i have had a rattle in the front for a while now i assumed that it was from the BMW headlight since they are not that secure. i had to let my girlfriend drive my MAX the last couple days because i was doing some work on my other car that she normally drives... body kit so fourth... and today we switched cars and she says to me that she that she thinks that the rattle is worse so before when i hit a bump i could hear it a little now it is over any little variance in the road and to top it off went to make a left turn at 20 MPH and it felt like i hit 3 wheel in my car. for any of you that have road in a car with hydos you know what i mean. So i am thinking that it may be a bad ball joint or the strut is blown. anyone have any ideas on where i should start looking. the worst part is I'm not sure when i will have time to get under it earliest would be next week to find the exact problem and to top it all of i just spent all my money on painting the body kit i just put on her car. and of course the 1st is coming and rent will mess me up for money till at least mid month. so other than telling me i am screw any ideas?

 

front end noise are tricky to diagnose because all the parts come into play. Do you hear it when going straight or when you make a turn? Try going in a circle with the steering wheel all the way to one side and then to the other and see if it makes any noise. If it does, then it is most like your axle.

How is your steering wheel control, does it shake when driven on the highway? raise the car up and test one tire at a time. pull up and down and sideway to see if there are any play.

 

try the bounce test
bounce the corner up and down to see if the noise is at that corner.

 

The ball joints are fairly easy to check. With the car on the ground, put a metal bar ( I use an old tire iron) against the inside of the wheel and up against the ball joint ( use a spacer in the wheel if there's too much space between. Push up against the ball joint with some good force. There should be NO play or movement. If there is, it's time to replace it, quickly. Broken ball joints make the wheel try to roll on their sides which is only good for sparks and unintended donuts.

 

well i know the axles are going out and the rattle happens regardless wither i'm going straight or turning all i have to do is hit the slightest bump. it's the feeling like I'm 3 wheeling on left corners that has me REAL worried!

 

Well found problem the nut that holds it in place at the top of the strut mount came off. so now i need to replace it threads worn off. glad i never paid the shop all the money i owed him!

 

Oh yeah strut was blow REAL BAD you could raise an lower it with no resistance

 

forgot to say replaced strut and it it just like no no noise at all!!