Suspension issue

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Evilcowboy420

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Now I am trying to hunt down a grunting sound coming from the suspension when slowing down. Only when braking. The pads were replaced but it happened before then and there are a couple of pops associated with it. Now for the weirdness of the sunbird...No side to side play nor up or down play. So its safe to assume the ball joints are good. Any ideas would be great. It almost sounds like a bad ball joint. Maybe I should just replace all the front suspension and then I'll know I got the right one lol. This girl is getting new lower ball joints soon anyways since I just don't like the way the grease boots look and there are no grease fittings on the lowers which really sucks.

And getting a 25 year old cotter pin out is gonna be fun. PB blaster that SOB.
 
it could be the front struts or front sway bar bushings, can you someone bounce on the front of the car while you look for the source of the noise?
 
melsg5 said:
it could be the front struts or front sway bar bushings, can you someone bounce on the front of the car while you look for the source of the noise?
Click to expand...

Did that today still is kind of difficult to find. One thing I noticed is it happens only at low speed when turning or when slowing down there is a pop feels like it comes from close to the floor board.

The sway bar links and bushings are good as I have replaced them since they were shot. But still makes an audible pop. It felt like it could be tie rod or strut. They are so close together it is hard to tell.
 
Oh yeah the thought didn't occur to me that you may have been talking about the bushings that hold the sway bar in place and not the rubber bushings on the links.

I have not changed the bushings that hold the bar that are further up the bar and I will be checking them out tomorrow to see if maybe they might be it.

I got my fingers crossed and am hoping it isn't a strut since I don't have the compression tool for the spring and I would have to rent it. I really hope it is those bushings.

Thanks for the idea melsg5 it helps to have people spitball an issue. I will keep updated on what it turns out to be so people know in the event they get the same problem.

The entire suspension system will eventually get replaced and I will be sand blasting and undercoating the control arms. If anything to make it look pretty.

The things I feel comfortable being replaced would be the lower ball joints, the control arm bushings, and the cv shaft on drivers side. The things I want to change is everything but the control arms and the springs those appear they have a lot of life left in them.

The tie rods don't look all that great but again I get no side to side or up and down play which tells me it has to be something other than a joint.

Could it be a bad insulator for the spring. Not that it would be any easier but it may save me a few bucks lol.
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another idea, how are the CV joints
 
I would suspect the CV joints too. And mine clunk when I back up but they don't click in turns. Dry CVs will groan in turns. I've got new axles coming plus control arms, strut tops, hub bearings and snubbers. I got struts on ebay a while back $50 for both delivered! Oh! And progressive springs!! I'm wanting urethane bushings for the sway bars but maybe not on the middle ones where they mount to the frame. I want to stiffen it up some but urethane can be too stiff.

You could try the old Hillbilly Hay Rope trick to test your ball joints. You just loop a piece of hay twine around the ball joint shaft and tie it off as tight as you can then pull it around the other side and tie it again then repeat. After about five cycles you have a bunch of twine tightly wrapped around the shaft and between the control arm and the spindle. If the sounds stop, you need ball joints. I ordered control arms with the bushings and ball joints installed. Just gotta to be lazy!
 
I have half a swaybar bushing missing on the drivers side ( top half) and its more of a clunk going over bumps.( Hitting the curved part of the bracket )

Simular noise of the exhaust hitting underside of the car but more" metaly"


Doug in P.R.:cool:
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Well I seemed to have narrowed it down to a couple things. The CV joints are new replaced about 3 weeks ago with all new axle shafts. When slowly turning I did get the tie rod to make a click so it probably needs grease since I have no wheel play. I suspect several things to be worn out under there since all of it is 25 years old and no one ever serviced anything under there. However the struts still seem good. No excessive bounce and it seems the grunt is quieter after I put motor oil on the stuff that moves around the strut.

I already knew I kind of need new ball joints just because the old ones look crappy and I would feel better about them being replaced. The sway bar bushings looked good only slight wear.

I could recheck the new cv joints its not impossible to get a bad one. I may pull em out of the steering knuckles and rotate them to see if they have any play or anything like that. Could very well be one is bad causing the noise. I do think you guys may be on to something with them and I will let you know if its bad.
 
I hope you didn't get a bad one. That would totally make me doubt my new set! My springs creak on bumps. Embarrassing!!! You can spray WD 40 on anything an it's quieter for a moment. Except women. They get loud! I'm thinking about making a Marvel Oil Air Freshener!
 
