I have what seems like some rattling coming from my front suspension recently. A bit different than what osteovolvo is experiencing in his post however. To me it feels like maybe a bad strut mount, but I'm not so sure since I replaced the driver's side one literally 1 year ago this month. It is a cheap generic part that I used, so it possible that it's bad given that, but I want to look into other possibilities... I did this week have delivered brand new Lemforder front lower arms with bushings, as well as new Lemforder ball joints to match with the arms. When I install the new arms, I may put the old original strut mount and spring seat back on since it wasn't actually bad. I had replaced it thinking that it was from similar rattling around which turned out to actually be a missing caliper pad retention spring. :facepalm: I really should have reliable quality parts for the mounts and spring seats anyways, not eBay stuff... My questions is, what are symptoms of various part failures with the suspension... What would a bad LCA feel like, what would bad tie rods feel like, and can a bad strut/shock rattle around feeling like a bad strut/shock mount? Any other items to check? My end links are in good condition though as I had replaced them about 3 years ago with Meyle HD units at all 4 corners. Ideas and/or suggestions?
Suspension musings...
Phixion
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I have what seems like some rattling coming from my front suspension recently. A bit different than what osteovolvo is experiencing in his post however. To me it feels like maybe a bad strut mount, but I'm not so sure since I replaced the driver's side one literally 1 year ago this month. It is a cheap generic part that I used, so it possible that it's bad given that, but I want to look into other possibilities... I did this week have delivered brand new Lemforder front lower arms with bushings, as well as new Lemforder ball joints to match with the arms. When I install the new arms, I may put the old original strut mount and spring seat back on since it wasn't actually bad. I had replaced it thinking that it was from similar rattling around which turned out to actually be a missing caliper pad retention spring. :facepalm: I really should have reliable quality parts for the mounts and spring seats anyways, not eBay stuff... My questions is, what are symptoms of various part failures with the suspension... What would a bad LCA feel like, what would bad tie rods feel like, and can a bad strut/shock rattle around feeling like a bad strut/shock mount? Any other items to check? My end links are in good condition though as I had replaced them about 3 years ago with Meyle HD units at all 4 corners. Ideas and/or suggestions?
Joined
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486 Posts
Now that I have overhauled my front end, (everything but the control arm bolts, struts springs and 5/6 of the strut mount nuts), I may be able to answer! This is my experience:
Bad LCA- Bushings wear out, wanders
Bad tie rod ends- mostly make racket on small bumps, probably reduces some hard cornering ability
Bad strut- Mine were blown, no rebound at all, suspension crash on hard bumps
Bad strut mount- strut rod goes through a metal sleeve surrounded by rubber. The plate that holds the spring must be metal and encased in the rubber. However these two pieces of metal are independent of each other, and the rubber erodes between the 2, making an elongated hole in the rubber with the sleeve crashing back and forth. I will say this, at 55mph, the handling of the car is not very confidence inspiring. Probably because the camber and maybe the caster are constantly changing
Bad ball joints- car will make a hard C shaped lurch under acceleration, and make an opposite hard C shaped lurch under braking. Very spooky
I had no problems with the Meyle HD end links on the back of my V70. Currently rocking IPD HD end links on the S60
Bad LCA- Bushings wear out, wanders
Bad tie rod ends- mostly make racket on small bumps, probably reduces some hard cornering ability
Bad strut- Mine were blown, no rebound at all, suspension crash on hard bumps
Bad strut mount- strut rod goes through a metal sleeve surrounded by rubber. The plate that holds the spring must be metal and encased in the rubber. However these two pieces of metal are independent of each other, and the rubber erodes between the 2, making an elongated hole in the rubber with the sleeve crashing back and forth. I will say this, at 55mph, the handling of the car is not very confidence inspiring. Probably because the camber and maybe the caster are constantly changing
Bad ball joints- car will make a hard C shaped lurch under acceleration, and make an opposite hard C shaped lurch under braking. Very spooky
I had no problems with the Meyle HD end links on the back of my V70. Currently rocking IPD HD end links on the S60
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250 Posts
Just to add to metalbenders list - the spring seats are metal covered in vulcanized rubber. ipd sells upgraded versions because they say they cause all sorts of noise when the rubber deteriorates.
I’ve got a horrible creaking noise in the front suspension of my S60, sounds like it could be these. I badly need new front struts anyway, so I’m ordering the seats, plus new strut bearings, along with the struts in the hopes of avoiding any future issue. I already have the ipd HD end links, and all the control arm rubber looks surprisingly good, unlike the trans mount.
I’ve got a horrible creaking noise in the front suspension of my S60, sounds like it could be these. I badly need new front struts anyway, so I’m ordering the seats, plus new strut bearings, along with the struts in the hopes of avoiding any future issue. I already have the ipd HD end links, and all the control arm rubber looks surprisingly good, unlike the trans mount.
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486 Posts
^ This. I meant spring seat, rather than strut mount. With the strut mount, if it goes bad, I'm not sure how long you can go before you feel it. The bearings go bad, but with the assist of the power steering, I couldn't feel any difference in resistance.
Should have added bad tie rods to the list. Clunks on bumps and at steering wheel lock when moving.
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