I recently installed a new set of PSS10s on my car. All went fine with the install but I had a strange rattle coming from the rears whenever I drove on a less than perfect road surface. After checking all mounting bolts, nuts, adjuster ****, and interior trim pieces, I found nothing. I even rode in the back with someone else driving to help pinpoint it. I called Bilstein tech support for help but they had never heard of a rattle problem other than maybe forgetting a spacer or installing to the strut mount in the wrong order. I rechecked the various spacers and nuts but all seemed in order. But while checking, I was able to identify the source. Turns out that there is a large metal washer in the very top of the protection boot. It's supposed to be jammed all the way to the top and held there by the rubber bump stop. Somehow, the washer and bump stop where about 1" from the very top most position. That was letting the large washer rattle freely on the shaft. I was able to push the rubber bump stop all the way to the top and jam the washer tightly in the top of the boot. Both sides were like this. The problem finding this was due to not being able to actually see the bump stop or the washer once the struts are installed. No more rattles.

I'm posting this just in case someone else has the same rattle problem after their install.

 

Had exactly the same experience after installing PSS10s. Tracked the rattle to the same washer. I siliconed it onto the rubber bumper and it has been fine ever since.

 

I have been killing myself to locate the source of the noise. Thank you!

 

Same experience here also. The solution is to simply take the washers out. For some reason on the early pss10 kits this washer was pre installed. Wes at Bilstein knows of the problem and you don1t need that washer on top of the bumpstop
Mike

 

Thank you very much. I've been sorting this out for years. : )

 

Awesome.

 

I'm glad that my original post has helped a few people sort out this annoying problem.
To the "mikerosi" post, the tech support guy that at talked with at Bilstein had no clue as to where the problem may be, other than to indicate that I may have installed the spacers/washers in the wrong order. Guess I got the wrong tech support guy.
As to the advise of removing the large washer completely, that seems like a bad idea. It's there to provide a large surface area for the rubber bump stop to bump against. Without the large washer there, a hard bottom-out could cause the rubber bumper to push all the way up the shaft till it hits the factory mount. I suspect the shock internals would bottom-out before that point and possibly cause internal damage. Also, removing the large washer requires that you remove the whole shock assembly from the car and remove the top mount. That's a lot of work. Just pushing the rubber bumper back where it's supposed to be can be done with the shock assembly still on the car.

 

MDD, I have this problem and thought it was the drop links. Do you have to pull the shocks completely out to fix it?

 

No need to remove the shocks. Just jack the car and remove the wheels. Squeeze the blue plastic dust boot near the top and you will be able the feel the large washer and rubber bumper. You should also be able to feel if the washer is actually loose and make it rattle. While tightly squeezing the lower side of the bumper (through the plastic boot), twist it and push up at the same time. You will be doing this blind since you can't see the bumper, just feel it. Each twist will take it up a tiny amount. Just keep going till the washer doesn't rattle anymore. Then give it a couple more twists to make sure it's good and tight. There are no threads holding it in place, just friction. The bumper is just really tight on the shaft and is slow going. It took me about 15 minutes per side.
You could remove and disassemble the shock assembly to gain access to the bumper, but it would be significantly more time and effort.

 

I had the same rattle. Sure enough, it was that damn washer! Thanks