Rattles!!

[jazzdude]

I have an annoying rattle that seems to be coming from the passenger side of the car from underneath and it happens when I go over a pothole, or over uneven surfaces.

Having just dropped the car back down to the ground following a winter-spring clean, while it was up in the air, I went round and checked all of the suspension bolts with a torque wrench, and had taken off and refitted the exhaust and rear arb assembly, hoping that the rattle might have been in those areas. The rattle as it was before the cleaning op is still there though and I can't for the life of me find it.

Banging underneath the car with a rubber mallet has not been able to recreate the sound and I am at my wits end to where it could be coming from.

Any ideas where I might have missed?

The other one that is also doing my head in is coming from the dash. The PO had removed the bolt on the driver's side so he could 'get the dash off in 2 minutes' and I know that is the where the problem is. If anyone else has done this, what have you also done to stop this clattering, short of stuffing lots of foam under there?

[lancepar]

Checking around my new purchase i found the wiper motor could be moved up and down because the rubber mount beneath it was missing. It couldn't be heard while driving so prob' not your rattle.

[Belle427]

Front arb bushes and drop links are worth checking.

[NDA]

Are there rubber pads between the chassis and the body?

I have an Aero Morgan and this is where the rattle is.

Rattles are odd, if you know where they come from you can live with them.

[Sardonicus]

What brand of dampers are you using? very hard to simulate a problem in these whilst stationary unfortunately , assuming you checked everything else and your not using daft rose jointed ARB drop links

[jazzdude]

I checked the front arbs at the wishbone end, it didn't occur to me to check them at the end in front of the car, but I don't remember if I can get to them with the radiator in and the body on. The arb's are not the standard ones, but the ones that look like this

https://tvr-parts.com/tvr-parts/part-details/tvr-c...

The suspension struts are Gaz Golds and I do not remember seeing any rubber pads between the body and chassis when I lifted it off a couple of years ago.

[ianwayne]

I changed my front anti roll bar bushes with the radiator fitted. VERY fiddly but can be done. The bottom bolts through the wheel arches from below the is the way I did it and the top ones from above. It was more of a 'clonk' with me than a rattle. I put Powerflex ones in.

[rev-erend]

Sorry to state the obvious but you need to pin point where the noise is coming from..

[jazzdude]

rev-erend said:

Sorry to state the obvious but you need to pin point where the noise is coming from..

I know, which I have tried to do, under the car with a rubber mallet, after checking all of the suspension bolts.

Short of hanging under the car while someone drives it along, I am out of ideas.

[Classic Chim]

jazzdude said:

I know, which I have tried to do, under the car with a rubber mallet, after checking all of the suspension bolts.

Short of hanging under the car while someone drives it along, I am out of ideas.

Try using a ply bar near each joint and see if you can introduce some free play or rattle.

[ianwayne]

Steering rack? Perhaps there is play in the outer shaft bearings only apparent at load / unloading of the suspension.

[jesfirth]

nut or bolt dropped off or loose trim inside the door?

[jazzdude]

I took it out for a drive down a potholed road near me and it is definitely at the front axle as when the back wheels go over the hole it does not make the noise.

I am thinking either steering rack track rod ends or something to do with the front arb as it the noise definitely has a connection to the front wheels going over a bump.

[Classic Chim]

A knackered shock absorber bush would give a similar noise. As said try moving things with a long bar or you’ll struggle to find it.

[2gins]

Rose jointed shocks? Famous for it.

[jazzdude]

2gins said:

Rose jointed shocks? Famous for it.

Are Gaz Golds rose jointed?

[Classic Chim]

jazzdude said:

Are Gaz Golds rose jointed?

Unfortunately yes.

[jazzdude]

Classic Chim said:

Unfortunately yes.

If that is the case, then that would be disappointing as they were refurbed a couple of years ago and I got a new set of bushes from Gaz at the time.

[Classic Chim]

jazzdude said:

If that is the case, then that would be disappointing as they were refurbed a couple of years ago and I got a new set of bushes from Gaz at the time.

Great for racing when you do a total of about 600 miles a year at best and that’s racing every week but garbage on road going cars imo.

If you grease them up they might last a bit longer but that attracts grit.

You simply can’t beat rubber for a trouble free ride for years and years.

My brand new GGP had seized bushes within a year but I did use the car during winter ( shock horror)
When I removed them nearly all rose joints were actually very loose. I had them refurbed and sold them cheap.

[Sardonicus]

Two years in rose jointed terms is plenty , get the wheels just off the ground and using a large pry bar gently lever the tyre off the ground repeatedly whilst someone as a hand on the damper body and watches for movement at the damper mounts any movement is bad no matter how small and can be felt through the damper body also if present , it's easier carried out than explained, sadly if a damper has an internal defect this will be hard to simulate Phazed will testify to this annoyance