I have this wierd noise in my front suspension for a while now, haven't been able to figure it out. I got koni struts and suspension technique springs. It almost sounds like something isnt bolted down properly or something. i hear the noise even over flat roads.

I was wondering if Im missing the orange almost paper thin gasket type thing on the top of the strut if this would cause nosie while. here is pic, you can see the thing im talking about in the top left around the top of the strut




Im thinking im either missing that or its time to put some new bushings on in the front

 

The lack of the gasket is not the source of the noise, guaranteed. Since you obviously have had suspension work done(konis/s/t springs) go through the entire suspension systems looking for loose bolts, you would be surprised how easy it is to overlook tightening all the bolts/nuts down during a strut/spring replacement.

 

a bearing maybe?

 

what kind of noise? like something is tapping or ? it could be many things....better start checking before it goes outta control..

 

how is your alignment? after you check the bolts/nuts/screws, if it all checks out, get under there and check the bushings.

 

Bad bushings tend to give sounds like that, I'd check on the sway bar and the control arms.

 

I think mine may be making a similar sound. It's a kind of looseness sound, like a jiggling sort of sound in the suspension. Can you feel the vibration slightly in the gas pedal when driving even over small cracks in the road?

Mine started doing this in the summer but was very faint, and has slowly gotten louder. I checked the fasteners today underneath and they seem in-tact. I'll do the transverse link bushings first - they look old. Checked the wheel bearings, not that. I'll check the stabilizer bar too, but it doesn't seem like that is as much of a load bearing part to be doing it on every little bump.

 

perhaps the koni strut was not properly tethered to the bottom of the strut casing?

 

its more of something might be loose sound. If its not that orange gasket thing, im thinking bushings, Im 100% sure all bushings are factory

Im pretty sure I got everything tightened down on the suspension tho, will check again.

the alignment is good, Ive had it done 3 times since Ive owned the car 5-6 years, last time was a year ago I think.

I just had the front right wheel bearing replaced, which is the side it sounds like the noise is coming from.


there is no vibration at all in the gas pedal. driving seems normal, just the sound of something moving around.

I wanted to confirm that orange gasket is not the culprit, looks like Ive got some bushings to replace

 

I have a knocking noise also from the driver's front area, when I go over certain kind of bump (not necessarily big one) or sometimes when transitioning abruptly between acceleration and engine braking somehow.

I have gone through a lot of stuff all without getting rid of the noise:
* new front struts (replaced upper strut mounts too)
* new wheel bearings (I think)
* new swaybar end link bushings (suspension techniques swaybar, energy suspension bushing)
* checked engine mounts - all seem OK (not much engine movement when jacking from underneath)
* tested the ball joint

I don't think I've changed the driver's halfshaft so not sure if splined driveshaft to hub may be the culprit, or if some CV joint may be the culprit. I have not replaced my A-arm bushings yet either (although pretty sure I thought they looked OK from inspection?)

I will admit I've been stumped by this one too. The car's had this clunk/knock noise ever since I bought it years ago (used, from a friend.)

I wish I could tell you how to fix it. But if we can somehow figure it out, I'd be thrilled! I recall being amazed replacing the front struts didn't fix it, I thought surely it was something worn or loose in the strut or strut mount.

 

it just started snowing here so it will be a while before i crawl under her. I would like to just replace all my bushings at once and get it realigned. and go from there if it doesn't fix it

 

I'll let you know what I find too. I'm ordering the front KYB struts too, and replacing those so I don't have to pay for aligning twice. I don't think it's fasteners getting lose - I recalled someone saying in the past they are the prevailing torque type.

I don't think it's any mounts in the engine bay as I hear the knocking sound while driving really slowly on neighbourhood streets, going over slight bumps and changes in the road. I especially hear it when driving over manholes or the curb bump before going on or off a driveway. I'm going to do the bushings too, since most of the responses on the ORG recommend this is the culprit. The only thing I do notice is the sound has gotten louder as the front struts have gotten worse - to the point where the struts completely need replacing now. No more highway for now.

 

Ive been debating to just take my car into a shop or not and have them replace all of my bushings in the front.

Anyone able to give me an idea what I would be looking to spend doing that?

I could probably do almost all of them myself. But I thought I read somewhere some of the bushings need to be torched out, and I can't do all that.

I was going to buy some ebay control arms with new bushings already installed on it. Is this cheaper/ easier than buying all new bushings and just replacing them myself?

 

cheaper? maybe. it ended up costing me as much to get the bushings, and have the new bushings pressed in than it would have cost to get new arms with ball joints from brian...

easier? Oh, HELL yes.

 

I agree. Maximaman I did go by a garage the other day to get the quote for this very job. What he said is he won't do the bushings replacement as i'll pay more because of 4hrs labor needed. He claims they always just replace the control arms entirely. His price was quite high - he quoted something like $250.00-300.00 in parts PER side, then an hrs labor or 1.5 I can't remember. I know those transverse links don't cost that much - but you have to factor in the shops markup too.

Basically - he's saying it's a $700.00 - $800.00 job. Seems a bit steep. I'm just going to do it myself.

 

ya looks like ill be doing the control arms with new bushings and tie rod already installed myself this spring too. I would like to replace other bushings on the front suspension but Im not sure what other bushings there are off the top of my head, I dont want to crawl under it right now, and im not sure the difficulty of them

How hard is replacing the control arms? if anyone can give me an idea what Im going to get myself into. I have no access to power tools at all, but have most basic tools, will I be ok?

