Lets play whats that knock.....

[AltaSVX]

Hey guys,
I was wondering if a lowly newbie could get some advice. I've had my 92 for about a year now and recently I hit a rather large pothole on these terrible canadian roads and now I've got a couple of interesting sounds and symptoms coming from coming from the front end:

1) a "hollow" sounding knock coming from the front end - mostly at low speeds going over bumps
2) a light scraping sound coming from the front right when making sharp left turns - this actually might have preceeded the pothole but I didn't really notice it until afterwards
3) a slight shimmy at highway speeds - kinda intermittent, although again the roads in the winter around here are so @#$!ing bad its tough to tell what is from the car and whats from the road.

My initial thoughts was an alignment problem but know I kinda think it could be a little bit more that just that but I'm not sure. Any advice and/or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[odepaj]

I had a vert noticable knock from the front end that I attributed to a broken top mount. When I finally got under the car to check, it was just the sway bar end link had come loose and was knocking around.

I can't say thats your problem, but it's a suggestion for what to look for.

Try getting the front end up on jacks and shake it around to check for any play in the wheel, then pull it off and look around for anything that is visually bent or loose bolts.

Front end stuff like this is actually alot easier than they seem.

Good luck!




Dustin

[SoCal LS-L]

Yes, definitely jack it up and shake shake in all directions and listen/feel. From what it sounds like there may be a broken mount or some loose ball joints, but a physical inspection is worth a thousand theories.

[dcarrb]

The sway bar rattles around very noisily, especially going over bumps, after a worn bushing pops out. And that shimmy at speed could indicate you bent the wheel.

dcb

[Mike621]

Originally Posted by dcarrb

The sway bar rattles around very noisily, especially going over bumps, after a worn bushing pops out. And that shimmy at speed could indicate you bent the wheel.

dcb

I would second this reply as one of the easier things to check first. Additionally, I would take the opportunity to inspect for worn ball joints, tie rod ends, etc.

[AltaSVX]

Thanks for the replies, I'll have a look after work.

[kwren]

probably bent the "hub" at the very least. "That is what I call it! The component that the wheel bearings fit in." That would account for the "a slight shimmy at highway speeds"

Keith