Front Suspension Clunks

J

JLo

Member
Hello All,

My '52 A2 TDI @ 80K has developed (over the last 2-3 months) a loud clunk in the front suspension. It began gradually, but has recently worsened.

It may be my mind playing tricks with me, but I sense a degree of vagueness to the steering at low speeds too.

Following other threads, I purchased (VW Polo ARB Rubbers/brackets) and have inspected the current mounts. Besides some superficial rust, which appears to be where paint has flaked off the ARB. The existing mounts appear ok (at least from the outside). I was unable to change the mounts as access is limited.

Any ideas where the noise may be coming from? Could it be the strut/shockabsorber itself?

Regards

JLo
 
IME, a broken spring doesn't make a clunk. If anything, you get a grinding noise when turning at slow speed.

Have you checked to make sure that that ARB hasn't moved? They generally move towards the passenger side which means that the drivers side will knock of the suspension strut above it. There should be an equal amount of ARB on both sides.

It's not the bushes themsevles that cause the knocking, it's the fact that they don't hold the ARB securely and allow it to move to one side. If you do a search, you'll see that some of us have fitted the smaller VW Polo bushes that hold the ARB tighter and stop it moving.

Failing that, you could be looking at a worn bottom wishbone ball joint. I have a similar problem developing on my Allroad.
 
JLo said:
Hello All,

My '52 A2 TDI @ 80K has developed (over the last 2-3 months) a loud clunk in the front suspension. It began gradually, but has recently worsened.

It may be my mind playing tricks with me, but I sense a degree of vagueness to the steering at low speeds too.

Following other threads, I purchased (VW Polo ARB Rubbers/brackets) and have inspected the current mounts. Besides some superficial rust, which appears to be where paint has flaked off the ARB. The existing mounts appear ok (at least from the outside). I was unable to change the mounts as access is limited.

Any ideas where the noise may be coming from? Could it be the strut/shockabsorber itself?

Regards

JLo
Click to expand...

Hi JLo,

I have exactly this as well, just as you describe. The mounts look fine, but there is superficial rust where the coating on the ARB has flaked off or come away. I was worried about the ARB and drop links, bushes etc, but my mechanic tells me the knocking is coming from this exposed metal on the ARB making a 'clunk' against the chassis over very harsh bumps and isn't something to worry about too much, as mechanically the ARB, drop-links, bushes, shocks and springs are all perfectly fine... The stiffness of the chassis means that it sounds much worse than it is as the sound reverberates through the aluminium frame...

Not sure if any of this helps, but it certainly put my mind at rest and I can live with it as it is for the time being. I find if I just drive over speed bumps much more slowly and avoid potholes it doesn't happen as much.

I'm still after some Koni FSD's though, and I expect the ARB will need replacing at some stage to completely cure it...

Jon
 
The bushes on the arb are made from plastic and often fail. Sometimes it's possible to get away with just replacing the bushes but more likely you need to replace the arb too. I think there is a new arb design now with metal bushes so should last longer. The symptons you describe I know well having replaced my arb last year.
 
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