i'm removing as much as i can from the rear of the car tomorrow, this includes seats and seat belts... do i have to be wary of the pretensioners bearing in mind they'll just be unbolted and stored in the garage for a bit? is anything gonna go wrong if i take them off? i know on the fronts they can mess with the airbags in the seats.. or so i'm told?

i'm removing as much as i can from the rear of the car tomorrow, this includes seats and seat belts... do i have to be wary of the pretensioners bearing in mind they'll just be unbolted and stored in the garage for a bit? is anything gonna go wrong if i take them off? i know on the fronts they can mess with the airbags in the seats.. or so i'm told?

when dealing with airbags and pre tensioners its best to disconnect the battery before hand

Getting the rear seats out is a right pigs ears, takes a while. Looking back on my effort i think removing the rear door cards would have helped alot....and i mean alot as they stop you from pulling the rears away from each other.

Success!! didn't need to take the seats out as I think I've found the cause.

After jumping in the boot and holding the thread of the strut through the top mount I can deffonately feel movement, it appears this will be the knock that has bugged me for nearly a year. Weird as I tightened everything as much as I could. Anyone know torque settings for the tear suspension setup?

Oh and that interior trim was designed never to come off, maybe to cure some notorious ford rattle, needless to say many lugs snapped upon removal :(

Success!! didn't need to take the seats out as I think I've found the cause.

After jumping in the boot and holding the thread of the strut through the top mount I can deffonately feel movement, it appears this will be the knock that has bugged me for nearly a year. Weird as I tightened everything as much as I could. Anyone know torque settings for the tear suspension setup?

Oh and that interior trim was designed never to come off, maybe to cure some notorious ford rattle, needless to say many lugs snapped upon removal :(

So the famous knock has now been sorted?!

So the famous knock has now been sorted?!

it will be... when i get round to taking the strut out. might as well put my spacers on and dynamat the whole boot while its all apart. its lasted a year without fail, another 2/3 weeks will be fine :)

well happy i've found it though, if anyone have the torx tools that they can lend me at this meet on th 30th i'd be well happy, or you could just undo my seats for me? safe :D

do you know if the rear suspension is the same or similar to the mk6? my mates car is also knocking at the rear and we have found a shock absorber that seems to be moving where it meets the body - same problem as you i guess.

Rear shock absorber upper mounting bolts 25NM

Stef - yeah very similar, the rears are identical iirc

Thanks jzsk, do you know how tight the two bolts either side attaching to the body are meant to be? the ones you do up from underneath, terrible description, sorry

If you mean the Lower shock absorber mounting bolts(shock absorber to the axle) 115NM

If you mean the Axle pivot through-bolt and nut(axle swinging point) 125NM

the ones protruding into the car interior, 1 each side of the strut end inside the car. You do them up with a long rachet extension from under the arch. Best description I have. They hold the strut to the car when the beam is dropped from the hubs...

If you ring me the night before i will bring the gear to it mike. Ill check etis for the correct torque aswell

They would be the rear shock absorber upper mounting bolts 25NM.

Thanks guys, off to torque up now. Will check here again in case you get back to me Adam. Thanks

sob..

the dampener is damaged :(

at least GAZ should cover it by warranty

They will but it involves sending this one back to be investigated. ie no car for x amount of time. i can't go back to stock on the one corner, it'll destroy the geometry of the car, not only that, it'll look retarded :(

Oooooo. Not good. You will have to go for the jigh back low front look then wont you. Or tell them your ssending them the bill for a hire car

luckily for me Gaz seem to have awesome customer service, they're building me a new unit and sending me it to try then I send this one off :D

Wahay. Nice one

Update!!

Gaz have come good, the new dampener was here last week and fitted yesterday. Guess what............ the knocking has gone! hell yea you can't imagine how happy I am, I've had to live with that noise which i assumed was just some interior or cable bashing away as a result of the lowering. its been there since day one so to be 100% confirmed that the car is good and the product was bad is a weight of my shoulders.

Anyway, I can't praise Gaz, Mark in particular who has dealt with many of my questions over the year nearly enough. They had to build a new dampener from scratch so I'm happy with the service I've got.

If anyone is thinking of going for Gaz I'd highly recommend them as they're UK based and as per my experience they are good in after sales. Not like KW, AP, Weitec or the like whereby when I had a complaint before I'd have to direct it to the manufacturer in Germany or wherever... (;i had KW before, not worth the prestige they get if you ask me )

car is back together and also the rear is heavily sound deadened... so much so nothing fitted back without some persuasion, however the rear is dead in terms of sound. The proof is in the pudding... i can now hear the talking on the radio at 7 and 8 volume when on the motorway, I'd have to have it up at 9 or 10 just to have word audible.

thanks for your input lads and lasses.