V70 Suspension: Defective Shock?

[m0auy]

Hello people,

Here goes:

V70 T5 MY2001 57K one previous (bad) owner...

I am still trying to chase out a suspension knock on the front nearside. So far, car has had:

New lower balljoint
New lower control arms
New front drop links
New strut inner and outer top bushes/bearings
Full four-wheel alignment (spot-on)
New engine top mount
New lower gearbox mount

All the suspension work has been done on both sides (I am a firm believer in equal-and-opposite wear).

At low speeds, on uneven road I am getting a knock as described above. The only thing as far as I can see the front suspension hasn't had, is new shocks.

Has anyone had experience of duff shocks on the front? Does anyone know what else could be causing the knock? If the shock is duff, can anyone suggest a suitable alternative to the standard setup that would complement the T5.

Thanks in anticipation.

Laurence

[SteveTDCi]

I had a mondeo that would cluck, not everytime but that turned out to be a rear shock, I could get hold of the wheel and pull really hard and you could feel a small amount of movement, it is possible. Have you checked the tightness of all the bolts and that the spring is sitting in its cup ?

[Wirralguy]

Hi.

That's a lot of work to not resolve the problem. Are you sure it's not something else masquerading as suspension knock - the 2 obvious ones are the exhaust hanger has broken (exhaust knocks on underbody) or my mates undertray had a sheared bolt so it flapped a bit over some bumps.

I'm not saying it isn't suspension but perhaps a bit of lateral thinking might help your pocket at this stage :-)

Dave

[m0auy]

Thanks for that - I had not considered something like that.

My mechanic (who now knows the car inside out!) is going to order a pair of shocks and fit them for me. That way I know the car has had a full front suspension rebuild - this will give me a good benchmark to work from.

Whilst it's up on the ramps I'll get him to check the exhaust hangers and security of all components - although he'll have done this already as he is S*it hot.

Since buying the car it's only cost me £1500 in parts!

It may have cost a lot, but when I put my foot down, and listen to the engine note, I smile and ENJOY!

I've still got a clean license at the moment too!!!!

L

[V70ShellshocK]

I have had similar problems with my 2001 V70 2.4 FWD Estate. My car had been to the dealer for warranty work so many times times, they knew me by sight. The entire front end has been replaced, one or two parts at a time over the past 3 years. It seems to have constant problems. By the time I have that persistant knock tracked down and fixed, it seems another component will fail soon. I'm already into my second round of replacing parts that have been replaced before.

The knocking noise seems to be caused by the Strut assembly or the Control Arm/Ball Joint assembly and the related bushings. The Sway bar links are another weak point that has been replaced three times, but they cause a rattle rather than a sharp loud clunk.

Now that the car is out of warranty, I would like to replace the suspension with as much aftermarket parts and poly bushings as possible. Hopefully, your problem is the strut assembly and will be fixed with that. Let us know how the repair went.

[neek]

I had a knocking noise on rough roads, replaced the bushes, thought it was the drop link, turned out to be the shock. had it replaced and all is fine. (S60 T5)