Front suspension knock

[Tapani]

Hello,

I replaced both inner and outer tie rods, lower ball joints and sway bar end links. I still have suspension knock in small road undulations - like ripples on the surface. Nothing in larger pot holes or bumps... just repeated small imperfections.

I disconnected one of the end links (took it off) - the knock is still there. The sway bar bushes look suspicious, but with one end lik off....

Feathering the brakes doesn't help - I've had loose calipers before, giving similar sounds.

Is there a known issue with the strut mounts? What's the typical reason for a rack rebuild? Leaks? Mine doesn't leak, the inner tie rods and boots were straight forward to replace w/o pulling the whole rack.

The lower control arm bushings seem ok visually and a crow bar will not reveal anything obvious.....

The sound is like a very loose wheel bearing - but I can not find anything just by yanking the wheels..... feathering the brakes should quiten this too.

Ahy ideas would be greatly appreciated

Kind regards,

Tapani

[processengr]

All three of our SVXi developed "popping" sound in front over washboard surfaces. Thought it was front strut mount bearings, replaced entire assemblies in two cars...Testing the removed components out of car later determined it was actually the strut/shock/damper itself.

[92snowmachine]

it sounds like the struts may be bad. when the valving gets weak then quick and repeated bumps tend to make a knocking noise because the strut is no longer attempting to stabilize the vibration of the spring and just bouncing up and down in the tube. hard to tell for sure without the use of a chassis ear but your struts are probably old enough to replace anyway.

[Huskymaniac]

What is the typical cost for parts and the typical hours of labor to replace the front struts?

I have had a similar nagging noise on my car. It went away last year, just before Reading. The magic happened when the car was up on a lift for a good amount of time for a wheel bearing replacement. One alternative I have read about, but have been unable to verify on my car, is that the sway bar could shift over to one side and get stuck there by the bushings. The implication is that the bar is not sliding freely inside the bushing. Then they supposedly bang against the bushing bracket, I guess. I suppose one could replace the bushings first with poly ones. If that doesn't solve it, I would tend to trust the people that say the struts are bad.

Let us know what you try and how it works out. I don't plan to do anything on my car until spring at the earliest.

[dennyo]

My 96 makes the same noises usually when it's cold which makes me think it's struts.I replaced all sway bar bushings when I got the car so I don't think that's the problem.Just kind makes a thump, nothing that sounds dangerous.It's hard to describe a noise

[Chuckls]

Originally Posted by Huskymaniac

What is the typical cost for parts and the typical hours of labor to replace the front struts?

.

It's actually one of the easiest things you can do. Just gotta have a little bit of brute force in case some of the bolts are being stubborn.

[icingdeath88]

Originally Posted by Chuckls

It's actually one of the easiest things you can do. Just gotta have a little bit of brute force in case some of the bolts are being stubborn.

I second this. You should also take it for an alignment very soon after. 2 breaker bars will help a great deal.