help me track down a suspension rattle

[LightlyToasted]

The noise developed about 3K km ago, give or take. Since I hadn't yet replaced the strut mounts, I figured that would be it. Nope. Then I noticed that my rocker panel covers weren't properly secured, so I figured it could be those things bouncing around. I fixed that, but the rattle remains.



The sport suspension option S226A (not adaptive drive S2VAA) involves stiffer springs, different shocks, and a larger sway bar with matching bushings. IMHO, this is the wrong vehicle for sport suspension - I would rather have had regular, but then I would have missed out on the sport steering wheel and black headliner of the sport package.

[Big Smoke]

While doing some front lower control arm work.
I noticed my brake heat shield was loose.
One of the bolts had rusted through. A larger washer fixed the problem.
I will hunt for some replacements, but this will get me trough the winter.

[LightlyToasted]

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

I noticed my brake heat shield was loose.
One of the bolts had rusted through. A larger washer fixed the problem.

Mine had rusted through also. It wasn't rattling, but was rubbing against the rotor. I replaced the backing plate, and the rubbing went away but the suspension rattle was still there.



I'm 80% done replacing the shock with a Bilstein B4, and will know soon enough if that was the culprit.

[LightlyToasted]

Ugh, no luck. I replaced the shock, and the rattle is still there. All front suspension components (except springs, sway bar, and sway bar bushings) are new. Everything is properly torqued, all new bushings and ball joints seem to be OK.



When using the remote microphone tool, the rattle was most pronounced at the top shock nut, and somewhat less at the upper wishbone ball joint retaining bolt/nut. Virtually no rattles anywhere else. The tricky part is that everything is connected together in one system, so noises can travel to adjacent components.



I'll keep digging around with the microphones. This vehicle is killing me.

[SF2000x5]

I would take a look at the left tension strut for play. Could be defective or prematurely worn - this happened to someone on this message board iirc.

Also, which brand did you go with?

I’ve only had my lemforder tension struts for about 20,000 miles/3 years but I think one of the bushings have some play so I’m probably replacing them soon. Good thing I bought from FCP with lifetime warranty.

[LightlyToasted]

I believe I used Mevotech Supreme for the tension struts, lower control arms, and upper wishbones. I usually prefer Lemforder suspension and steering parts but they weren't available at the time from RockAuto.


The tension struts look OK to me. No play in the ball joint, nor excess movement in the big bushing at the front. The sound is a definite rattle when going over stutter bumps. In my experience when the tension strut bushing gets soft the vehicle will wander and feel loose, and sometimes clunk when braking. None of this is happening in my case - handling is tight.


May be a few days, but I'll post results from another round of microphone tests.

[SF2000x5]

Originally Posted by LightlyToasted

May be a few days, but I'll post results from another round of microphone tests.

any luck?

[LightlyToasted]

Originally Posted by SF2000x5

any luck?

Haven't got around to it yet. Snowed where I am, so I was busy putting winter tires on the vehicles last weekend.

I'm going to try again this weekend. I'll focus for now within the engine bay (easier), connecting the microphones to the shock nut, strut brace, windshield wiper transmission, and anything else which might rattle. Will let you know how it goes.

[LightlyToasted]

Performed a few microphone tests today. It can be tricky to identify where the rattle is coming from, as everything is connected together.

Test 1: under hood only:

• shock nut (rattle)
• strut brace
• wiper assembly
• brake booster

Test 2: under hood and in wheel well:

• shock nut (rattle)
• strut mount nut
• strut tower
• lower rearward control arm inner (faint rattle)
• strut holder (rattle)
• spring

Test 3: in wheel well:

• tie rod ball joint
• lower rearward control arm inner mount (faint rattle)
• thrust arm ball joint
• lower rearward control arm ball joint (loud rattle)
• lower rearward control arm to strut holder (faint rattle)

So it looks like the most likely culprit is the lower rearward control arm ball joint. If so, this is disappointing as the part was replaced not long ago. I can't detect any play with a pry bar or large channel locks while the vehicle is on jack stands, and everything is torqued properly. Before I order this part again, any advice on how to test it? Maybe on ramps with load on the front wheels? Remove it?



There was some lateral play in the axle CV joint. I could "rattle" it a bit by moving it in and out. The other side had identical play, so I don't think this is it.

[ard]

re: control arm aka tension strut....when it was replaced was it tightened UNDER FULL LOAD?

If not, the resulting 'twist' and load, can result in failure in a month or two