help ! creaking front suspension

[steve f]

Hi, my trophys on 31k and had the front dampers refurbished a few months ago by bg motorsport.

The car is on mark fish springs with koni rear dampers.

Ever since i got the dampers refurbished the springs creak "as if ur hearing them compress" when braking hard and then when u let off the brakes and start accelerating again u can hear then creak again.Sometimes they give a slight creak when turning hard while driving slow.I cant remember this happening before i got the dampers done.

Could be a coincidence that this is happened since and may not be the springs but sounds like its them.

Anyone got any idea what else could be causing this or how to resolve this as is driving me mad ?

Had the dampers off and springs etc stripped off again the night and cant see whats causing it.

thanks...steve

 

[liam1610]

Hi Steve, first off I would get a helper to lend a hand. Few things you need to check under load. First off lower ball joint get the steering to make the noise all the time and get your helper to give the steering a wiggle while holding the joint it will be obvious if this is the issue as you will feel it vibrate through your hand. You can also check this when someone bounces the front suspension.

I would check inner bushes when bouncing the car this is the same as checking the ball joint. One thing have you fitted pollybushes by any chance?

I have heard of a few issues with these mark fish springs moving in the seats so to check this shine a light up in the wheel arch while your helper moves from lock to lock. If spring jumps change your top mount bearings as this will be sticking but I can't really see this causing the issue under braking.

Let me know how you get on.

Liam

 

[steve f]

Hi Liam,

Ive spent a while again on the car,ive had the dampers off and fitted the standard spings on and still doing it so back onto the mark fish springs.Had a mechanic pal round and with the car jacked up he noticed straight away the middle anti roll bar bushes look knackered as theres a gap at the top of the bar instead of the bush gripping the bar fully all the way round.

The creaking sound is heard if ur 20mph or less and brake fairly hard to a near standstill then it gives a slight creak when u start to accelerate.

I have a polybush for the dogbone mount,all the rest are original from new.

Heres pics of the middle anti roll bar bushes.dont know if u can make out the gap around the bar in them.





[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/694/48639110151952007355637.jpg/]

thanks...steve

 

[liam1610]

Hi Steve,

I can see the gap and i know the bushes have a cut down the middle of the flat part on the bush(the bit that sits against the sub frame), i doubt this would be your creaking noise, you can rule both inner and outer bushes by spraying rubber lube on them, either that or fit new ones there not much its just the bolts can be a pain to get to.

Im guessing you checked the top mount bearings while you had the shocks apart.

Can i ask if the noise sounds rotational or not as the only other thing i can think of checking is if the brakes are sticking or if the disc is moving slightly on the hub causing it to rub on the backing plate, this is the same if the discs are corroded on the inner edge as the corrosion can rub too. Also pads should have a bit of movement top to bottom so they can expand with heat and still be free.

Is the dog bone mount well lubricated, pollybushes tend to creak when there dry. Also is this noise one sided or both sides or central?

Liam

 

[steve f]

the top mount bearings seem fine.when the spring,topmount etc is all together and u push down on the topmount and rotate it,it moves freely.

the sounds hard to tell where its from.i think its somewhere from in the wheel arches and comes from both sides.

the sound is not a rotational sound but a compressing creak.

the car has fairly new disks and pads on the front.i never shaved anything off the pads and they fitted fine.u can start the car up from cold,drive to the end of the driveway and stamp on the brakes and the creaks there.

the dogbone got a little coating of copper grease.will remove it and regrease it alot more and wd40 the roll bar bushes.see if that changes the sound and see if im closer to finding this annoying noise.

many thanks

 

[steve f]

took off dogbone,copper greased it.

took off pads,sanded ends and copper greased back of pads.

put wd40 on anti roll bar mounts.

put car down,reversed a few meters,hit on brakes.......creak.lol

 

[liam1610]

Need to really narrow the noise down a little and its strange you have a noise after refurbishment. Did you get adjusters done at same time if so soften shocks and see if its the same or worse also just make sure your sub frame mounts and lower arm inner bolts are tight along with the ball joint bolt tight.

One thing you can try is park up car, engine on, foot on brake and into either first or reverse then lift clutch on and off like you would if you are pulling away hard so a near stall. With your foot on the brake pedal it may help replicate noise so your mechanic friend can have a better look.

Only other thing is if you do end up taking shocks off and apart again compress the shock fully then release see if there is a noise you will have to soften shock to do so as there normally rock solid after refurb.

 

[hoolio]

Haven't the wishbone bushes been responsible for this in the past? What happens when you remove the damper and shove down on that?

 

[bearne1]

Mine has a faint squeak over lots of bumps in the road (running standard suspension) and replaced everything bar the wishbones bushes!

 

[hoolio]

Ha typical, knew i should've kept my fingers away from the keyboard though a "faint squeak" is not a "creak"

 

[Carbon Chaos]

Bottom Ball joint,mine had a noise under braking and there was no play to speak of but i changed it and the noise went.

It must be when its under load from braking and compresses the joint.