Knock knock, who's there? Your worn out sway bar links

[Sir Les]

I'm posting this for the general information of anyone who has a similar symptom.

For some time I had been noticing a light knocking sound from the front suspension of my 2014 VF Calais V (73,000 km) when travelling slowly over rough surfaces. The noise disappeared when travelling at normal street / highway speeds. At the same time I had also noticed the handling didn't seem as good as I remembered it was when the car was new -- there was more roll on corners and travelling over road irregularities such as access covers and potholes resulted in a loud 'thump'. I mentioned this to my friendly neighbourhood mechanic when I dropped the car in for a regular service.

Sure enough, he discovered wear in the front sway bar links and replaced them (both sides) with Nolathane ones, which apparently are more robust than the original ones. When I drove the car the difference was amazing. Suddenly, all the roads in my area had become smoother, corners were taken with consummate ease, and the car laughed at any irregularities such as ruts, covers and potholes that dared to get in its path. In short, I had my new car feel back.

The cost was not excessive -- I think the links are $129 the pair, plus fitting. Money well spent, in my opinion.

 

[Skylarking]

My last Mazda has 200,000 kms on it. I’d hammer that car on the road, daily… It still had the original bushes in it (which were still like new) when I got rid of it.

The bushes being done at 73,000 kms, guess the vehicle weight plays a huge part in it and probably Holden should have made them bigger so they last longer…

Thanks for posting as thats good info to know

 

[Sir Les]

... probably Holden should have made them bigger so they last longer…

Funny you should say that. According to this video, the Nolathane ones are quite a bit beefier than the originals.

 

[goony]

Hi,

This post is interesting, thanks. Have a VF with 140K on the clock and the knocking has been around for a while, to the point it's been sh*tting me a bit lately. Exactly as described inthe OP. Not sure about the handling issues tho, bought 2nd hand and I'm not Fangio.

Maybe a bit of a dumb question or two:
Do I need to unload the link bars to determine if they are shot - they feel firm as just jacking the car up?
Whats th emost likely cause if it's not the link bars - sounds like it could be coming from the top of the suspension strut maybe?

Cheers, JD.

 

[Sir Les]

I don't know whether you have to unload the link bars to test them -- I would think so -- but certainly the knocking could also be coming from worn struts. An easy way to check the struts is to look in the engine bay at the strut mounting. If there is a visible gap between the bodywork and the rubber mounting 'doughnut', then they certainly need to be checked.

 

[Skylarking]

Do I need to unload the link bars to determine if they are shot - they feel firm as just jacking the car up?
Whats th emost likely cause if it's not the link bars - sounds like it could be coming from the top of the suspension strut maybe?

Sway bars are not loaded when the car is sitting flat, either on the ground or on a hoist with both wheels hanging.

But if you only jack up one side of the car, to get access to that side, doing so creates a situation exactly like very hard cornering. Such is exactly what the sway bar tries to resist. Whenever one wheel is up and the other is down, cornering or just one side jacked up, the sway bar will be twisted and the links will be loaded. So either jack up the whole front of the car (use safety stands) or use a hoist to lift the whole car So that sway bar and link bushes aren’t under tension…

Here’s some videos cause I like videos

If you check the bushes and they are ok, then it must be elsewhere so check the strut top bush as @Sir Les said.

 

[goony]

Ok, thanks for the advice
Of course tjat makes sense... jack both sides of front end and onto stands. Tomorrow.
And of course I did the other way... side by side.
The strut tops look like this both sides with a gap seen in the pic.

Haven't stuffed with suspension since working on my family '76 Passat wagon in the 90's losing a piece of finger.

 

[lmoengnr]

Ok, thanks for the advice
Of course tjat makes sense... jack both sides of front end and onto stands. Tomorrow.
And of course I did the other way... side by side.
The strut tops look like this both sides with a gap seen in the pic.View attachment 224906
Haven't stuffed with suspension since working on my family '76 Passat wagon in the 90's losing a piece of finger.

Looks like your strut tops might be stuffed. Jack the front of the car up with the wheels hanging free.
If that gap closes up, its time for new strut tops.

 

[goony]

Thanks for the additionL comments.

The passenger side link bar is definitely gone, and i can defintely remember when it probably happened. Maybe hodlen engineers not to blame on this occasion.

Before I go on ebay does anyone know if theres a site sponsor or friend supplying these at all, or just efrigginbay to buy nolathane?

In terms of the struts the driver side looks on its way - the pic - but passenger side seems tight n didnt move after jacking today. So I've got some time on those and then it seems smart to replace shockers at the same if the tops nned changing.
that's a way off tho/

Gotta say thanks for vids, pix advice n comments. Thank you.

 

[dassaur]

Thanks for the additionL comments.

The passenger side link bar is definitely gone, and i can defintely remember when it probably happened. Maybe hodlen engineers not to blame on this occasion.

Before I go on ebay does anyone know if theres a site sponsor or friend supplying these at all, or just efrigginbay to buy nolathane?

In terms of the struts the driver side looks on its way - the pic - but passenger side seems tight n didnt move after jacking today. So I've got some time on those and then it seems smart to replace shockers at the same if the tops nned changing.
that's a way off tho/

Gotta say thanks for vids, pix advice n comments. Thank you.

I got some moog ones which are on the car right now. They are doing well. $35 each for prime members from the US

Moog K750626 Stabilizer Bar Link Kit : Amazon.com.au: Automotive

Moog K750626 Stabilizer Bar Link Kit : Amazon.com.au: Automotive

www.amazon.com.au

MOOG K750625 Suspension Stabilizer Bar Link : Amazon.com.au: Automotive

MOOG K750625 Suspension Stabilizer Bar Link : Amazon.com.au: Automotive

www.amazon.com.au