suspension check

[blockpower]

i am trying to check my front dampers for wear, but i'm unsure if i can remove the springs to guage the wear. are they factory set un stripable unit or is there a way round this, by compressing the spring and sliding the retainer of.

do i have to replace the whole unit..

Andy

p.s Julian, if you get to this thread, i have'nt recieved an invoice for your work yet. (perhaps your loaded and don't need the cash )

pps Julian after stripping my front end i cannot find any bush failure that would lead to knocking that i ask you about, so i'm left with the damper, got to be that, everything else has been stuck down and strapped and iv'e even developed a bracket for the front bonnet mount where they typically go, looks the biz, and it's nice and strong..

>>> Edited by blockpower on Sunday 28th November 17:34

[GreenV8S]

The springs can be removed but only with the dampers off the car. You will need a suitable spring compressor, and it can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.

[blockpower]

will have a go tomorrow, btw i still bear the scar on my top lip when as an apprentice mechanic, i was winding the compressors down with an air gun, when under full comp, they decided to part company and head towards my face. at the time i thought i'd lost my front teath,,

[ian8542]

The noise is indicative of worn out dampers.
Check the spring gaps as the springs tend to weaken closing the gaps up. New springs is the only remedy.

[joospeed]

Hi Andrew, the noise sounds waaaaaaaaay tight to me to be anything on the dampers .. but as you say you're running out of things to try it also sounds much closer to the dash area than a suspension noise ..

wish I'd had more time to investigate it. it's a puzzling one.

[blockpower]

i did find a couple of rattles and after carful consideration iv'e dismissed them, maybe wrongly so.

The first was on the rack i removed the boot and found the exposed shaft clunked when knocked with a rubber mallet, i inserted a shim on top of the shaft and under the nylon bush to take the gap up ,and the clunk stoped, but i dismissed this as the rattle only happens on bumps, this area maybe unaffected by this as the track rod won't transmit any thing down the arm because of the track rod end BJ. and this noise is very very sensitive to bumps.

second i've been looking at the steering UJ's where it exits the bulk head there's no play but again i can make it clunk by hitting with a mallet, iv'e sort of dismissed this one also because i don't feel there's any point in replacing it as there's no play. and i rearly don't think it would transmit that much sound.

i thought i'd sorted it earlier this week when i spotted the clutch slave supply line had worn the powder coat of and i saw exposed fresh metal, anywho after fitting rubber strips onto the chassis rail and testing it made no diffrence..

if i had enough hair left i'd pull it out.

[satman]

Maybe a long shot but had a similar sounding rattle to yourself not too long ago...over a bump and there it went..'clunk' or 'rattle'...but could I bloody reproduce the noise on the driveaway??...nope!
The noise definately seemed to be coming from behind the speedo/dash/bulkhead area...
Anyway, one day after getting just alittle pi$$ed off with this, I decided to investigate further...up with the bonnet, and I removed the fibreglass bulkhead cover to look closer beneath...took the car for a run without the cover on....no rattle!
it had been this blasted cover all along!
I discovered that the panel held my bonnet a bit on the skew when locked down, and the metal piece that the bonnet retaining rods slid into when locked, on one side, 'struck' the metal piece riveted onto the top of the inner wing, causing a rattle type clunk each time i hit a bump!
I re-adjusted afew bits and bobs...mainly worn bonnet rubbers, and hey presto ...no noise!

[blockpower]

thnks for the reply, but ive been there myself and ive use felt on mine to provide a cushion, this rattle sounds like a handbrake cable loosely attached to a chassis rail, as you go over the bump it goes ..diga diga dig, say it in less than 2 seconds and you have it, its a thin sound so i dont believe its anything to do with structure.