no there not worn out. i talked to a couple of people today who said its just the high compression of the springs. thats why it only happens on slow hard bumbs. they said if my shocks were shock it would make noises all the time. anyways i also talked to koni. they told me that from perch to perch is 10mm i'm not too good with mm so i don't know what that is in inches. but they also told me if you have lowering springs on your car you are not suppost to use the second perch. thats what the first one is designed for so you don't add un needed stress to the shocks. in which case if you don't have springs then you can use the second perch to give you the agressive look but without the added stress. anyways i'm still getting them and putting them on the second perch.