Front End Clunks

[Tomjones1995]

Hi Guys,

 

Just a quick question. Does anybody have an idea of what it could be when I'm driving down a bumpy road, steering either left or right, and I hear a clunk from the left wheel then immediately after a clunk from the right?

[sepulchrave]

Drop links.

[TMB]

Meyle HD ones are top quality and will last ages...

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MEYLE-HD-VW-Polo-Front-Anti-Roll-Bar-Links-Fox-Up-SEAT-Ibiza-Mii-Skoda-Fabia-A1/400658780814?epid=1728517854&hash=item5d491fd28e:g:8jQAAOxyB9RS1r~p

[Wench]

According to my car knocking noises are nigh on impossible to solve!

[Tomjones1995]

43 minutes ago, Wench said:

According to my car knocking noises are nigh on impossible to solve!

 

Hopefully that's not the case for me!

[TMB]

2 hours ago, Wench said:

According to my car knocking noises are nigh on impossible to solve!

 

Nah, you just need someone decent to look at your car instead of a bunch of muppets.

[indars]

Drop links and/or ARB bushes.

For my Furby it was always ARB bushes every few years.

For bushes inspection- steering wheel to full right or left, bounce car crosswise by door/roof upper part and take a look on ARB.

2 hours ago, Tomjones1995 said:

 

Hopefully that's not the case for me!

 

You'll be fine- it's simple McPherson suspension...

[TMB]

9 minutes ago, indars said:

For my Furby it was always ARB bushes every few years.

 

 

Every few years? My Fabia is a 2003 model with 70,000 miles on and still no noise from the ARB bushes. Were you rallying it? 😋

[indars]

2 hours ago, TMB said:

 

Every few years? My Fabia is a 2003 model with 70,000 miles on and still no noise from the ARB bushes. Were you rallying it? 😋

Was driving 20k km per year every year- just usual nasty LV roads 😕 Every time installed OE bushes; no wear on ARB. Took needed diameter for bush according etka/7.zap, i.e., ARB diam. minus 2mm. Strange but in my case exactly weared bushes made clunks every time. 

[Tomjones1995]

1 hour ago, indars said:

Was driving 20k km per year every year- just usual nasty LV roads 😕 Every time installed OE bushes; no wear on ARB. Took needed diameter for bush according etka/7.zap, i.e., ARB diam. minus 2mm. Strange but in my case exactly weared bushes made clunks every time. 

So would you suggest that I change both the arb bushes and drop links?

Edited 21 October, 2019 by Tomjones1995

[Tomjones1995]

Also another quick question unrelated to the topic (I don't want to litter the Fabia mk1 section with my posts). When turning the steering wheel while stationary or driving at slow speed for example, around a car park, their is an audible creaky sound from the front end in the center. Possibly power steering or steering rack related? I've noticed it this afternoon 

[stuart vrs]

Take wheel off and grab the anti roll bar give it a shake if a lot of movement change them both, bought ome parts from TPS and mine were the 19mm diameter on a 06 plate vrs. Job done, eventually no knocking bliss, you'll have to lift the wheel assembly abit to get on and I couldn't remove one of the bolts as driveshaft is blocking one of them, enjoy. 

Edited 21 October, 2019 by stuart vrs
Add a word.

[indars]

9 hours ago, Tomjones1995 said:

So would you suggest that I change both the arb bushes and drop links?

 

No- 1st you must inspect what's broken/weared. It's just few minutes job, if you have friend which shakes car and you're looking for plays.

On other hand, drop links and ARB bushes are quite cheap parts- so, only expenses will be your time for replacement.

[Wench]

So far this year mines had new arb bushes, new drop links, new track rods, new track rod end, and another part I can’t remember, and it still knocks! All done by decent mechanics 

[Tomjones1995]

7 hours ago, Wench said:

So far this year mines had new arb bushes, new drop links, new track rods, new track rod end, and another part I can’t remember, and it still knocks! All done by decent mechanics 

 

I don't understand that though, I mean, if it's been done correctly surely the knocking noise you suffered would of stopped. There isn't anything else that could cause such knocks is there?

 

My clunks/ knocks only occur randomly mainly in the mornings when I'm setting off and then I won't hear anything for a long time, maybe not until the following morning. A decent mechanic has checked mine over and said there's nothing loose BUT there HAS to be something loose for it to clunk

Edited 22 October, 2019 by Tomjones1995

[Berisford]

7 hours ago, Wench said:

So far this year mines had new arb bushes, new drop links, new track rods, new track rod end, and another part I can’t remember, and it still knocks! All done by decent mechanics 

On my Mk6 Golf I spent close to £1300 with my mechanic last year looking for a clunk/knock.....in the end I found the answer myself, it was down to a o/s brake caliper plastic slider bush.....£6.50 for a repair kit.

 

I would never have thought such noise could come from the caliper being allowed to wander a few thou.

