Superb suspension problem

[bigred]

Hi all, had my superb (1.9 TDi 130 comfort) now for almost two years, after 13,000 miles suddenly developed a suspension knock over rough ground. Sounds as though something is lose or a shocker is on it's way out. It's been in and out of dealers numerous times they say they can't find anything wrong but do admit there is a noise there. They even swapped wheels to the standard ones (16") and said it went away, then came back when they put mine back on (17" solid)!!!!.I've noticed noise seems to disappear if braking on the said ground (they agree), any ideas or simular would be helpful, car is great apart from that but dealer in Sheffield let it and me down badly. It's not the kind of problem I want when flying down motorways every day.

Cheers

Mark

[TaviaRS]

I gather someone else had this problem from a vaguely remembered 'phone call. IIRC my friend fixed it for him. He'd been in and out of dealers quite a few times to no avail.

Do a search on superb lowering threads, you'll be able to get his user ID from that.

[bigred]

Thanks, tried a search but not been successful yet if you remember any more please let me know, it would be wonderful to put this to bed.

Mark

[rotodiesel]

Assuming your noise is at the front, do a search on the VW B5 Passat (same car as Superb). Problems with this crazy 4 link system are well known and are usually due to failure of the ball joints at the ends of the suspension arms (there are 4 each side!). Less often, the inner bushes which have to contort as the steering is moved are responsible. In any event, new arms are needed - if your car is out of warranty, GSF sell them as they are identical to the Passat parts.

A real problem with this design is that the pinch bolts holding the ball pins rust into place. This can make the repair a real pain - sometimes they have to be drilled out. I would recommend anyone with a B5 or a Superb to take these bolts out annually and grease them. You can actually do this without even jacking the car up or removing the wheel if you have the right spanners.

rotodiesel.

[TaviaRS]

It was this user: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/members/mavryk/

Doesn't say what the problem was though :(

IIRC it was a knocking noise when turning left.

Re reading your post, it isn't the same thing sorry.

Has the suspension been changed, ever? I had similar on mine and it was due to the dealer fitting the top mounts upside down so that the strut was loose in the turret.

[johnjohnhealy]

Sounds very similar to a problem I had on my Superb.

On the front suspension the lower rear track control arms were replaced.

As stated above there are 4 of the buggers each side on the front of the Superb, mine were the lower rearmost ones, the problem was only solved by trial and error as you could not detect the fault when the car was on the ramp.

Cost circa £100 per side using genuine parts and a non dealer mechanic. (£70 each part, £30 labour each side)

[bigred]

Sounds very similar to a problem I had on my Superb.

On the front suspension the lower rear track control arms were replaced.

As stated above there are 4 of the buggers each side on the front of the Superb, mine were the lower rearmost ones, the problem was only solved by trial and error as you could not detect the fault when the car was on the ramp.

Cost circa £100 per side using genuine parts and a non dealer mechanic. (£70 each part, £30 labour each side)

Thanks for that, dealer seems to have or said they have replaced or checked out most parts of the suspension but they never mentioned anything regarding the track control arms (adue you mean the track rod ends? on the end of the stearing arms?, sorry not very car friendly under neath). I know it's difficult to tell on the ramps but did you discover anyway of proving this problem before I go and hit them with this line of investigation.

All I get from dealer is "it's within Skodas specification, it's safe sir". That does'nt cut much ice with me spending most of the time on motorways, that central barrier seems quite solid to me, plus all the other traffic!!.

Regards

Mark

[johnjohnhealy]

The mechanic described them as 'lower track control arms' or 'lower suspension arms' but they were complete arms not ball joints, I dont think you can change just the ball joints.

[rotodiesel]

My experinces with the B5 Passat indicate that the lower rear control arms will cause a knock when going over humps and the lower front arms will make the car weave if the balljoints are loose. It's an absolute bugger of an arrangement but the Superb is such good value otherwise, it's worth putting up with. As I have said above, if you keep the fixings free, it's not too bad a job to fix. Some of the aftermarket control arms have larger ball joints (22 to 27 mm I think) and are worth fitting. With luck, you only need one set of control arms per car lifetime.

Track rod ends fail too - they just make the car wander.

rotodiesel.

[bigred]

Hmm, this does sound familiar, with the knock I'm sure that on certain roads the car does seem to wander a bit although I'm putting this down to the fact that the tyres are down at the legal at the moment and there's a lot more surface contact so pulling the wheels on any road blemish, I'll be changing them tomorrow so that may rule out the front arms, or am I loosing it!! ?.

[Baker21]

Hmm, this does sound familiar, with the knock I'm sure that on certain roads the car does seem to wander a bit although I'm putting this down to the fact that the tyres are down at the legal at the moment and there's a lot more surface contact so pulling the wheels on any road blemish, I'll be changing them tomorrow so that may rule out the front arms, or am I loosing it!! ?.

All cars will feel like they are wandering if you are driving on an un-even chamber surface.

[skodanut]

could be the universal joints on driveshaft wearing out on the side that takes most thrust when pulling away.....my dad had same problem on his passat and was told it was the suspension top joints .even tho we could find no excesive play