TrojanMan said:
I hope you didn't get a bad one. That would totally make me doubt my new set! My springs creak on bumps. Embarrassing!!! You can spray WD 40 on anything an it's quieter for a moment. Except women. They get loud! I'm thinking about making a Marvel Oil Air Freshener!
Click to expand...


lol Some women get loud. I got me a good one who seems to be pretty quiet and will help me work on cars because they interest her just as much as me. She also likes fishing, hunting, shooting and driving fast. Sometimes I have to question if I married a girl or a dude lol.

Seems the joint on the drivers side is bad it does all sorts of weird shit. So I ordered up another one and will be replacing on wednesday. Then the ball joints will be done on the start of the month. I was glad it was drivers side (easier to get out of the transmission). Guess that will teach me to go for a reman lol should have spent a bit more money on the more expensive ones.

All in all I hope this quiets her down. Motor oil around the struts really did work for the time being but I will be re-lubing the areas with a better grease that doesn't eat at rubber. I didn't want to use the bearing grease I have because I didn't know if that would happen since it don't say much of anything on the label.

The good thing is I am in good with the guy who runs the parts store I go to so he discounts everything I get from there with his manager discount.

For the time being I am on the hunt for an old Honda, Yamaha, or Indian bike I can work on. The old Indian will be hard to come by.

I did see a Yamaha XV900 1981 for $550 the guy said it wont go into gear so he can't crank the engine. The ignition was hollowed out I guess because he lost the key. The cool thing about the bike is that it didn't sell very well in the US and it was the only year that it was done in the red every year after that it was black with grey trim. So to an extent it is somewhat rare in the color its in.

I gotta get my hands on some kind of a new engine since I am now starting to take my weed eater engines apart just to clean em and make em better. Oh and one of them now resides on my mountain bike. Funny thing is it pulls about 25 mph being a friction drive. I may yank it off and mount it with a chain if I can find a small enough clutch to fit the bike frame. But as it sits it works and goes and is a lot of fun to ride around.

If I can't find an engine to work on I guess I will have to go back to my project of building a custom 1911. Pretty much gotta cut rails for the slide and assemble it and it should be good to go. Its gonna be a Para p12/13 officers size. Hardest thing was finding a Main spring housing that fit.

Either way I guess I'll find something to do. lol
 
Dude, there's a test for that Dude Thing! She sounds Great!
Reman Shaft? Ball Joint? ???
If oil quieted the struts, you need struts!
Old Indians are easy... to find. They live on the Rez! I are one.
Yamaha may have a seized clutch. Easy Fix!!!
I wish I could ride a Powered Bicycle to work! That would take two hours but I wouldn't freeze on the way home like I do on my motorcycle! LOL
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Yep remanufactured axle shaft was bad and made all the clunk noise. Not sure if it is the struts that makes the grunt because it sounds like more towards the firewall. Sounds almost like the body may be moving slightly against the frame almost.

lol Yeah I see Indians all the time out at the casino I go to. lol And thats really no joke. But would like an old Indian motorcycle more since the Indians I see may put up a fight if I tried to ride them. lmfao. I imagine they wouldn't appreciate that.

Also the ball joints are toast.... There was a rip in the boot of the drivers side so I just greased them until the first when I get paid to get a new set. They still have the rivets so they are original.

Also figured out the squeak being the sway bar links forgot to grease them before putting them in so when I had them off I did it and the squeak was gone.

Like I said I will be replacing everything under there since its all 25 years old. I am more and less restoring this car rather than just fixing it to be drivable. I may consider the air shock/strut things I seen on Fast n loud. Arron Kaufman installs em in a lot of cars and they seem to hold up and they are just freakin cool. Gotta do some research on em to find out more about them.

Also only paid 30 bucks for the new cv shaft and was new with a warranty.

I also ended up grinding the rivets for the trim off the doors since I could not find the trim anywhere. just gotta rough up paint and repaint the car and it should look waaaay better. Anyone got any ideas on color. I am open to any suggestion that may look cool. So if you have always wanted to see this car in a certain color I may do it if it sounds cool enough and I will get pics once it is finished. I am pretty decent with the ol rattle cans and I usually get a great finish with them.

Anyway thats all for now. I'll let you guys know if I discover anything else.
 
I've got air shocks on the back. Tell me more about air struts!!! How Much???
Is that car a 2 door??? You can have my side trim. I just need to get it off!
If that creaking/groaning sounds like it is close to the firewall it might be the control arm bushing at the back. Wd40 that bitch!

