Author Topic: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps  (Read 7009 times)

sparky Paul

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #30 on: September 03, 2018, 04:17:49 PM »
Droplinks can be hard to diagnose, as you say the noise seems to come from anywhere, and a barely detectable bit of play can make a horrible knocking.

If you are struggling, one way to check droplinks is to park on the level, and get someone to rock the car whist you lay on the floor and grasp each end of each droplink in turn. You will usually feel even the tiniest amount of play as you grasp the joint, but they often click softly as you rock the car body, and grasping the bad balljoint will make the sound disappear.

Jocko

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #31 on: September 03, 2018, 04:27:39 PM »
I'd bought the two last year before finding it was the wishbone that was defective. (Volvo had needed a couple so I was familiar with the symptoms) To make the wishbone replacement easier we just replaced the drop link at the same time. Working for the motor factor meant they only cost £24 for the pair.

sparky Paul

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #32 on: September 03, 2018, 07:29:47 PM »
I think I paid just under £10 for a Borg & Beck (AKA Firstline) N/S droplink. Not the best branded parts, but it's been on a year or so now and seems to be holding up so far.

If it fails before its time, I'll replace it with a Delphi part next time. Our previous large car was a Ford Galaxy, that ate droplinks for breakfast... and the only ones I found that lasted were OEM parts made for Volkswagen (the Galaxy was really a VW in disguise), and Lockheed Delphi.

SuperCNJ

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #33 on: September 18, 2018, 11:31:43 AM »
Sorry to bring this up again, but I've been testing the car again and I think you guys may be right in that the noise may be coming from the front drivers side wheel area - although I am not 100% sure.

I had a look under the wheel arch and with my untrained eyes, I can't seem to see anything wrong with the droplink. Can you guys let me know your opinions please?



There's a video on youtube showing how to replace the droplink on the GD and it does look quite straightforward, so I'm happy to give it a go if it is indeed the droplink.




sparky Paul

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #34 on: September 18, 2018, 01:04:08 PM »
It's unlikely that you will see anything wrong with the droplinks, you only need a tiny bit of play in one of the balljoints to make a horrible knocking on the road.

As above, if you rock the car from side to side, you can often hear the bad one clicking. If you lie on the ground and grab each for the four balljoints in turn while an assistant rocks the car, you should find the bad one when it goes quiet.

Jocko

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #35 on: September 18, 2018, 01:12:00 PM »
My car passed a pre MOT and the actual MOT with a knocking drop link, so there were two mechanics who found it difficult to tell. It wasn't until a mechanic actually drove the car for a bit that the fault was diagnosed.

JohnAlways

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #36 on: September 18, 2018, 01:16:37 PM »
Hi SuperCNJ I've just had a quick look at the videos on Youtube and as you say it should be straight forward. However my experience is the threads are rusted to the nuts and the edges of the nuts round off (or the socket hole within the end of the ball joint round off. If this is not the case a very easy job but otherwise allow a bit of time for it. Sawing, grinding and burning the bits off have been my experience in the past. look forward to hearing how it went. :)

Jocko

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #37 on: September 18, 2018, 02:02:52 PM »
When my son-in-law did the first one for me he just ground it off, but Farmer Autocare managed to dismantle the offside. Mind you, he did use a power impact wrench.

sparky Paul

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #38 on: September 18, 2018, 02:13:18 PM »
Hi SuperCNJ I've just had a quick look at the videos on Youtube and as you say it should be straight forward. However my experience is the threads are rusted to the nuts and the edges of the nuts round off (or the socket hole within the end of the ball joint round off. If this is not the case a very easy job but otherwise allow a bit of time for it. Sawing, grinding and burning the bits off have been my experience in the past. look forward to hearing how it went. :)

Here's my tips for doing these and similar jobs on the suspension, on the driveway.

Arm yourself with a few useful tools, you may have some or all of them already - wire brush, small 6" stillsons or footprint type grips, six point sockets and a ½" ratchet, Plusgas type penetrating oil, and one of those small, upright, high temperature, pencil flame butane torches they sell for chefs to frizzle their creme brulees.

