front suspension noise

80stech · #1 07-06-2022, 03:33 PM

For a while I was getting a "broken spring" type of noise from the front left only sometimes and only when backing out of the driveway(not turning). I did a suspension refresh with all new ball joints, control arms/bushing and wheel bearing but noise was still there so I replaced the upper strut brg & holder(which didn't look like it was the problem although the outer ring of the plastic brg. cover was broken) and the noise was gone for a few months! I thought for sure I had it licked but it just came back and I think louder than before. Sounds to me just like a broken spring or something hitting the spring but can't see anything wrong. I didn't replace the spring seats so maybe that has something to do with it? anyone else experience this?

80stech · #2 07-18-2022, 09:15 PM

Ok, this ended up being a problem with the caliper bushings! There was an uneven buildup of rust around the outside of the bushings holding the caliper kind of cocked and sticky. The noise was all from the caliper and transmitted through the spring!

wpoll · #3 07-18-2022, 09:35 PM

Weird - but thanks for the follow-up!

80stech · #4 07-22-2022, 01:01 PM

Yep, had me stumped for a while! Worse yet, I must gave suspected something the last time I did the brakes because I had new bushings in stock. Interesting, I went to put some more bushings in my cart for FCP and noticed that the super expensive BMW bushings include an optional 3rd one with what looks like built in plastic rails/sliders. Anyone tried those??
BTW I probably should have said the noise was "amplified," not so much "transmitted" by the spring in my previous post.