Why is my car suspension popping after replacing struts and springs?
Suspension popping noises after installing new parts like struts and springs are often caused by improper installation, components not being torqued correctly under load, or binding parts. This leaves drivers dealing with intermittent knocking or popping sounds when turning or driving at different speeds.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 9.1× more often in r/MechanicAdvice than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1tightening mounting nuts and boltsDid this help you?
- 2checking if bolts are looseDid this help you?
- 3Checking lug nutsDid this help you?
- 4Inspecting ball joints and sway bar linksDid this help you?
- 5Getting the car up on a lift to examine suspension partsDid this help you?
- 6Checking and tightening sway bar end links and re-verifying all bolt torques.Did this help you?
- 7Checking if the joint is separated inside the bootDid this help you?
- 8Replacing mix and match aftermarket parts with matching componentsDid this help you?
- 9taking the car for a complete vehicle inspectionDid this help you?
- 10having someone else look at the vehicleDid this help you?
- 11checking and tightening components with a wrench and Allen keyDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Mechanic replaced the control arm but not the ball joint on. Getting clunks and tocks when turning left on slow speeds and going over bumps.”source ↗
“Now, when the car turns left or right sharply, or goes over bumps there is a very loud clanking noise from the subframe area.”source ↗
“I'm a bit of a newb so I might have got something wrong”source ↗
“But since putting it back in I've got this loud clunk noise. It happens every full rotation of the whheel. Neither joint looks unstable when it happens. But as you can see in the video the transmission jolts with it. Any ideas what's gone wrong here?”source ↗
“i recently installed a rear left monroe quick strut, i did kind of a bad job at it. it's intermittent like i'll hear these really low knocking noises at different speeds but sometimes it's not there.”source ↗
“After picking it up from the shop I noticed this bad sound coming from my front passenger side suspension. It wasn’t there before. It only happens on the passenger side and when I go over a bump slow.”source ↗
“also wanted to add that the ride is pretty “hard” in my CRV. Like you were saying it rebounds a lot. Is that a sign of bad struts?”source ↗
“I have a 2005 Honda CR-V manual. I had clicking coming from the front passenger side so replaced the outer CV joint... But now there's a clunking noise when I drive.”source ↗
“it started popping after I changed them, what can be causing this problem??”source ↗
“Thats the kit I used but the pops started after I replaced the struts and springs and only on one side”source ↗
“Me and my Dad changed our clutch after the puah bearing failed. But now we have a wierd noise when starting the engine.”source ↗
“I replaced my struts and sway bar link but the noise is still there any suggestions on what it could be?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 5Why is the ride still rough after replacing the suspension?