 

 

[Tomjones1995]

4 minutes ago, Berisford said:

On my Mk6 Golf I spent close to £1300 with my mechanic last year looking for a clunk/knock.....in the end I found the answer myself, it was down to a o/s brake caliper plastic slider bush.....£6.50 for a repair kit.

 

I would never have thought such noise could come from the caliper being allowed to wander a few thou.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info, I'll mention it to my mechanic when it goes in in a couple weeks. Maybe its something similar with me.

I had played with the idea of just taking a punt on it being just the drop links and paying the £30 for the pair and getting him to fit them to see if that's it. The osf one hasn't been changed once in the 4 years of my ownership but the nsf one has but its been 3 years so its worth a shot I reckon

[Berisford]

2 minutes ago, Tomjones1995 said:

 

Thanks for the info, I'll mention it to my mechanic when it goes in in a couple weeks. Maybe its something similar with me.

I had played with the idea of just taking a punt on it being just the drop links and paying the £30 for the pair and getting him to fit them to see if that's it. The osf one hasn't been changed once in the 4 years of my ownership but the nsf one has but its been 3 years so its worth a shot I reckon

I started with the drop links as they were most likely the culprits......then it all got silly.

The next suspect was the wishbone bushes but they wouldn't come out without removing the wishbones and they wouldn't let go 'cause the special 'shear' bolts had seized in the aluminium sub frames so that meant new sub frame carriers (expensive!)....still clunked - then followed new struts and top bearings......I was getting really ****ed off until I spotted mention of the sliders on an American YouTube video - 2 days later I 'd swapped 'em myself and all was calm again. 

[Tomjones1995]

1 minute ago, Berisford said:

I started with the drop links as they were most likely the culprits......then it all got silly.

The next suspect was the wishbone bushes but they wouldn't come out without removing the wishbones and they wouldn't let go 'cause the special 'shear' bolts had seized in the aluminium sub frames so that meant new sub frame carriers (expensive!)....still clunked - then followed new struts and top bearings......I was getting really ****ed off until I spotted mention of the sliders on an American YouTube video - 2 days later I 'd swapped 'em myself and all was calm again. 

Bl**dy hell that's unlucky, shame you didn't come across that youtube video first, you'd of saved a fortune. My only doubt with it being the drop links for me is that it doesn't ALWAYS clunk, like I can go down a bumpy road, no noises, then go down the same road again on another day clunk, clunk, clunk on left, two seconds later, clunk on right, then left and then nothing until the following day. Its unbelievably random in my case.

[Berisford]

3 minutes ago, Tomjones1995 said:

Bl**dy hell that's unlucky, shame you didn't come across that youtube video first, you'd of saved a fortune. My only doubt with it being the drop links for me is that it doesn't ALWAYS clunk, like I can go down a bumpy road, no noises, then go down the same road again on another day clunk, clunk, clunk on left, two seconds later, clunk on right, then left and then nothing until the following day. Its unbelievably random in my case.

Random can be expensive...........and very difficult to pinpoint.......once I found my problem it was obvious where the noise was coming from but during the hunt I was looking all over the car, spare wheel, bonnet catches, rear drop links (changed 'em), under trays, exhaust.......anyway good luck and remember, if you hear hoof beats galloping towards you, think first of horses not zebras! 👍

 

 

[TMB]

9 hours ago, Wench said:

So far this year mines had new arb bushes, new drop links, new track rods, new track rod end, and another part I can’t remember, and it still knocks! All done by decent mechanics 

 

Have you had the tightness of the main bolts through the wishbones checked?

[Wench]

3 hours ago, TMB said:

 

Have you had the tightness of the main bolts through the wishbones checked?

 

I will get this checked out in a couple of weeks when it’s back in the garage for a different mechanic to see if they can spot anything - along with the top strut mount and make sure the coil spring (if that’s the right terminology) is sat in properly

[Tomjones1995]

Okay so I got underneath the car this afternoon and gave the drop links a bit of a shake while someone shook the car and there's no noise at all. Could the drop links still be the cause of the clunks do you guys think? Because I'm not going to put the drop links under as much stress as the car would while moving

[Breezy_Pete]

When I suspected a bad droplink I drove down a quiet country road flinging the steering wheel abruptly one way then the other, to promote bags of body roll without actually going off the road. If this results in the knocks you are hearing I think it's a fair gamble to spend on the Meyle HD ones Lee linked earlier. If the knock is only from one side, just replace that one, if you're certain about where the noise is coming from. 

Edited 23 October, 2019 by Wino

[TMB]

2 hours ago, Tomjones1995 said:

Okay so I got underneath the car this afternoon and gave the drop links a bit of a shake while someone shook the car and there's no noise at all. Could the drop links still be the cause of the clunks do you guys think? Because I'm not going to put the drop links under as much stress as the car would while moving

 

That's not enough to detect knackered drop links. It doesn't put the same kind of shocks or leverage through them as when the car is moving.