Rio S2K

I recently installed a Spoon X-brace on my car and now I notice a lot of creaks and noises from the suspension when slowly maneuvering the car or flexing the chassis a bit as you would do when entering or exiting an inclined driveway. My question is, is this normal or is something else attributable to this?

xviper

Did you torque the X-brace bolts when the front end was evenly loaded? Or did you bolt it on with one side of the car jacked up and the other side on the ground? If you did, then you have torqued the bolts down when the frame was under twisting tension. Ideally, a X-brace should be torque down with the suspension "loaded" (on the ground) and the very least, with both sides of the front of the car raised evenly.

Rio S2K

Yep, I torqued the bolts down with the driver-side front and rear off the ground. So you're saying if I loosen the bolts and retorque while the car is evenly on the ground then that will most likely get rid of the "creaking" noise? BTW, no permanent damage done to the subframe because of this, right? Thanks xviper, you the man!

xviper

Since most of us don't have a lift that will raise the car with the suspension loaded, I would suggest you lift the whole front end of the car. ie, put jackstands under both front side jacking points. Then go loosen all the bolts you touched when installing the brace. Don't be alarmed if you hear the frame make some noise as you do this. Tighten them back up to the correct torques evenly and in a couple of stages.
As for permanent damage, I don't "think" so, but remember, you tightened up the brace (and the frame) when it was twisted. This whole time that you have been driving around, the "creaks" you hear are telling you that the car is trying to untwist itself but can't because the bolts are holding it in that "twisted" configuration. You won't know if the creaks go away till you re-do the job.

revhi

Mine creaks and moans to when I go up a drive way, but only when the tops up and its cold. Do you also think this is due to my X brace?

Rio S2K

xviper, took the x-brace off altogether and installed the stock bolts, torqued them to specs and took a drive. Same thing as before, minor creaks as the chassis flexes due to slow manuevering and up/down inclined driveways. Maybe I tweaked my chassis by installing this thing incorrectly. What do you think?

xviper

This is very hard to say. Are you certain that these are new noises that came after you put on the X-brace? If they are new, then it's possible that something could have happened. I think you should just drive the car as is over all the types of road surfaces you normally do. Perhaps given a few days of this, the frames and suspension will "come back". Then re-install the brace.

xviper

Again, very hard to say. It could be but then, it could also be coincidence. Your car is getting to the age that things like bushings and suspension mounts are getting older and drying out a bit. These may contribute to the noises you hear. It never a bad idea to tend to those things with routine seasonal silicone spray. Because I drive mine all winter here, I do this maintenance twice a year. I believe this keeps the creaks and groans to a minimum.

S2Fire

I just have mine installed not too long ago and there's no sound at all. Are you sure the sound is caused by the brace ?

Rio S2K

How did you install yours(e.g. hydraulic lift, jacking up front end, etc.)? I never noticed the noise before I installed this thing. Actually, I think I didn't hear anything the first couple days and then all of a sudden I start hearing noises.