clunk at front left..all suspension new

[jas98]

hey guys have a problem

have replaced all suspension in me car with new parts (struts....strut tops...bushes, ball joints, tie rod ends..etc...) about 2 months ago. recently there has been a clunking type noise from the front left when going over bumps. when i bounce the car up and down (needs some force) i can hear it in the strut towards the top. Now i have had the entire suspension disassembled on that side twice in the last 2 days trying to pin point where it is, everything looks good and feels good. however the only thing that i can put it down to is the strut top...But there brand new!! and have no movement

at first i thought maybe the strut screw thing that holds the strut in place was loose but its tight...took it off 2 times to check and have tried 2 different washers.

seeing that i have disrupted the suspension i need a wheel alignment which im getting in a few days but was just wondering of some ideas what it could be.

still it could be the strut top but when bouncing up and down you cant see anything moveing just a clunk/tap noise..dull...but loutish when driving oner bumps at around 60<

can a stufeed ball joint (new one lol) cause this?

cheers

[FATMAT]

By strut top i'm assuming the bearing plate is what your talking about. When i had my vp i had exactly what your discribing and it turned out to be a r@@ted bearing plate (strut top). I replaced both with Nolethane ones and it never happened again. However, if you just replaced them then they would be fine. Maybe the left one is a bit loose? How are your wheel bearings?

[jas98]

thanks for the reply

wheel bearing's are new and tightened the other day as was loose but its definally coming from the strut top area as i can feel it when bounceing. i took car to tyre place and asked a well known guy there (known him for years) and he straight away said its the strut or something in the strut...i think he is right so im gonna replace the strut and or strut bearing plate with near new ones i have here (temporary) to see if it makes a difference...lots of mucking arond i know but i want the noise gone lol

every Thing is tight...tightes ya can get it but still something could be not sitting right

im leaning towards a fatly strut or bearing plate...may have gotten a faulty one

will post up what it was (if i do find what it was/is) lol hoping to look at it again Wednesday

cheers

[greenfoam]

It's the nut that holds the strut insert in 100% for sure. Very common, They need to be done up very tight with locktite or they come undone almost straight away

[Chirpstr]

It's the nut that holds the strut insert in 100% for sure. Very common, They need to be done up very tight with locktite or they come undone almost straight away

Very interesting because I have the same issue with my new lot. I cant see it being the new nolathene strut top bushes...
So what you are saying greenfoam is the nut that you can see looking over the top of the strut top. Or, the nut that holds the spring in place in the strut?

[jas98]

both nuts are done up as tight as they can go...the strut bearing plat nut and the shocky nut.....not saying its not casueing the noise though as it does sounds like a noise that something is loose...locktighted it aswell (what a bugger it is to get undon after locktight....) there gabrial shocks () so they could be faulty lol but they do work well on me parents vn and the right hand side shock is working well.

i did have a problem with me sisters vp, the strut bolt came undon and casue the strut to smash araond in the strut housing resulting in a ****ed strut, but checked it all and its all tight with the correct washers in place aswell.

[FATMAT]

Wow, i would love to know what it is now, there's not a lot of things that it could be. Are the bottom ball joints new/good condition and tight?

[Joey_21]

could be a rooted bush with metal on metal rubbing every time u go over a small bump?

[jas98]

Wow, i would love to know what it is now, there's not a lot of things that it could be. Are the bottom ball joints new/good condition and tight?

lol yeh i would to

ball joints are new but really i wouldnt be suprised if its stuffed...as one was feeling a bit loose when i installed it (the actuall ball itself0 but was fine after instralling it)

hopefully will find out tommorow..at tafe today lol

cheers for all the help guys will let ya's know how it turns out

[jas98]

could be a rooted bush with metal on metal rubbing every time u go over a small bump?

nah everything is new...or very close to new (been on car for 2 months)..plus have had front left in pices (twice) trying to look for clunk...its defially in the suspesion strut though

