Suspension troubleshooting. Any ideas ANY at all

[R.G.]

Getting a popping from driverside wheel well. Less than ten miles an hour about to stop, then POP. I swear I see the front of the car pop up a few mm when it happens. Don't feel a thing on bumps when going 20mph or more. Beginning to accelerate before 10mph and POP. Can feel it in the floor board of the car, no feel in steering. It SEEMS to happen only in a certain spot of the wheel rotation. Cut the wheel to the left to 10 o clock, 10mph or less and it becomes a bit more pronounced. Pop Pop Pop as the wheel rotates.

Checked the torque on the top of strut tower under the hood.
Dust shields not touching
Spring seated correctly
Replaced strut mounts
Removed and replaced coilovers twice to check everything and re torque as best I could. Sway bar tight, bushing is good, endlinks are tight, control arms are tight, no movement in shock blah blah. Checked Fing everything it seems like.
Tired of paying for alignments.

2 clues, that may or may not be related. The strut mount was scraped on the edge, was making contact with something. WTF is that $#@!? Second M3 straight control arm is tight but when you grab it and manipulate it it hits the axle support. Suppose to do that?


So, Im either going to start throwing money at it replacing everything , run along side the bitch trying to hold a mirror under the fender to see something, strap a go pro to the inside of the fender and probably destroy it, or hope some one has a better idea.

[R.G.]

Checked washers between strut plates confirmed installed correctly.

Today checking the brakes, wheel hubs, strut collar, motor mounts and tie rods again.

Will update the thread as I go, might help someone out in the future.

[Sticky]

@alex@ABRhouston

[R.G.]

Strut collars tightened, motor mounts are perfect, tie rods checked, calipers checked, everything golden. Drove around for 30 min heard nothing. Exited the highway and boom started happening again. 2 mph roll before a stop and POP. Taking off from a light and POP. Almost like the whole strut is shifting front and back by a few MM. Strut mounting bolts torqued can't be that but there is some binding somewhere.
Might be heat related since it's not showing up or muted enough where I don't feel it in the dead pedal until some highway time. At this point of just going to start replacing $#@!. Going to start with a new sway bar and some adjustable endlinks and go from there.

[alex@ABRhouston]

man, hard to diag without pics and knowing the noise.

[R.G.]

man, hard to diag without pics and knowing the noise.

Understand that completely. These suspension issues are just a guessing game unless your able to drive the car and experience it for yourself.

I'm going to try one thing when I get back to my place. I think its going to solve the issue. Will update with some photos shortly.
Appreciate it Alex.

[TRES]

check the endlinks maybe they might be worn. put the car on some jack stands and jack the wheel up and see if you hear the same noises

[R.G.]

check the endlinks maybe they might be worn. put the car on some jack stands and jack the wheel up and see if you hear the same noises

Definitely Tres. Have checked them a few times and will again. I need to have the suspension loaded and be able to have the tire spin to re create noise which is proving to be a hassle. Track night is tonight so no messing with the suspension until after.

Strut nut might be bottoming out before its far enough down to seat properly. Going to install a lock nut on bolt and test. If it solves it, great, if not then going to see what I can do about the end links.

[R.G.]

Lock washers installed on the top nut tonight along w/ some new NGK plugs and thermostat delete. This should resolve it as every other damn thing has been checked. Engine mounts, trans mounts, control arms, end links, tie rods, wheel hub, rotors, brakes, basically anything that could move and be felt in the front end has been checked.
Follow up in a few days to confirm.

[R.G.]

Still persists.
Will be heading to buddy's tonight to do some more diagnosing.

[_Ryan_]

My thoughts- don't make changes aside from checking that components are torqued correctly.
Raise the car, move the suspension around and listen for the noise. Move the wheel through its travel, turn steering wheel etc.

You can do this at home with 4 stands and 1-2 jacks.

[R.G.]

My thoughts- don't make changes aside from checking that components are torqued correctly.
Raise the car, move the suspension around and listen for the noise. Move the wheel through its travel, turn steering wheel etc.

You can do this at home with 4 stands and 1-2 jacks.

Thanks Ryan,

Yea, will be messing with it this weekend again checking all the torque specs to see what I can come up with. Something is not right and it's driving me nuts not knowing what.

[88irocvert]

Guibo?

[R.G.]

Rep that 88. Good guess. Problem went away after I changed my diff oil actually.

[AlexQuattro]

That makes no sense....

[Sticky]

That makes no sense....

It actually does. Have you ever changed diff gears and heard noise at certain speeds or during certain turns? They tell you to do figure 8's to break the diff in.

Sounds like the diff oil change got rid of whatever material was in the diff making the noise.

[88irocvert]

It actually does. Have you ever changed diff gears and heard noise at certain speeds or during certain turns? They tell you to do figure 8's to break the diff in.

Sounds like the diff oil change got rid of whatever material was in the diff making the noise.

This is true Sticky, but, how come the noise was coming from the front of the car? Unless it's an xi...

[AlexQuattro]

Have you ever changed diff gears and heard noise at certain speeds or during certain turns? They tell you to do figure 8's to break the diff in.

Yes, I've rebuilt many diffs but this isn't a new diff/gear.

Sounds like the diff oil change got rid of whatever material was in the diff making the noise.

Usually, all there is in diff oil are fine metal shavings from the gears, definitely not something that can make a loud POP sound.
IF there was a big piece in the diff getting stuck somewhere somehow and it got flushed away during the oil change, the questions is where did it come from (bearings?). Also, it would have caused some damage so the diff wouldn't last long IMO. I'm convinced this has nothing to do with it.

[Sticky]

This is true Sticky, but, how come the noise was coming from the front of the car? Unless it's an xi...

I'm thinking he didn't pinpoint where the sound was coming from.

[R.G.]

Sound must have been transmitting from the driveshaft. I would feel it in the wheel and assumed it was from front suspension. Not certain why changed the diff oil netted the solution, possible sticking gear, who knows.

[jeepindoc]

Driveline sounds can be a bear to isolate. Glad you found it.

[mallenwase]

That makes no sense...