danger dan
Go Kart Champion
- Location
- greenville NC
- Car(s)
- gti
allright, shortly after i installed my suspension i started getting a slight clunking noise from the front end of the car, when i turned at low speeds such as parking, u turns, etc. the noise drove me crazy, not because its that bad, its just that its a new car and any problems scare me especially that im on aftermarket suspension. i took days and days of my time to research the problem, sent out dozens of pm's to people who had reported the problem to see what had happened. i probably lost alot of sleep because of this, no lie.
i figured im probably the only one to search this deep so i want to compile all of my unformation together and hopefully help others fix any steering noises they might have. there are a few causes and remedies that have fixed different types of clunks.
upper strut mount bearings: this is probably the most common problem, when you change out the suspension, you put a different agle of load on the strut mounts, as some of you may know, VW has never been able to make a strut mount bearing worth a damn. to tell if a strut mount bearing is the cause you need to check the following:
-the car will make clunks at low speed turns and occasionally on speed bumps and other bumps
- it will usually happen less often or quieter when it is colder outside
- you will hear the noise coming from the upper front of the car, and wouldnt be coming from under the front or the floor.
- when the wheels are turned with suspension under no load (on jack stands or a lift) you will not hear the noise.
- pop the hood and have someone listen in the area while you crank the wheel around
strut bearing as pretty cheap (about $30 for a set of 2 fronts) but you will need to get your car realigned after the install, just go ahead and instill new ones with new suspension, vw updated the sturt bearing, new part numeber is 6N0 412 249 C
Lower ball joint/controle arm bolts
on alot of cars with aftermarket suspension these 3 bolts may not be properly torqued down or could have worked there way loose. the symptoms of this may include:
-loser than normal feeling steering wheel and softer less responsive steering
- lower speed clunking as well as higher speed clunking that should be heard from the bottom of the front and felt through the floorboard/pedals.
- possibly rattles or excessive noise when hitting bumps.
to fix this, just go under the car, and tighten the 3 bolts on the onderside of the controle arm, you should notice everything stiffen up and the noise stop.
loose subframe bolts
apparently some people are having problems with the subframe bolts working there way loose, with this you will feel a clunking or popping from the underside of the car on most slower turns. this is a warranty issue and your dealer should fix it weather or not your modified. if they deny you then the best i can tell you is to get under there and tighten them all up, although any loose bolts should be replaced.
other possible problems/causes
- settling of the springs
- loose swaybar endlinks (especially if you have an aftermarket bar)
- other loose suspension component bolts
- steering rack problem
i figured im probably the only one to search this deep so i want to compile all of my unformation together and hopefully help others fix any steering noises they might have. there are a few causes and remedies that have fixed different types of clunks.
upper strut mount bearings: this is probably the most common problem, when you change out the suspension, you put a different agle of load on the strut mounts, as some of you may know, VW has never been able to make a strut mount bearing worth a damn. to tell if a strut mount bearing is the cause you need to check the following:
-the car will make clunks at low speed turns and occasionally on speed bumps and other bumps
- it will usually happen less often or quieter when it is colder outside
- you will hear the noise coming from the upper front of the car, and wouldnt be coming from under the front or the floor.
- when the wheels are turned with suspension under no load (on jack stands or a lift) you will not hear the noise.
- pop the hood and have someone listen in the area while you crank the wheel around
strut bearing as pretty cheap (about $30 for a set of 2 fronts) but you will need to get your car realigned after the install, just go ahead and instill new ones with new suspension, vw updated the sturt bearing, new part numeber is 6N0 412 249 C
Lower ball joint/controle arm bolts
on alot of cars with aftermarket suspension these 3 bolts may not be properly torqued down or could have worked there way loose. the symptoms of this may include:
-loser than normal feeling steering wheel and softer less responsive steering
- lower speed clunking as well as higher speed clunking that should be heard from the bottom of the front and felt through the floorboard/pedals.
- possibly rattles or excessive noise when hitting bumps.
to fix this, just go under the car, and tighten the 3 bolts on the onderside of the controle arm, you should notice everything stiffen up and the noise stop.
loose subframe bolts
apparently some people are having problems with the subframe bolts working there way loose, with this you will feel a clunking or popping from the underside of the car on most slower turns. this is a warranty issue and your dealer should fix it weather or not your modified. if they deny you then the best i can tell you is to get under there and tighten them all up, although any loose bolts should be replaced.
other possible problems/causes
- settling of the springs
- loose swaybar endlinks (especially if you have an aftermarket bar)
- other loose suspension component bolts
- steering rack problem
