Suspension thump/knock

[OpulentPete]

Afternoon all - First post here so be gentle!
A bit of history before I start - I got this 54-plate 182 FF in July as I needed a runabout, and I don't do "Normal" cars.
It was cheap, Very, so I hold no grudges!!! This is because it had a few "Issues", the main one being a constant battery drain (sorted with a new alternator, what a complete dog of a job that was..)

Since that I have used it daily and of course a few things have gone wrong, the right-hand shock started to leak so I swapped the fronts for a new set of adjustable K-Tec units (Turns out the old ones were the same) I also renewed the lower ball joints and track-rod-ends at the same time, as I had a knock from the front right. This actually turned out to be coming from the leaking shock, but hey its all new and fresh.

A few weeks ago now I started to hear a knock from the right again under braking and acceleration, sounds like someone hitting the inner wheel-arch with a plastic hammer, ish. I had the wheel off this weekend and checked everything, I could see nothing wrong, had a good poke about with a crow-bar to check for movement etc.
I did suspect the wishbone bushed, but they looked/felt solid.
I dropped the shock down and looked at the top-mount, looked fine.
Any ideas?

Weirdly after having the car up in the air this morning I started to hear what I think is a wheel bearing... grr.

I like the car though!!, dangerously over-powered (and I've had some fairly serious cars)

 

[Coops Mk1]

flol, overpowered? if its standard engine wise I think you are perhaps the only person ever to hold that view!

as for the knock, sounds like you have checked most of the obvious ones, its could perhaps be the CV joint however, that would be my next port of call. Oh and check obvious such as brake pads, sliders moving freely etc

and welcome!

 

[OpulentPete]

Hehe! - I think its more how the power hits and getting used to it - like half way through a corner you hit 5k and it causes serious under-steer in the wet. I'm more of a Rear-wheel-drive fan.

Anyway - I had another poke about last night after work and found the source of the wheel-bearing noise, i'd put the wheel back on but forgot to actually tighten the bolts... oops!

I'll try to explain the issue a little better it's specifically under braking and acceleration, not on cornering, so this suggests that it's not the brake caliper (which is solid anyway), It seems to be caused by front-back or rotational force on the hub/suspension assembly, not side-ways force (cornering).
I can actually feel a bit of a bump when I hear the knock as the suspension takes up the play.
I'm going to get a pair of bushes as I know that they can look ok but be far from it - particularly as things act differently on full droop (when jacked up)

 

[JamesBryan]

Sounds like the gearbox dogbone mount to me.

 

[OpulentPete]

Sounds like the gearbox dogbone mount to me.

Thanks for the reply.
I'm fairly sure I can feel suspension movement, although I suppose it could be engine movement making me think that...
As I don't know my way around under this car very well yet, where is that located?

 

[JamesBryan]

Thanks for the reply.
I'm fairly sure I can feel suspension movement, although I suppose it could be engine movement making me think that...
As I don't know my way around under this car very well yet, where is that located?

Under the car, you'll see a twisted gearbox support.

The purple powerflex bushes are a common mod to fix the movement in the worn rubber.

 

[OpulentPete]

Ah that! thanks, I'll have a look...
TBH it's likely to be a combination of worn parts as the car has just hit 100k and has probably been abused most of its life. (And shall continue to be )

 

[RIC172]

Mine knocked too albeit only under hard acceleration in first or second. I changed the bushes in my dogbone mount to polyurethane ones as above and it has solved my issue and made the car a lot better to drive

 

[OpulentPete]

Thanks all - Right I've had a further poke about, and the gearbox mount is fine, this is suspension movement related, not drive.
(That it forward/backward movement, not up/down)
I am going to get the wishbone bushes replaced asap and see if that helps, There's not much else that isn't new!!