Hello all, sorry about two problems already, but they are the most annoying.
Basically I have this rattling sound in my front right wheel.
It happened when I went over bumps or had a slight turn on fast speeds, all the sudden id get this metallic rattling drum sound on my right wheel.
I took a peek under and realized that the Sway Bar link has all its brushings worn off / missing. I ordered a sway bar link kit and replaced it.
It is now better, but the problem remains, only half as much -
I only get all the symptoms when my wheel is slightly left of center.
For example, if I am riding around my neighborhood, and I purposefully go over a bump or pithole with my wheel slightly left, I get that clattering sound. If I go with wheel slightly right, I only hear the standard suspension noise, and it feels very fluid.
When on the freeway, if I bear left, I get the drumming, if I am bearing right It is fine.
The link kit is fine, so what can it be?
Why only when I go a bit left?
Thanks all!!

the problem with your missing bushings has probably knackered the suspension top mount. i have had this problem many a time as they have put stupid bloody speed humps in the road and it has screwed all of my cars suspension, including my mothers brand new mercedes!!!!!!

Ha I figured (well the mechanic did cuz I was out of ideas) that its the Lower Ball joint.
Now I have NO time to fix this, and from what I see it takes atleast 2 hours , on my car probably 3 - 4. so I might just go have him do it. Mine is REALLY loose so it presents with itself danger.... I cant believe I didnt check that...

yklin_tux and SykO, looks I have similar or same issue.

1989 Volvo 740 Turbo, ~130k miles

First I would call my sound more like a klunk of a hammer on the rotor.

What is in common with yklin_tux:
- At low speeds I get the sound only when hitting bumps about 1 to 2 inches high
- At highway speeds, at a very slight left turn, the klunking starts, this is between 55 and 72 mph at a rate of about 10 x per second.

Symptoms that I were not listed by yklin_tux:
- I can make the sound happen by stepping on the brakes at very low speeds.. like the brake is loose or some bushing is gone, however all looks good from visual inspection, al bolts are tight, thread lock used on all bolts for brakes........
- The symptom is gradualy getting worse.


Whay I have done so far:
I have had the tires balanced. I replaced the brakes pads and switched the rotors at the same time [just in case they are warped] as the sound produced sounded to me like the bake pads hitting the rotors. This did not solve the problem.... I also replaced the front wheel hubs, as one was starting to wine fairly loudly.. again, no help.

I do see a bit of a play on the mounts that come through the fenders when I open the hood and make the car bounce up an down.. can this be the problem that SykO is describing?

I can not feel ANY looseness on the from wheels no matter how and where I pull/push on them..whether they are on ground or in the air. What is the test to diagnose the lower ball joint on this car?

Except for the slight play that I see at the top of the strut mounts, I am out of ideas..

Please advise. Is it time to take it to a mechanic?


Thanks !!

personally when i had the problem, i could see the play in the top strut mounts when bouncing the car, i changed the whole shock absorber, spring and suspension arm from a car in a breakers yard with only 80k on the clock, engine had ceased on it so everything else was ok.

That solved the problem straight away for me, took me about 2/3 hours to do and about £90 ... prob $160 ish for you.

Matt

Matt, thank you for taking time to respond.

No local auto wrecker parts available... So I looked over the suspension trying to find all places that appear to have some play. The repair job does not look difficult.

I saw a very small amout of play in the front stay arm bushing and also in the joint where the strut cartridge is bolted to the top strut mount. I did not see play in the ball joint, however at $36 each, I will replace them as I am taking the suspension apart and will have to get a wheel allignment... besides the ball joint rubber cover is starting to look real old and crack lines are showing.


Please advise on the following :

1/ Do I need anything to keep the front coil spring compressed when I loosen up the bolts that hold the ball joint and the stay arm ? [ ~ $125 in parts for both sides ]

2/ If I am going to do this much, should I replace the strut insert and the top bearing and/or the top strut mount ? [ This adds ~$230 to the cost for total of ~$355]

3/ Will I need a separator tool to get the ball joints loose ?



Thanks again.

1996 850. for what it's worth, I recently had a problem with the spring seat bushing. It made a sound like an old wood floor does when it creaks or old springs on a bed if you've ever slept on one of those at a camp. Anyway it was very annoying. Not however like the clunk you may be hearing. I had to take the whole strut assembly out. You WILL have to compress the spring once out and do NOT remove the large center nut, 21mm, before compressing the spring. You'll ruin your day!! I didn't replace the strut just the bushing. Ahhh, so much better. Not sure if this is your problem but thought I'd jump in with this in case it was.

Thanks for replying, I kinda suspected that I would need a spring compressor to remove the whole strut.

I definitely do not get creaking or squaking, like an old bed, I get strong clunking and its happening now down to 45 mi/h on a gentle left turn, 4 to 5 per second, or if I hit a pot hole. When the wheel is shaking and klunking, I can feel it right through the steering wheel.

I pretty much decided to try the cheaper approach first, I will do the ball joints and the 3 bushings and see what happens.

Do I need a spring compressor for the "lower half" rebuild? - in order to take off the ball joint and the controll arm to replace the 3 sets of bushings ?

Thanks again.

Well I'm not as experienced as most are on this forum but I don't think replacing the ball joints have anything to do with that strut assmbly.