Weird sounds after installing lowering springs (not clunking)

[brosifSmith]

So I just bought some Tein H tech lowering springs (1 inch drop front, .6 inch drop rear). After I had done the install I went for a drive and tested them over all sorts of bumps and they worked great, no sounds at all, cornered well. However, after driving to work and back, half hour each way, it started making some creaking sounds in just the fronts when I was almost home. It would make the sound when I turned the steering wheel either way, as well as when I would hit some bumps. I jacked the car back up and tightened everything, then greased the swaybar mounts.
No sound again now, but on my drive to work today I noticed more how the steering seems a lot more light and wobbly than the stock springs, almost as if the wheels are washing out as im driving straight on the highway. It is very unnerving. I also had my traction control light come on as I was going around an on ramp curve as I was getting up to speed. This never happened before and am wondering if it could be due to the springs as there was no bump to loosen up the backend.
Soo basically I'm wondering what to check, I've double checked all the bolts, tophat, crash bolts, swaybar and endlink. Not sure what else it could be other than me having fucked up and spun the struts.

EDIT: I torqued the shock top bolts with a pass through wrench to spec (41 ft-lbs) as well as every other bolt. So I'm pretty confident it's not any of the connections themselves.

[x808drifter]

[churchx]

Not sure about noise issue, but am strongly suspecting changes in traction and handling being caused by changes from not properly done realignment after mod parts install too.

[Gunman]

Check the alignment.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

When I installed my new coilovers, they made a very faint noise every time I went over a bump. Went away after breaking in. I did get an alignment too so may have been that.

[brosifSmith]

Yea I think it was some break in noises. I haven't heard them since. And I was a little worried I threw it out of alignment, I'll have to take it in asap. I was hoping to wait till I got some camber bolts in to have them align with them.

[brosifSmith]

How the fuck did you find that picture of me.

Originally Posted by x808drifter

[churchx]

brosifSmith: alignment may have got out of whack not just because to mount lowering springs suspension bits were unbolted/retightened afterwards, but also due lowering (which adds camber). Toe settings even at slight extent may greatly change handling/traction/grip/grip balance/straightness of tracking/tire wear but it's hard to see those slight toe settings by eye. Those slight toe changes that need to be dialed right normally are detected/measured on alignment rigs. One can DIY alignment using eg. strings method, but it's very tedious & PITA job taking long time, so get set of camberbolts, find stock alignment numbers to dial (or performance alignment for specific use/change to handling) and visit some suspension shop with alignment rig to dial alignment w/o issues to handling & grip you have now.

[norcalpb]

Why other mods do you have in your front suspension?

[brosifSmith]

Lowering springs are the only mod so far

[Trueweltall]

It's your springs moving(or binding) on the perch, this is normal behavior after installing lowering springs. Mine would make the sound for the first couple of times I moved the wheels left to right after lowering. I think the spec for the strut nut is 44 ft/lbs too, at least that's what I torqued mine down to.

Edit: Check your front sway bar end links to make sure they are not bashing into your chassis too.

[norcalpb]

Have you noticed your car has gotten any lower since it was first installed? If you had it aligned right after the install, the springs may have settled which lowers the car, adds camber and throws off toe.

[brosifSmith]

I didn't do the alignment right away because I wanted it to settle first. I was thinking the crummy handling and tendency for the fronts to break loose when I pull hard to the right or left suddenly was due to it being excessively toe out, but I measured it yesterday and it is majorly toe in, like, enough that measuring with a string showed the fronts of the front tires were closer by almost a half inch than the backs of the front tires. as well as having a very noticeable amount of negative camber. both these things (in moderation) are more ideal for handling, so it's interesting that too much causes it to handle so poorly. I'm assuming it's the toe that has a larger effect on the breaking loose than the camber, but I digress. Getting the alignment done today, camber crash bolts are in.

[churchx]

camber shouldn't affect much handling. Many drive just fine with considerable amount of negative camber for dual-use, track and daily driving, cars. Toe on the other hand can do bad things to handling even at slight extent wrong, making car not track straight or tending to turn to one side if braking or if accelerating, if toe not even, be too stable unwilling to turn, or opposite, too nervous and willing to loose traction, especially under throttle, cause extra toe tire wear and hurt fuel economy and so on.
Toe = preturned wheel to/from centerline. That means, if turned a lot - wheel drags a lot sideway all the time. In stabilizing (and not willing to turn) way if toe-in (=both sides steered to centerline), destabilizing, if toe-out (=both tires presteered to outside, from centerline), so willing to turn depending on which wheel with more grip (usually outer tires in turn, front tires if braking, rear tires if accelerating). If uneven, then car tends to steer more to one side and so on. Summarizing it up, good alignment toe-wise should be zero front, slight toe-in rear (as car is RWD, for slightly more stability under throttle rear, for driving straight even if wheels slip, and for more stable behavior, when accelerating out of turns), and of course toe even from side to side, to track straight in different scenarios.