Suspension: What's rattling?

[honestjoe]

you and me both!!...bushes bushes bushes!!...cheers phil..hj.

[Clifford Pope]

There aren't any bushes on the rear anti-roll bar - it simply bolts across the two trailing arms.
It doesn't sound quite like reaction rods, as these vary their noise depending on, reaction, eg when pulling away or putting through a lot of torque on a hill start, especially a sharp left hand climb, for some reason.

In my experience a trailing arm bush takes a lot of rough road to start knocking. Normally the car just sits on the bushes like a dead weight. I've had a totally collapsed bush picked up at an MOT which wasn't making any noise at all.

I have had noises from shock absorbers, which make a constant rattle on everything but a dead smooth surface, independent of torque etc.
Look at the top and bottom bolts - the bushes may be OK and even the nuts tight, but they can be rusted solid with the metal bush still free to rattle on the bolt. Check that the spacer tube on the trailing arm is squeezed tight.
I have also had an annoying internal noise from a low mileage shock absorber, as if some internal spacer was free to bang up and down.
(At the moment I've got a squeaking noise from a pair of heavy duty shock absorbers, sounding like an old farm cart that needs its springs oiling)

[honestjoe]

Yes indeed..i know this because i managed to sheer the stabilizer bar bolt on re assembly..its not the sort of thing you can find in a farm workshop..i had to get a bolt and grind it down to fit behind slotted washer and trailing arm..not a lot of clearance there..still its doing its job!..I was in such a hurry to get the trailing arms sorted that i never got around to reaction rod and panhard bushes..so still on the endless list..I"ve heard that the axle bushes are good for ten to twelve years?..(euro car parts)..I do hope so..in no great hurry to revisit...Clifford did you ever sort out your rattling wisbone bush?..I need to change front rear and wonder if a volvo one would be better than a pattern...cheers hj.

[stroop]

One cause for the rattle could be the spring clips that hold the hand brake shoes in place have been bent and weakened, this has happened to me after trying to get the rear drums off over the shoes

[Clifford Pope]

Originally Posted by honestjoe

Clifford did you ever sort out your rattling wisbone bush?..I need to change front rear and wonder if a volvo one would be better than a pattern...cheers hj.

Yes and no! I gave up trying to get the "proper" hard bush to stay tight in the bracket housing, so just fitted an ordinary (right hand) one. That's cured the rattle, and it has stayed tight.

[excalibur1]

Hi there, got the same clunking noise which I suspect coming from the rear end of my s60 whenever I move off from stationary.I t will just occur once when I drive off,and will never make a clunking noise again until I stop for a whilst.(full stop). Do you think it might be the bushes ? or something to do with the exhaust?
I don't have any idea where to locate those bushes. If you could be kind enough to help me with this, that would greatly appreciated.

[CaptainAhab]

Some rattles seemingly from the back can be coming from the front and vice versa. An easy one to check would be the offside anti roll bar mounting.

[Clifford Pope]

Originally Posted by CaptainAhab

Some rattles seemingly from the back can be coming from the front and vice versa.

Definitely! Don't discount anything anywhere.

It can help to have a passenger try to identify the direction. But it's not infallible. I've had a noise that sounded low down in the passenger footwell to me, just like a wishbone bush. My passenger said it was coming from the driver's door trim. In fact, it was the passenger sun visor rattling in the clip.

I've just added a new item to my list of 1001 things that can rattle. The catches on an estate rear folding seat back. A sort of claw thing that hooks over a fixed post. Originally supposed to have some sort of hard plastic sleeve, I think, but invariable worn so that it's just metal to metal.