I'm not doing a resto, I'm re-styling. All logos and trim off. Holes filled. Black bumper schiznit and either Lime Green or Copper with Black spoiler and vent grille (that thing where the wipers mount). I'm still debating black where the fenders flare but that's sooooooo eighties. Oh! And Black across the bottom of the doors to the ridge. (Maybe Bed liner stuff)

You can get those control arms with the ball joints and bushings already installed!!
 
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I like the stripes on that Mustang. I could go black below stripes.
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With the new tires I get a minor CV vibration around 85mph. It smoothes out around 95.
 
Alright finally nailed down the last bit of noise it was the lower ball joints..... They were both shot to shit. I even made a video of them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lvCVbYQnbM

I've replaced them and yes they were a bitch to get out. But the easiest way I found in the event someone needs to do this is by drilling a pilot hole from the bottom up, Place a board between the control arm and the Axle shaft to protect from going all the way through to the CV boot on accident. The little indent in the center of the rivet will act as a center punched indent. Go 7/8 and then go to 3/8 the book calls for 1/2 I didn't have one that wide so I used 3/8 Then after that grind down the heads with an angle grinder but be careful of the control arm don't wanna grind it weak. The when it's flat punch it through with a punch.

Usually when the 3/8 gets towards the top of the rivet it will grab and spin the rivet and break it loose. This actually made it tons easier getting it out.

You can drill through them with titanium coated bits but use tons of oil. Cobalt would be better.

I realized I could have bought the whole control arm but there was nothing wrong with the original ones and so I used them since to buy the whole control arm is $115 each lol. And also now I know if another one goes all I have to do is un bolt it and put the new one in.

The original ones no one ever greased in their life time. It caused cracking and popping and all sorts of noise through the floor and firewall. The CV shaft was still bad though and was the source of the nice deep clunk but the ball joints took care of the rest of odd noises. The car is now as quiet as can be and rides smooth as glass.

So aside from tie rods I replaced the entire steering and that also was the source of the grunt that sounded like the struts. lol

Now I am bondoing up some stuff on the doors and putting it in primer for the two tone. So far so good but there were a couple of places I had to put a shit ton of bondo on and manipulate it so it would be nice and smooth.

Mechanically the last thing for me to do is just replace the rear hub assembly because its leaking a little grease into the drum and also service the tranny and get a drain plug gasket for the oil pan. Mine leaks a drop every 3 days and so I keep forgetting to buy it when I change the oil lol.

Thanks to everyone who posted ideas and such they were helpful in narrowing down everything.

Oh and just listen to that ball joint on the video. can we say grind and clunk.
 
TrojanMan said:
I've got air shocks on the back. Tell me more about air struts!!! How Much???
Is that car a 2 door??? You can have my side trim. I just need to get it off!
If that creaking/groaning sounds like it is close to the firewall it might be the control arm bushing at the back. Wd40 that bitch!

I'm not doing a resto, I'm re-styling. All logos and trim off. Holes filled. Black bumper schiznit and either Lime Green or Copper with Black spoiler and vent grille (that thing where the wipers mount). I'm still debating black where the fenders flare but that's sooooooo eighties. Oh! And Black across the bottom of the doors to the ridge. (Maybe Bed liner stuff)

You can get those control arms with the ball joints and bushings already installed!!
Click to expand...

As for the struts this website can give you a bit more info on the air ones.

http://www.airbagit.com/v/vspfiles/pages/Airsturt_Pageknowalge.html

The kits aren't cheap but shopping around you may be able to find them cheap. Haven't look into them that much.


My car unfortunately is a 4 door and I already ground the rivets off lol.

I would do the cooper that sounds cool but I would just do normal paint for the bottom of the doors. The bed liner stuff may look a bit off in contrast.
 
Lucky they are riveted in, I may have to do a 87 Nissan Sentra 's which is pressed in and held in with a snap ring. Some " know- it- all " kid thinks he can do it no problem.:rolleyes:

Hope he did his research cause I did, if you pull out both the axle shafts, you need two $90 a piece tools to align the ends with the ring and pinion inside the trans to put the shafts back in, plus all your fluid leaks out.

There is a way to cheat but I aint telling him.:D A-arm has to come out anyway, but a new one is $89 with new bushings and ball joint. Its $9 just for the ball joint plus you have to find someone with a press.

Wife Cousin's car....................his friend is the "know-it- all ".:rolleyes:


Doug in P.R.:cool:
 
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