When driving straight on local roads at 20-30mph over certain road imperfections, I'm

hearing a clonking noise from the front, front off-side I would say, I only noticed it in the last month or

so. The car has done 83,000 miles. New off-side lower arm fitted in 2023 before I bought it.

Today, I put the car on axle stands, and checked;

1. Track rod end ball-joint dust covers - well compressed but no visible cuts.

2. Steering rack gaiters - no visible cuts.

3. Lower arm ball-joint dust covers - no visible cuts. I put a block of wood under the tyre and levered

upwards - no movement on the ball-joint.

4. Coil springs - both intact.

5. Grabbed the wheels at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock and attempted to rock the wheel - no discernible

movement.

6. Grabbed the wheels at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock and attempted to rock the wheel from side to side -

with the steering lock off this just showed free movement of the wheel and steering gear. With the

steering lock on I could feel and hear some movement but maybe this is just normal?

The car passed an MOT on 13th September and I have covered less than 1,000 miles since.

The only other thing worth mentioning is a small leak on the off-side CV joint gaiter just where the

narrow inboard end fits to the driveshaft rod. If this was the culprit though, I'd expect to hear noises when turning

the wheel sharply?

Anyone any ideas?

Probably the drop links or maybe the ARB bushes. The drop links on both my fabia and my octavia seem to be prone to wear and knocking. I have done quite a few in the past and in all cases so far there seems to be no movement when on car but when replacing they were a lot looser with a small amount of play than the new ones.

Twice the MOT guy either didnt notice or they were only slightly worn. I reckon the tension of the ARB makes it difficult to check. It doesnt take much wear to cause a clonk as I reckon its amplified by the ARB.

Alasdair

Edited 24 December, 202524 Dec by Alasdair1

Following on from my Removing Anti-rollbar links thread, where I removed the upper bolts from both links and concluded there was no abnormal play (as far I could tell, given my experience) and found that the rear lower arm bush had deteriorated allowing too much movement where it connects to the chassis, I'm bringing this thread back up (as it's most relevant to the current situation).

Update

Yesterday, I replaced the near side lower arm*. This was a fairly straightforward job; the old arm came out quite easily. The new arm, I just needed to insert a long screwdriver from below to lever the rear bush into place. Locating the ball joint section into the arm was aided by turning the steering wheel onto left hand lock and manouvering the stub axle to line up the bolts into the three holes in the arm.

Outcome

The clunking noise due to metal to metal contact where the rear rubber bush had become too flexible (I put a 3/8" sq drive short bar in the hole once it was off the car, and there really was too much movement) has disappeared but there's still some knocking over rough road patches. I need to find the cause(s) before I spend £50-£70 on 4-wheel alignment.

What next?

Plan is, next week I'm going to put a jack and block of wood under the n/s ball joint, jack it up and try and get a lever in to see if there's any play. I already tested it by levering under the tyre and couldn't see any play but maybe the test was flawed.

Please chip in with any other ideas. The knock sounds more like a ball-joint than anything to do with top mounts. I can't think of anything else.

* I ordered the arm from Parts In Motion via ebay as there was a 15% discount coupon. I've used their website before and had no problems, not so with their ebay shop. I ordered the Febi 36923 on 27th Feb with an estimated delivery date of 2nd to 6th March. It arrived on Sat 7th March. Disappointing!

Edited 10 March10 Mar by phs12
Extra

I should have added, the off-side lower arm was replaced 12/04/23 by the previous owner's garage (according to an invoice). I bought the car in Sep 2023 and have only done 9,000 miles.

On 24/12/2025 at 13:06, Alasdair1 said:

Probably the drop links or maybe the ARB bushes.

The winning prize (metaphorically speaking) goes to @Alasdair1 , though not his first choice.

Some weeks ago now, I'd eliminated the steering gear as a likely problem because there was very little free movement when moving the steering wheel (wheels on the ground).

So, I moved back to checking the ARB links with the same result, no or little free play in the ball-joints.

Next, and partly to prove the above, I removed the top nuts from the ARB links and fastened the links up to wherever I could fasten them and then took the car out for a gentle drive. Knocking noise gone.

Checked out the ARB bushes and found significant movement in the near-side bush. Problem solved! Except I had terrible trouble getting hold of the only full kit (bushes, brackets and bolts) that appears to be available (bar using a dealer or TPS).

First I ordered the wrong Febi kit from Partsinmotion. They soon emailed back saying the kit wasn't suitable having given them my reg.

Then I PM'd @Breezy_Pete and he kindly provided me with the part number for the bush, 6Q0 411 314 Q and I then found from that number the kit containing the bushes, 6Q0 411 314 QS2.

I ordered Febi 37660 kit from RTG Automotive (beware they have several companies based in Leyland) on 20th March. They supposedly dispatched it on 22nd March. It never turned up and they refunded.

I ordered the kit from MDL Autoparts on 25th March (showing 5 in stock) then they messaged to say "this item couldn’t be located in our warehouse. I have tried to order it in but its currently not available with my supplier". Then they updated it as dispatched. Next day they issued a refund.

I then contacted my local Motor Factor. They told me the kit was on 'back order' and none were expected in the UK until the end of April, so I gave up on trying to get the Febi kit.

Luckily, the Febi website gives a full description of the bolts, Hexagon Collar Bolt, 68mm (60mm under head),M8 x1.25, Tensile Strength 8.8, 13mm head. I obtained these from Kayfast, 25p bolts that cost £5.83 (for 4) via ebay or more if you used the £3.95 postage on their own website. Ordered early Friday, should have turned up Sat or Monday using RM 24hr post, didn't arrive until Tuesday when I couldn't do the job.

Ordered Delphi TD1170W bushes from GSF. Was a bit unsure when I got them home as the inner diameter is supposed to be 17mm for a 19mm bar and it measured about 15mm.

Did the job yesterday. Most difficult part of the job was pushing the clamp onto the rubber bush on the driver's side but managed it with some levers against the steering gear. The off-side went on easier after I doubled up on the silicone lubricant on the outside of the bush.

The bushes were fine and it really didn't matter that the bolts were only part threaded (22mm). All is quiet now.

I've done a guide that I will post under Fabia guides to give something back to the forum.

Many thanks to all that helped.

Edited 7 April7 Apr by phs12