Front Suspension Knock

[clintonhadenham]

Just had supension done in calais; new bilstien shocks, lowed springs 45mm and rear pan hard rod. Since then had a knocking noise comming from the front right wheel on bumps and especially in left hand turns. Replaced sway bar bushes and is better but still does it a bit.

Has anyone else had this problem? I think it may have something to do with the fact that it is slightly lowered and the sway bar may be knocking on something?

 

[sully]

i had the same problem on mine and was told the power steering rack was on the way out... might wanna check that... apparently it wont break alltogether but you might lose the power aspect... dont quote me though

 

[clintonhadenham]

damn! sounds expensive. Thanks for that. Makes sense, my power steering pump is leeking. Took it up to Mechanics today but he doesn't have time to look at it till Fiday.

 

[clintonhadenham]

I finally had the mechanic put a new steering rack in. But i still am getting that knocking noise. Is it possible to be the springs comming in and out of the shoes? Now new suspension and steering rack, what is left?

 

[Slooth]

Have the same problem on mine. Had it checked out and and it took a while to find. I finfd the papwer work and let you know.

 

[Harts_94VR]

Some things to check...

Just had supension done in calais; new bilstien shocks, lowed springs 45mm and rear pan hard rod. Since then had a knocking noise comming from the front right wheel on bumps and especially in left hand turns. Replaced sway bar bushes and is better but still does it a bit.

Has anyone else had this problem? I think it may have something to do with the fact that it is slightly lowered and the sway bar may be knocking on something?

I had a similar noise coming out of my front end, which finally let go altogether last week.

Mine was on the left wheel, quite noticeable when turning over bumps, like into a driveway. On mine, the link to the stabiliser bar under the top bushing gave way, this is a known weak point of VR Commodores, and since your bushings have been replaced, then unless it hasn't been tightened properly, it should not make any noise at all. Mine was quite noisy at low speeds, not as noticeable due to road noise at high speed unless in a tunnel or something. Then last week, coming out of the driveway at work, wheel hard left coming over the dip in the gutter, CRUNCH! Oh no... :unsure: One shagged sway bar linkage!

Anyway, something has to be loose for it to be making noise... It's not normal.

I know it's been lowered a long way, and I had some trouble getting under mine, which has also lowered (but not as far as yours...) It can be quite difficult to get under there. If you can make it give off those noises by pushing down on the bonnet or fender (maybe by parking with the steering to the left), then get under the front while someone bounces it up and down and see where the noise is coming from.

Some places and things to check:

More likely:
1) Top nuts on suspension / shocky unit - visible from top of engine bay on the shocky tower
2) Faulty shocky (a definite possibility)
3) Worn ball joints, tie rod (steering arm) ends, or control arm bushings
4) Loose or worn radius rod mountings or bushings
5) Loose wheel nuts
6) Loose nuts on the stabiliser link - they should not be over-tight (the bushes should NOT bulge in the middle from being tightened too far), but no free play in them either.
7) Stabiliser bar (sway bar) hitting something, due to the changed ride height of the car.

Not so likely:
8) Loose or worn steering rack (it's been replaced, so maybe it's not tight)
9) Worn out wheel bearing (not terribly likely, but possible)

It's possible that some existing problem has been brought out into the open by the new ride height of the car. May also be the sway bar hitting something, like you said. There's only one way to find out...!

Really, the car should be tip-top after the work they've done, and you should bring it back and make them fix it! Or did you do the work yourself...

Good luck, let me know what you find.

Chris.

 

[Bax]

Mines made one for ages now..

3) Worn ball joints, tie rod (steering arm) ends, or control arm bushing

Thats what I think mine is.. Never bothered to get it looked at.

 

[NOGEN 3]

Replaced WHOLE front end w/ nolathane plus adjustable strut tops. sway bar links old but nolathane anyway with these fat as hexagonal shafts w/ a sliight 's' curve in them- thought it might b that but checked it 1/2 a doz times, changed angle of link 2 swaybar/strut-no change. Only thing I can think of is the strut insert as it initially bounces acouple o times before it tightens up, making me think the valving is faulty. This is basically how I feel about it atm- :bang:

 

[markovr]

had the same problem after I fitted lowered springs to my car and I showed what I did in this thread....its about VT's but the problem is similar to yours The top coils were touching each other and when you moved the strut like when you were turning or hit a bump they would grind against each other ...I put spirap around those coils like in the pic in this thread .....problem solved. check out this link
here is a pic of the spirap on the top coils

 

[Harts_94VR]

Pictures of it all

I hope this helps you identify the area. :unsure:

It's also possible that the spring seat (pic number 4) could be worn out - although I would have thought it would be replaced when you got the new shocky if it was worn out.... Stranger things have happened though, and if they did a "on-a-budget" job, they often leave out replacing little components like that!

Another spot that is also quite likely is the tie rod end (or steering arm end) - just above where it says 265/115 in pic 2 - if you get someone to gently move the steering wheel side to side while you watch it, it should connect that motion directly though to the tyre. If it has any play or give, your steering will feel floaty on the road, and it will make a clunky noise, especially when you are turning - and often in one direction only.

Cheers all! Good luck.

Chris.