I was looking at brians page for the control arms. I rather support an org member. But his shopping cart on the website isn't working. Internetautomart whats going on bud?!

btw i am reading the stickies right now on control arm replacement....

 

From what I can tell the only other bushings on the front are the stabilizer bar bushings. I haven't done these repairs but all of them seem very easy and you shouldn't need a compressor - just a good quality breaker bar. If I were you I would start to buy the fasteners ahead of time - I have the list if you need it. The only abnormal ones are the M18 10.9 Stover on the Transverse Link-->Gusset Assy.

And I forgot there are 2 other bushings I think on the steering rack - but I don't know about access - if the engine has to be removed or not...someone can elaborate maybe.

 

fasteners?

 

cant speak for an auto, but I could easily change mine on my 5-speed. not sure if the auto is bigger that way or not. I would like to think not.

 

i did mine (auto) and it was cake

 

only issue with that is that if you want the ES poly you're gonna have to do it yourself. took me a while to get the stinking outer sleeves out of the LCA front bushing thing too... a task i wish never to repeat without the RIGHT drift for the job.

 

I bought a front control arm complete with bushings and new ball joint on ebay for like 70 bucks. Put it on, and a year later im hearing this wierd noise as if something is loose on that side of the car. I dont have to go over a bump to hear it. Most of the time i hear it when i just move the car and it shifts into 1st gear, I dont know if its an alignment issue or not because I havent had it aligned since I put the arm on or the tie rod on the drivers side. It seems that powersteering fluid is seeping out onto the rear control arm bushing, as everytime I look under the car at it, there is a drip of some fluid hanging off it it.

 

well PS fluid will eat the bushings up. mine was to the point where i could (if i wanted to) pull chunks off of it. so fix the PS leak first, then as soon as you do, put new bushings on. might as well do polyurethane this time instead. you can get them from internetautomar's site but they are actually for the 4th gen, you just have to trim the rear one so it has the angled sides like the 3rd gen one does. i've heard that a brand-new hacksaw blade is up to the task.

 

Thanks for the advice, But how do u actually remove the bushing from the control arm?

 

Check your drive axles if the boots are ripped open. If they are ripped open, when was the last time you noticed they were ripped.

 

fire! fire!
or drilling'

you can also look in the stickies for a write up on how to do it.

 

This may be considered a waste of money or time... but I was wondering what others thought about performing this op in this manner?

If your car is an absolute must to have everyday, how about buying new LCAs from Brian and then taking out the existing bushings and replacing with the poly's so as to make a direct swap?

The only reason I even suggest this is because I'm running under the impression that the poly's are supposed to be the "upgrade" to the rubber ones that come in them? And me personally... that's what I would do for that replacement... comments?

 

the only money that would be "wasted" would be the money spent on the control arms with bushings on them already. considering when your all done with everything whats left over. a used pair of control arms and removed new oe bushings.

I think the real question is. is it worth that to get the upgraded bushings and the labor of you removing the oe bushings from the new LCA's and putting the poly bushings on. So basically your paying maybe $100 extra for the LCA's for the convience of a faster swap with upgraded bushings.

 

If you guys don't want to tackle the poly bushing replacement yourselves, i will do up a set of ready to mount poly control arms, you must prepay in advance though..

pm me for details..

 

taking over matt's old deal?

 

I replaced the passenger side drivaxle a year ago, along with a new control arm, and balljoint. I then replaced the driverside gear bellow and tie rod end, and noticed that that the driverside cv axle inner boot has a tear in it. It hasnt started clicking yet, but I see that Oriley's carries a boot kit, in which it dosent require removing the drive axle from the vehicle. I also noticed that the passenger side tie rod end boot was torn, so thats next on the list, along with new stabilizer bar bushings.

 

Humm, that could be the source of your sound. Do you drive in salted roads this winter or where slush or wet snow gets thrown upwards? The problem is, when the boot rips, it's often a long time before you notice, and depending on where you are driving the car, the damage to the CV joint can happen pretty quickly, with failure right around the corner. Take a look at the grease, stick your finger in there and see if the grease has turned into a watery clay like substance....if this is the case, the damage is likely already done. It may be a waste of money to buy the boot (or even inspect it) when the whole axle is 75 bucks, and comes with new boots.

Mine (outer near the knuckle) was completely shot, and I drove around the whole winter and fall not knowing the metal band that holds the one end of the boot, completely ripped off.

The sounds from failing drive shafts can vary - it's not just the clicking.

 

When the time comes I'll prolly hit you up about that... Not many tools available to me at my current location and I work out of my car so I can't have it down more than a day.

 

Been doing this for a while now, i started a classified thread for the deal a while back(early last year), but it never really took off.. i just had a few orders..

 

We are having a similar problem here in Holland.
'93 Max got new front struts. When steering to the right you hear a squeaking and clunking sound. The struts are triple checked for proper mounting, ball bearing also renewed, heim joint (tie rod) checked. Everything seems OK.
Anyone know where to look next?
I was thinking of actually measuring the length of the spring and comparing it to the original length. Them workshop baboons used 5 clamps and an air ratchet gun to compress it. Maybe they overtightened it...

 

upper strut mount (and bearing)?

also possible is the ball joint.