Noise in Front Suspension

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lhearold

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The car is my 69 Dart that I just got together and on the road. About 800 miles on it. From day one its had a noise in the right front suspension. Sounds kinda like a loose ball joint. All parts are new, everything. Poly bushings upper and lower, Moog ball joints, tie rod ends, pitman and idler arm. I am using the Firm feel UCAs, LCAs, Struts, and steering box. I've pulled this thing apart, today makes the 4th time and can't find the noise. Everything appears to be tight. Nothing loose, aligned great, goes down the road straight as an arrow but hit a small crack in the pavement or a place where the upper and lower paving has seperated and it will knock just like a ball joint.

Has anyone else had a similiar problem? Any ideas?

Thanks,

Larry
 
strut rod bouncing in the hole through the K will make a similar noise. Loose exhaust pipe banging on the frame will too.
 
New Poly bushings that came with the FF strut rods. Have checked everything and there is nothing close to being able to hit the frame and rattle like that.
 
Herold
Let me know if you find it mine does the same thing, rt side only, full poly bushed front end.
 
Nope, not caliper bolts or loose pads. Check those things first off. If you have ever rode in a car with a real bad ball joint that is what the noise sounds like. Won't do it all the time, has to be just a certain type of bump or ridge in the road that it goes over.

I have heard but don't know how true it is that if the hole in the k-member for the LCA pivot pin is wollowed out it will make that type of noise but if so I can't get it to do it in the shop. I've got the whole right side apart right now and can't find any looseness. Have also heard about the upper ball joint hole in the spindle being wollowed out and causing the stud on the upper ball joint to wobble in the hole but again, can't get it to do it in the shop so I assume that isn't the problem.....

BWDART - How long as your been doing it? Has it gotten any worse?
 
I had the same problem after rebuilding my front end. Does it sound like a clicking? My problem was solved by lubing the new ball joints with a grease gun. Apparently they don't come loaded up with grease, which will cause binding.
 
Nope, this is a heavy knock just like 2 solid pieces of the suspension are coming together.. think about 2 layers of paving and the top one has come off. The thickness of the drop is about 1 inch or so. As the right front wheel drops off the edge into the depression it knocks, just like slack in a ball joint. then it does it again when you come out of the depression. Its driving me nuts. I know that with that noise there is something thats going to break one of these days and I want to find it before it does break on the highway at 75mph or so...
 
Check to see if the lower control arm anchor hole has cracked in the K frame. This causes the control arm to shift on bumps and produce a nasty noise over bumps, but is hard to diagnosis because when you raise the front end up, the tension of the torsion bars will make everything appear tight. Look in there REAL CLOSELY with a light and see if the hole has cracked or broken free in the K frame. If necessary, back off the torsion bar adjuster on the noisy side, removed the ball joint, strut rod, and shock nut, and slide it all back after removing the t-bar and the control arm bolt. It will probably be cracked at the torsion bar side of the K frame. I had to replace my K frame on the Barracuda when I first rebuilt my car's suspension years ago because of this...

* * BTW: The brake pad rattle is when the outer pad isn't crimped onto the caliper body with channel-lock's. If you don't do this, you'll get a rattle that only goes away when you feather the brake over bumps. This is often overlooked when replacing pads.
 
You guys are lucky I photograph everything I do.....

Here's the control arm holes on my Dart when I rebuilt it 3 years ago. Here's what they should look like:
DodgeDart023-vi.jpg

DRIVER'S SIDE

DodgeDart022-vi.jpg

PASSENGER SIDE
 
I have to edit myself here because I'm not thinking (or reading) correctly:

Do you have the poly bushings on the lower control arms? If so, this is probably your problem as they are known to slide off of the pins for the LCA's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I NEVER install these when I do a poly kit. First of all, they suck. They never stay in place. And second; your talking about 1/8" of rubber in that LCA bushing. How much deflection you think happens in there?

Sounds like your dropping the LCA's either way.... Sorry dude.
 
I didn't read anything about replacing or checking the shocks. Swap the right for the left and see if sound follows the move.

Terry
 
I have developed some clunking and banging since my front end overhaul, especially when I back out of the driveway. I think it's more noisy than it was
with the old parts installed. I haven't checked it out yet but I think it's getting a little better with time. I thought it sounded like torsion bars in the sockets.
The bars were jammed in the hex shaped holes pretty good b/4 we tapped them out of their sockets. If I have time this fall I will pull the cotter keys and
double check everything. toolman
 
The links are new. I need to recheck everything.
 
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