Rep Power: 231

1987 CRX Si, stock suspension except KYB struts and stock ride height.

If while cornering I drive across even a small bump or even the sharp ridge of a concrete culvert cutting across asphalt at the entrance of a subdivision there's often a hard, loud bang from the outside front suspension.

I've had a mechanic examine the car on a rack. Found no obvious cause. He heard the bang when riding along with me so agrees there's a problem.

The struts are KYB Excel-G. 21 years old but only about 50,000 miles on them. Mechanic thought they seemed fine. Was less sure of the original torsion bars.

Slight amount of camber with the front wheels. Normal, or a sign that the torsion bars are weak? Contacted a seller of torsion bars, who doubted I needed to replace them.

Adjusting torsion bars to raise the front end a quarter-inch a potential cheap solution. I'm not sure how much of a difference this could possibly make.

Replacing bump stops on strut rods another potential relatively cheap solution.

Has anyone else experienced these symptoms before?

Suggestions before I start replacing parts in a hunt for the cause?

 
Rep Power: 229

You you get us a sound file?

 
Rep Power: 231

I doubt I could make a recording of decent quality.

I have a shop looking at it today, will report what they find.

 
Rep Power: 231

Mechanic today thinks the KYB struts simply bottom out too easily--aren't doing enough to dampen impacts--and might have never been much better.

Thoughts here on this?

Suggestions for struts or coil-overs that would do better without seriously affecting ride quality? The car is a Straman so I don't want to beat the structure up any more than I have to.

Also wondering if coil-overs place more load on the strut towers than Honda ever intended. Any structural risks?

 
Rep Power: 231

All fixed. Front struts were so far gone they didn't even rebound on their own and the bump stops were MIA. Unclear if the bump stops were left out when the struts were done 21 years ago or if they disintegrated.

I guess the old struts seemed fine to three mechanics because they were still working well enough to keep the car from bouncing.

Handles much better now, with less roll in turns and a tighter feel. I guess replacing worn out dampers with new ones will do this.