Hi. I am away on holiday now in Eastern Europe - the roads here are pretty awful, and my 2002 Superb has developed some sort of clonking sound when going over uneven surfaces, I think it comes from the front right. It sounds like something is loose, so not quite like a single clonk, more like a clonk plus another clonk when whatever is loose comes back to its starting point. It (the nature of the sound) reminded me of my first car that used to have its spare wheel in a cradle and the spare wheel sometimes bounced in the cradle.

Is there anything in the front suspension of the Superb that could create such a sound and that is likely to be worn at the sort of mileage that we are now at (91k)? Any help is appreciated! To add to my confusion I changed the front discs and pads just before the holidays and I am now starting to worry if I left something loose - but very much doubt this has anything to do with it.

You have 6 ball joints and 4 suicide rubber bushes per side + ARB mounts and links + spring/damper unit mounts....

The lunatic design front suspension is very prone to wear on these cars - more so if you turn the wheels with the car stationary and if the heavier 6 cyl engine is fitted. Hope you kept the pinch bolts free, otherwise renewal is a real pain. Beware cheap replacements.

The front brakes will clonk slightly if you fail to observe that the inner pads are handed and fit them the wrong way round. There is a rotational direction arrow faintly stamped on the leaf spring - invisible once the pads are fitted.

Teutonic design at its very best.

rotodiesel.

You have 6 ball joints and 4 suicide rubber bushes per side + ARB mounts and links + spring/damper unit mounts....

The lunatic design front suspension is very prone to wear on these cars - more so if you turn the wheels with the car stationary and if the heavier 6 cyl engine is fitted. Hope you kept the pinch bolts free, otherwise renewal is a real pain. Beware cheap replacements.

The front brakes will clonk slightly if you fail to observe that the inner pads are handed and fit them the wrong way round. There is a rotational direction arrow faintly stamped on the leaf spring - invisible once the pads are fitted.

Teutonic design at its very best.

rotodiesel.

Thanks Roto.

I did not spot that the pads were handed. I remember though on the right hand side I struggled to push the inner pad inside the piston body, I had to bend the leaf in a bit to fit, but the LHS was OK.

I wonder why it would be handed, but struggle to find a logical reason - I have never come across this before, though I have had several cars in my life.

Am I best to take the car to a specialist, or is any garage likely to be able to find the dodgy ball joint - or whatever else is at fault. Trouble is at this mileage they are all likely to have some wear present and anyone who is not that familar with the design will tell me they all need replacing - and the last thing I need is a massive bill now - or more worryingly something not to be set-up correctly. I know tracking itself is a complex affair on these cars alone - never mind all the rest.

Thanks Roto.

I did not spot that the pads were handed. I remember though on the right hand side I struggled to push the inner pad inside the piston body, I had to bend the leaf in a bit to fit, but the LHS was OK.

I wonder why it would be handed, but struggle to find a logical reason - I have never come across this before, though I have had several cars in my life.

Am I best to take the car to a specialist, or is any garage likely to be able to find the dodgy ball joint - or whatever else is at fault. Trouble is at this mileage they are all likely to have some wear present and anyone who is not that familar with the design will tell me they all need replacing - and the last thing I need is a massive bill now - or more worryingly something not to be set-up correctly. I know tracking itself is a complex affair on these cars alone - never mind all the rest.

Clonk, clonk is usually ball joint problems and as mentioned do not use poor quality replacements if you want to keep the car for any length of time,

Brake pads are handed on many makes of car, the pad is often the same but the anti squeal plate is handed. This plate covers only half the piston on some makes. Most of the time its only OEM pads that have this and as roto says the arrows are usually faint affairs backed up by the little slip of paper that fell out of the box when you opened it

Clonk, clonk is usually ball joint problems and as mentioned do not use poor quality replacements if you want to keep the car for any length of time,

Brake pads are handed on many makes of car, the pad is often the same but the anti squeal plate is handed. This plate covers only half the piston on some makes. Most of the time its only OEM pads that have this and as roto says the arrows are usually faint affairs backed up by the little slip of paper that fell out of the box when you opened it

oh... I knew that that slip of paper must have a purpose... but chose to ignore it instinctively!

The backing of the inner pads is relieved for about half of the circumference of the piston. If you fit the pads the wrong way round, they have a tendency to tilt as the piston moves towards the rotating disk. The L and R pads are mirror-imaged on the back - there are no anti-squeal shims.

There are several checks you can make for the front suspension. My (very friendly) independent MOT examiner recommends rotating the road wheel very slightly in each direction whilst observing all the ball joints in the suspension for free play. This needs two people and should be done with the car on the ground. My approach is to use a big pair of slip-joint water pump pliers across each joint, squeezing the joint to look for axial play. The suicide rubber inner bushes can be visually inspected - whilst you wonder how they ever survived at all.

The inner and outer track rod ball joints are not immune from wear either - if people must swivel the road wheels whilst stationary.

rotodiesel.

The backing of the inner pads is relieved for about half of the circumference of the piston. If you fit the pads the wrong way round, they have a tendency to tilt as the piston moves towards the rotating disk. The L and R pads are mirror-imaged on the back - there are no anti-squeal shims

rotodiesel.

Correct there are no seperate anti squeal shims, the backing serves that pupose.

Thanks for all the replies. I have swapped the inboard brake pads left to right and the clonking is gone. Unbelievable! The inboard right pad was clearly moving on the offside corner when subjected to a check with a screwdriver. Swapped around and all is well!