knocking front left wheel suspension
I have a 3 door 2001 Shogun Pinin UK right hand drive with 60,000 miles. There is a knocking from the front left wheel area / suspension. It happens mainly when the car is light (just driver present) and rarely happens if full of people. Mainly happens when I turn left i.e. takiing the weight off the front left wheel, so i think that rules out the CV joint although the knocking is simialr to the sound of a worn CV joint. It will happen in a straight line although only if really bumpy or speed hump. I have jacked up and shaken the front wheel - no play in it. I have taken the front wheel off and there appears to be no play in any shafts or suspension mounts. This is not to say that I coud have missed something. Any suggestions welcome. Many thanks
Syndicate
Remote diagnosis of noises is almost impossible.
First - a worn CV joint produces a very distinctive rattle, only when under load, and usually when on full lock - I find it quite difficult to imagine any failing suspension component producing an even remotely similar sound - the CVs on these (and other small 4WDs) generally don't do a lot of work (because the vehicles are primarily RWD) so they rarely give trouble, unless the protective boot fails allowing contamination.
Second - there are several suspension components that can produce knocking sounds and you're going to end up examining each one, one by one, in a process of elimination - starting with the ball joint, located where the steering knuckle meets the control arm, follow that with the sway bar (also known as the stabilizer bar) end link hardware, and the sway bar mounts, moving inward there is a rubber bush where the control arm meets the crossmember, moving forward there are two more rubber bushes where the radius rod attaches to the frame, and there's also the streering rod end where the rack connects to the knuckle.
The correct way to check the ball joint is to remove the knuckle and use a torque wrench to measure the force required to rotate the ball stud - an easier way is to put the car on stands with the wheel an inch or so off the ground and then slide a broad flat piece of board underneath (a cricket bat works well) and use that to "lift the wheel" - it's a two man job, one to work the bat and the other to observe the ball joint for movement - to check the sway bar end links, unbolt the end link and try to move the ball studs - they should be tight.