Before you start, wire brush the exposed threads thoroughly, it will help stop the nut binding up as it comes off.

Spray with penetrating oil and leave it for 10 minutes to do it's job. No WD40, it's crap.

Forget the allen or torx socket in the end of the thread, it will probably not be good enough to hold against the rusted nut. Hold the shaft on the other side with the small stillsons, wedged between the ARB and the droplink. Don't worry about damaging the rubbers, remember that you are throwing this bit away. Some droplinks have spanner flats here, so you could use a suitable spanner.

Using a six point socket and a ratchet, try the nuts. If they come off, great. If not, heat the nut up with the torch, you should be able to get a M10/M12 nut cherry red with a bit of persistence. Then, immediately go at it with the socket and ratchet. It should come off easily.

You will find that a bigger plumber's blowtorch will not get the nuts as hot, but it's worth a try if that's all you have. You can't beat a bit of heat!

Jocko

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #39 on: September 18, 2018, 02:29:50 PM »
My son-in-law has one of these,

filled to the gunwales with tools, compressors, cutting gear, impact wrenches, in fact anything he might need to fix a snow plough on the Spittal of Glenshee, at 1 am on a snowy February morning. He's a handy man to know.
Mind you, I am still waiting on him coming to change my oil and filter for me!

SuperCNJ

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #40 on: September 18, 2018, 02:43:40 PM »
Hi SuperCNJ I've just had a quick look at the videos on Youtube and as you say it should be straight forward. However my experience is the threads are rusted to the nuts and the edges of the nuts round off (or the socket hole within the end of the ball joint round off. If this is not the case a very easy job but otherwise allow a bit of time for it. Sawing, grinding and burning the bits off have been my experience in the past. look forward to hearing how it went. :)

Here's my tips for doing these and similar jobs on the suspension, on the driveway.

Arm yourself with a few useful tools, you may have some or all of them already - wire brush, small 6" stillsons or footprint type grips, six point sockets and a ½" ratchet, Plusgas type penetrating oil, and one of those small, upright, high temperature, pencil flame butane torches they sell for chefs to frizzle their creme brulees.

Before you start, wire brush the exposed threads thoroughly, it will help stop the nut binding up as it comes off.

Spray with penetrating oil and leave it for 10 minutes to do it's job. No WD40, it's crap.

Forget the allen or torx socket in the end of the thread, it will probably not be good enough to hold against the rusted nut. Hold the shaft on the other side with the small stillsons, wedged between the ARB and the droplink. Don't worry about damaging the rubbers, remember that you are throwing this bit away. Some droplinks have spanner flats here, so you could use a suitable spanner.

Using a six point socket and a ratchet, try the nuts. If they come off, great. If not, heat the nut up with the torch, you should be able to get a M10/M12 nut cherry red with a bit of persistence. Then, immediately go at it with the socket and ratchet. It should come off easily.

You will find that a bigger plumber's blowtorch will not get the nuts as hot, but it's worth a try if that's all you have. You can't beat a bit of heat!

Thanks. That's really good advice. I admit was actually thinking about using WD40  :-[ is there a penetrating oil you would recommend?

Jocko

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #41 on: September 18, 2018, 03:56:24 PM »
PlusGas was always my go to, then I started using Free, because we used it at work (nod nod, wink wink).

sparky Paul

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Re: advice -- knocking when turning over bumps
« Reply #42 on: September 18, 2018, 04:06:51 PM »
is there a penetrating oil you would recommend?

As Jocko says, Plusgas is about the best that's commonly available. Fuchs make a really good penetrating fluid, but it is expensive.

WD40 tries to be a do-all lubricant, but it leaves a gummy residue when it evaporates (don't spray it in locks!), and it's not really thin enough to act as a good penetrating oil. Only buy it if you are addicted to the smell.

PlusGas was always my go to, then I started using Free, because we used it at work (nod nod, wink wink).

I used to use FreeIt  for the same reason  ;)

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