older cars but mine could also be felt through the floors. So after multiple change out of strut bearings, strut mounts and I even sent my PSS10 coilovers back to Bilstein for a complete rebuild, I still had no luck. I decided to try the Tyrolsport Subframe Deadest kit. 

I put the car up on the rack and first did an inspection just to see if I could see anything obvious. I couldn’t find any loose bolts on the subframe, swaybar bushing, tie rods, end links or steering components (although I did that multiple times before). I looked for rounded out/rubbing bolt heads on the subframe and again did not find anything. So with nothing to lose, I installed the deadest kit. Instructions were pretty much straight forward and installed the bushing/collars one at a time. During the installation, I did not have to shift the subframe at all to get the bushing/collars to go in (they drop straight in). Everything tightened down with no problems and torqued everything to down using an electronic torque wrench and then went for a drive.

First impression…all the knocking noise is gone! I even drove the same route I did before I started the installation just so I could have a good comparison and everything seems to be good. Took the car for a good drive in some twisty roads and even braved stop & go rush hour traffic and the car drove like it did when I first got it off the lot. I’ll let things settle down a bit more and put a couple of more miles on it, and then I’ll recheck the torque on the subframe bolts to make sure nothing loosen up. Fingers crossed that I got this problem finally solved.


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## 2006_A3_2.0T (Jan 11, 2013)

nice glad it got solved. this is common on those cars, I also have a clunk, but it went away 80% after just tightening the4 back bolts.

I will get the TSB oem bolts because they are cheap and see if it solves it. If not I will have to get the Tyrol collar kit.:thumbup:


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

2006_A3_2.0T said:


> nice glad it got solved. this is common on those cars, I also have a clunk, but it went away 80% after just tightening the4 back bolts.
> 
> I will get the TSB oem bolts because they are cheap and see if it solves it. If not I will have to get the Tyrol collar kit.:thumbup:


Just a word of wisdom from someone who's been down that road...go ahead and get the Tyrolsport kit and be done with it. I initially went with the "Passat" bolts and shims like the TSB references, and eventually the clunk came back. It has to do with the OEM stretch bolts, well, stretching over time, and losing their torque. I did the deadset kit and the subframe clunk has gone away :thumbup:


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## 2006_A3_2.0T (Jan 11, 2013)

TBomb said:


> Just a word of wisdom from someone who's been down that road...go ahead and get the Tyrolsport kit and be done with it. I initially went with the "Passat" bolts and shims like the TSB references, and eventually the clunk came back. It has to do with the OEM stretch bolts, well, stretching over time, and losing their torque. I did the deadset kit and the subframe clunk has gone away :thumbup:


yeah thx for the headsup, I'been postponing this because of the price tag. I will pull the trigger this a must.


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## yowzaa (Jul 31, 2007)

Someone else also produces a bolt/collar set for this application. It's cheaper, I think.


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## Scuba*A3 (Feb 2, 2013)

So I drove it around town today and some highway driving...Happy to say its still noise free. 




yowzaa said:


> Someone else also produces a bolt/collar set for this application. It's cheaper, I think.


Yeah 034 motorsports just came out with their version. It uses the stainless steel collars instead. Was a group buy on here a couple of weeks ago but I think its over.



2006_A3_2.0T said:


> yeah thx for the headsup, I'been postponing this because of the price tag. I will pull the trigger this a must.


I would waste money on the TSB bolts and just dive in and get the tyrolsport set. I think there's a group buy going on now on our sister site VWVORTEX....here it is:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7146751-Group-Buy-TyrolSport-Deadset-kits!&highlight=tyrolsport


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## Scuba*A3 (Feb 2, 2013)

TBomb said:


> Just a word of wisdom from someone who's been down that road...go ahead and get the Tyrolsport kit and be done with it. I initially went with the "Passat" bolts and shims like the TSB references, and eventually the clunk came back. It has to do with the OEM stretch bolts, well, stretching over time, and losing their torque. I did the deadset kit and the subframe clunk has gone away :thumbup:


Tbomb...when you did yours how bad off was your alignment? Mine seems to still be spot on but I know they say you must get an realignment since you moved the subframe around.


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## Fellow Gaucho (Aug 3, 2011)

OP, how many miles were on your car when you noticed? I have heard a clunking in the front of my car when braking at slow speeds and stopping completely. Wondering if it's the same problem.


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## Scuba*A3 (Feb 2, 2013)

Fellow Gaucho said:


> OP, how many miles were on your car when you noticed? I have heard a clunking in the front of my car when braking at slow speeds and stopping completely. Wondering if it's the same problem.


I started to hear my noise shortly after I put my coilovers on about 38K. After awhile I pulled my coilovers off and went back to stock for a while (plus they were getting rebuilt) and I still had the clunk. Think I put the coilovers back on with the 034 strut mounts around 42K. I now have 51K.


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

Scuba*A3 said:


> Tbomb...when you did yours how bad off was your alignment? Mine seems to still be spot on but I know they say you must get an realignment since you moved the subframe around.


I honestly do not remember, it's been a long time ago now. I also replaced my front sway bar while I had the subframe dropped, so I wound up moving things around a lot...pretty sure it was off a bit :thumbup:


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## Scuba*A3 (Feb 2, 2013)

TBomb said:


> I honestly do not remember, it's been a long time ago now. I also replaced my front sway bar while I had the subframe dropped, so I wound up moving things around a lot...pretty sure it was off a bit :thumbup:


ahhh gotcha...thanks!


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## Tcardio (Mar 19, 2009)

Scuba*A3 said:


> Tbomb...when you did yours how bad off was your alignment? Mine seems to still be spot on but I know they say you must get an realignment since you moved the subframe around.


you need an alignment after placing the bushings. I agree the passat bushings suck and dont take care of the problem. I support this mod as well as the 034 mounts but I also like the TT strut mounts too


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## S-LineVinny (Dec 2, 2014)

And here I am with my fancy new camber plates to replace my strut mounts.....:banghead: This could have saved me a few bucks a few months ago ahahah

Do you recommend the deadset kit on it's own to be a fix or did the 034 strut mounts too solve it?


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## Scuba*A3 (Feb 2, 2013)

Tcardio said:


> you need an alignment after placing the bushings. I agree the passat bushings suck and dont take care of the problem. I support this mod as well as the 034 mounts but I also like the TT strut mounts too


So I got the lifetime Firestone Alignment done. It wasn't too far off, all they had to adjust was the toe. Front camber & caster was all in specs. The right rear needed a minor adjustment to toe (although I didn't mess with it). Took the car on a 1200 mile trip and all is good.



S-LineVinny said:


> And here I am with my fancy new camber plates to replace my strut mounts.....:banghead: This could have saved me a few bucks a few months ago ahahah
> 
> Do you recommend the deadset kit on it's own to be a fix or did the 034 strut mounts too solve it?


It depends on what you want your end result to be. I wanted to get rid of the clunk so I diagnosed and replaced items one at time till I found a combination that worked for me. The deadest kit will definitely tighten up the steering/front suspension but it will also let you "feel" the road more as well as the 034 mounts IMO. As for the 034 mounts, they will increase the NVH in the cabin but they also get rid of the squeak you hear when driving/backing out slowly.

During my 1200 mile trip...the clunking has gone but with that said, I can "feel" every dip/bump/hole/crack in the roads.


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