[jas98]

FIXED IT!!!

turns out that the strut was faulty.

up and down the strut felt ok'ish but you could move it side to side..if you know what i mean (with a bit of force)

took it back to where i brought it from and they rang Gabriel. ..(the guy was a good guy ,me dad spoke to them).The guy was like so you have the receipt and we were like yes, and the guy goes ......so whats the problem them, tell them to replace it, lol (as in why ring us...they have the receipt just replace it lol ) haha

anyway now i need a wheel alignment...and don't have that annoying clunking noise, plus the car rides allot better.

thanks to all that replied

[FATMAT]

Glad to hear it's fixed mate, i wouldn't have thought the actual strut itself was faulty :my: I thought they get tested before they box them up ready for sale. I'll be checking mine next time i replace the shocks.
Matt.

[jas98]

thanks mate

yeah like it always had a little clunk from the day i put it on (lol stereo fixed that) but she was pretty clunky lately

im happy its fixed though

cheers

[jetspin_vn]

Just out of interest, what brand were the faulty ones? Monroe per chance?

[greenfoam]

I bought Gabriel strut once to replace a smashed Monroe from a nut that had come loose, the monroe ones are very thin and soon as the nut comes lose they get smashed to bits and leak (they don't sell them in singles either and stuffed if I was buying another pair a month later) The gabriel was about 2 cm too short to fit in my VP! I rang supercheap twice to make sure the part number on the box was right....... yep yep they say it fits a VP. Well stuffed if it did it was totaly wrong on both ends. So in the end I had to weld a big nut on the bottom of the strut and then cut the top nut down to half its original thickness and all sorts of dodgyness to make it fit. Bitches:!P I think the wrong strut got in the VP box but at that stage I couldn't do anything about it as super cheap was an 100ks away and I wasn't going back. Anyway maybe they sent out heaps of Gabriel shocks in the wrong boxes and I wasn't the only one that got scammed

[greenfoam]

Very interesting because I have the same issue with my new lot. I cant see it being the new nolathene strut top bushes...
So what you are saying greenfoam is the nut that you can see looking over the top of the strut top. Or, the nut that holds the spring in place in the strut?

Yeah the nut that "you can see looking over the top of the strut " the big flat one that screws over the strut insert ontop of the tube holds the stut down WILL come loose without locktite. The lesson I learned at least for VN/Ps is just rebuild your original oil shockers, they last for a million ks with a couple of oring rebuilds, stuff the inserts

[jetspin_vn]

KYB Shocks all the way. Never again will I spend a dime on Monore, my VL ones didn't last 6 months and I used to see a heap of them returned to Repco.

[Brucefromruse]

Yep monroe's just dont work properly. Just elcheapo import's now with the name tag.

[jas98]

Just out of interest, what brand were the faulty ones? Monroe per chance?

they are Gabriel ...only the left one was faulty, the right one is ok (for now lol)...they work ok...me mums vn has them and they have lasted 2 years and about 40 000 k's with no problems.

have Monro in me sis vp and one came loose and ****ed it lol..besides that id never go monro again as they make the car feel very soft wile driveing....and are alot dearer and as said can only buy in a pair....which is why we put the shock of my car on me sis car (monro) as they were still alright.(reason for changing shocks on me car was cause i was changing everything else and yeh lol)

[jas98]

alls i need to do is change the link pin bushes before wheel alignment tomorrow....or can i do it after wards as in does it matter? does it alter the wheel alignment in any way?the link pin design on my vn is like the vl ...goes to the control arm not strut (think that how the vls were lol )

[Chirpstr]

I don't think it really matters mate. It's ok to do it any time. Just bounce it up and down when you tighten them.

[jas98]

got wheel alignment (free...know the guy lol ) was out a bit but now all good
..oh and it doesn't matter about the link pin rubbers weather you change them before or after.....i was a lazy **** so im gonna do it soon but yeh lol
cheers