suspension knocking noise

[collyirwin11]

had the car a year and a half and its always had this solid knock from the front passenger side suspension. its been through two mots since i bought it without any problems highlighted but i have tried to diagnose it myself with no luck.

originally thought it may have been lower arm bushes, so replaced the whole lot a few months ago with no joy, then replaced droplinks still no joy, and then on saturday i replaced the top mounts and its still there.

its not a constant noise, and most people dont hear it, but i know its there and it seems to be only on crappy uneven road surfaces that its really heard but not all the time. Ive had a look at cv joints and they are fine, anti-roll bar bushes seem fine.

any other suggestions?

 

[mad mike 212]

Are you sure its the suspension? altho cant think what else it would be? maybe shocks?

 

[Graham]

engine / gearbox mount
loose mud flap / bumper / bonnet
something in the glove box

 

[collyirwin11]

had a look at the shock and it seems fine too

its a pretty solid clunk, to me it still sounds like droplinks. i have emptied glovebox, checked everywre around the passenger side and everything seems ok. the only thing which looks like it may need replaced is a track rod end but i doubt it would create this noise as i had one go on another car i owned and it never sounded like this.

during MOT when it was on the vibrating plates (prob a better name but its the second part just after the brake test but before the ramps) i noticed it really bad and sort of hoped the examiner would have too but unfortunately he didnt or he didnt see it as bad enough to worry.

would worn anti-roll bar bushes cause it? as its most obvious when the passenger side suspension is riding through the rubbish surface causing the suspension to travel up and down rapidly? i have checked them twice and they look ok, but i suppose that doesnt necessarily mean they are!

 

[J Man]

i had clunk solid knock type noise for while there and cudnt figure out what it was, thought it was something to do with suspension. Stuuuupidly enough it actually turned out to be the 2 wheel nuts had loosened themselves or mechanics didnt tighten them probably. So just shows how silly wee noises can be

 

[Chris Mac]

could be top mounts aswell

 

[Coog]

could be top mounts aswell

He's changed them already though...

Sounds like you've changed almost everything chum. ARB bushes may give a wee knock but you will likely notice they're ready to go. Did you change the droplinks to genuine ones? Reason why I say is that I did droplinks before and fired cheapys on and they rattled after about 10 miles again

The genuine ones were considerably better/quieter.

Also do no harm to go every nut/bolt and check it's torqued right.

 

[Steve]

Have you replaced the ball joints? That would be my first guess, then anti roll bar bushes.

 

[Scuba Steve]

make sure all bolts are tight!! what coilovers you using?

 

[boy_racer996]

if you have coilovers, its prob them tbh

 

[sam_9n]

bottom arm bushes?

vag cars are known to use them up when lowered

 

[collyirwin11]

cheers for the suggestions so far.

I changed the whole lower arm's, bushes and everything thinking that was the problem. the bushes where knackerd but it didnt take the noise away. then i changed droplinks which where also past their best. i got droplinks from colin adams and they where cheap enough so maybe that is the problem. (firstline i think)
its not lowered on coilovers, its on eibach springs and the noise was there before i lowered the car, at the time i just assumed it was the lower bushes, apparently not. wheel bearing was changed before i bought the car and its a very different noise to that. its a solid clunk with the road surface drops away (e.g. crack tarmac). it wont make the noise on potholes or anything just when the road surface is sh**e, (the road that takes you past ards dump entrance is a prime location)

also checked all bolts and they are all tight and torqued right. its driving me mad!!
its just really grating on my nerves now, it doesnt affect the driving at all, just a really annoying noise that i want rid off!!

 

[Alan_B]

Try driving my car, the dashboard rattles that much it could drown out a nuclear bomb explosion!

Luckily if I do hear an odd knock my mechanic is pretty good and finding the problem!

Wouldnt be track rod ends? Mine rattled when they went, especially slowing down over rough surfaces.

 

[collyirwin11]

lol i hear you, there is the odd rattle but this is more solid than that.
there is no wandering travel but can they make be making the noise? i may check that next week but when it went on a previous car there was no noise similar to this.

 

[boy_racer996]

must be a CAT B write off then lol

 

[collyirwin11]

must be a CAT B write off then lol

thankfully its not!! i think i might just invest in a massive sub and drown out the noise lol

p.s. is this spud? this car, or a similar one, comes into my work (gd aul centra)

 

[boy_racer996]

would be moi indeed lad...

 

[collyirwin11]

would be moi indeed lad...

thought it might have been, no luck selling it as yet??



also anyone anymore suggestions?

 

[boy_racer996]

all im getting is px, really after a cash sale tbh, seen your sister last night, aint seen er in agesssss!!

 

[collyirwin11]

nice, what you exchanging for?

yea she is still driving her corsa, she really needs a change lol

 

[boy_racer996]

nothing yet, im turning them all down!lol aye she was saying!lol

 

[paddyirishman]

Check the seals on the driveshaft. My megane is in to get this fixed at the minute. I was getting a clunking noise on rough roads and when turning to the left all the time

 

[Paul RS]

Engine or gearbox mounts?

 

[Lee A]

I have an idea Colin, you swap you car for mine along with £500 cash and we can shake hands and be on our way

 

[sam_9n]

other than bottom arm bushes which you have changed could it be because its a














skoda?