Cracking sound from front suspension.

[Bryanlog]

I have noticed a “cracking” sound coming from the front suspension (area) when cornering whilst turning particularly hard left whilst going through a small dip! For example turning into the driveway. I have a 3.2 Diesel NP auto with about 270000km on the clock. I have old man emu suspension front & back (shocks & coils) other than that still standard. Have not had any work done to the suspension other than the old man emu.
Have had the upper & lower control arm ball joints changed but noise is still there. The front stabiliser bushings etc are all good. Took it back to ARB to check out if it was the shocks etc, they said is all good but suspect the control arm bushes, would have thought the noise would be there all the time if that was the case.

Anyone out there had a similar problem / noise at some point, any feed back would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[swampy 6863]

The only problem iv had in that area was a clunking noise under moderate to heavy breaking just as the wagon was about to stop. Turned out to be the wheel bearings. Th old girls got just over 240 on it now.
Swampy

[ken6]

I had similar problem Toyota forerunner when turning hard left or right mechanic friend suggested smear of grease on steering stops. worked no more creaking noise

[marcthelegend]

I have the same issue, its the exact same noise as the bashplates would make when turning however they are off the car at the moment and its still doing it.

Difference is I have done a fair amount to the front end, just the last few weeks i've replaced all the ball joints, fitted new CV's, new sway bar links,re-greased the nolathane sway bar bushes, upper and lower control arm bushes, new diff bushes (all 4), new brake pads, discs, re-greased the pins, replaced a tired wheel stud, and did a check of all the other components like the tie rods, wheel bearings and everything else - everything is exactly as it should be.

This was all part of getting the old girl back to a standard i am happy with, not chasing fixing the noise as i've come to live with it after a few months but if anyone has any idea's it would be great to hear them .. it'd be nice to turn a corner / dip and not hear a sound!

[erad]

Years ago, I had to have a front suspension ball joint replaced in my NL Pajero. Not long after, we set off on a trip round the block, and somewhere in the Kimberlies, we went through some water. It was fairly clean, still water, but it was wet... By the time we got to Carnarvon, the creaking and groaning as we went over speed bumps was embarrassing, to say the least. I bought a grease gun (naturally i didn't bring mine with me) and tried to force some grease into everything I could see, but the new ball joint didn't have a grease nipple nor did it have provision to fit one. I carefully prised the rubber boot off the joint and forced a wee amount of grease into the joint. Noise reduced to about 10% of what it was, but it came back by the time we got home. I took the car back to the mechanic who did the job and he replaced the joint. No problems after that. Maybe you have a dry joint as well?

[denmonkey]

I'm also chasing a bump in the steering/front end that becomes evident under braking or acceleration.
I've had it to a steering specialist, who said its only annoying and nothing to be concerned about but they could fix it for $900 but if it was them, they wouldn't bother.
No advice on what it was exactly.

I'm not convinced by his response, so will be continuing my own investigation.
If' I find something, I'll let you know.

[Ybpajero]

question related

Hi everyone,
Having the same cracking noise from the front right cv.
openet the inner boot to replace the boot and the grease and found a warn cage (where the balls sit in).
The wear was minimal but i have a feeling that the wear is what is causing the noise.
Any thoughts or opinions?

Thanks a lot

[marcthelegend]

The cracking noise for me is not the CV's as i have just replaced them, its also not the swaybar bushes as i just replaced them also, fortunately these are all things that needed replacing anyway but i'm starting to run out of idea's now!

I think as long as the bearings are not falling out of the cage it should be fine, though they are held in by the cup anyway so they wont fall out, but a bit of play there will be evident when driving in 4H I would imagine.

[Aspey]

I had a noise from the front left when turning at full lock. It turned out the tyre was rubbing against the plastic inner guard (just in front of the tyre) but only when turning at full lock.

[spot01]

I have noticed a “cracking” sound coming from the front suspension (area) when cornering whilst turning particularly hard left whilst going through a small dip! For example turning into the driveway. I have a 3.2 Diesel NP auto with about 270000km on the clock. I have old man emu suspension front & back (shocks & coils) other than that still standard. Have not had any work done to the suspension other than the old man emu.
Have had the upper & lower control arm ball joints changed but noise is still there. The front stabiliser bushings etc are all good. Took it back to ARB to check out if it was the shocks etc, they said is all good but suspect the control arm bushes, would have thought the noise would be there all the time if that was the case.

Anyone out there had a similar problem / noise at some point, any feed back would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

I haven't experienced this issue, but a few thoughts of what I'd try (simple things first):

Does it make the noise even after driving on a very wet road for a while, or only when dry? If unsure, get the hose & thoroughly drench all the suspension, etc, in that corner of the car - get the spring seats, bushes, etc. saturated, then see if it still makes the noise. You could go further & use WD40 or perhaps something else to squirt into the spring seats, bushes, etc. (make sure whatever you use won't affect the rubber & don't use too much or get it near the brakes).

Does it make the same noise every time, regardless of whether the car hasn't been driven, ie, cold or after a long run when properly hot?

Have you tried putting a different wheel on that corner? (don't laugh)

[marcthelegend]

HI All,

Just a bit of an update on this, I recently had a wheel alignment done as my front inners were wearing faster than the rest of the tyres, total toe-in was around 5mm, put back within spec and since then its been silent, wondering if the opposing toe was causing causing the steering rack to perhaps shift? it was definitely felt in the middle of the car at the front.

Anyway, $65 from bob-jane and its all fixed!

[marcthelegend]

Another update on this, after a little while the cracking suspension sound returned again, this time I replaced the upper and lower wishbone bushes with superpro polyeurathane, I also replaced the tie-rods and lower ball joints while i was there, though they were both in excellent condition.

Much to my surprise my "Febest" upper arm bushes had split at the point where the inner metal crush tube meets the rubber, both sides and it was only the rearmost bush, must be some pressure put on these with accelaration / braking.

Anyway, Poly bushes + HD Springs makes for a somewhat uncomfortable ride, the springs have always been quite harsh over bumps in the road but now its taken that to a whole new level, I lowered my tyres down to 36PSI which helped somewhat but am now looking into getting MD springs for the front for some added comfort.

Positive on that though is the cracking sound is completely gone and the entire front end feels "tight" when cornering and going over rough terrain.