Sway Bar Knock
 

I upgraded my stock '84 front and rear sways, 20/18, to the later Carrera ones, 22/21. Since then I am hearing the knock when they load and sometimes unload. Is this common on this set-up or is something wrong?

John

Sound like a broken sway bar mount perhaps.

or missing bushings?

Is this in the front as well, or just the rear? Can you make the noise by lifting up on the front bumper or bouncing the car?

Jeff

Bushings are all in place and new.

Knock seems to be coming from the front.

Can't make sound by bouncing the car.

Front end has new tie rods, rack, t-bars, struts, bushings.

John

Does the knock come when putting a cornering load on the car? If so, it sounds like the bar is sliding side to side and hitting the frame perhaps. This is common with through the body style, but your are still the conventional ones I presume. Another source is the t-bar hitting the aluminum cross member right under the adjusting cap. The larger torsion bars make the clearance tight. I fixed this by enlarging the hole with a dremel.

The a-arms may be out of alignment and binding slightly. Try losening off the front bolts and losen the large bolt at the rear a little. Then tighten down all the bolts a little at a time and see of this helps. also make sure the a-arm bushings are tight in the cups and that the a-arm is alway to the rear against the cup that fits into the crossmember.I had a similar problem and this fixed it.

Jeff

The knock comes under load, but not a very heavy load. I first noticed it last weekend and Mid Ohio, but now I hear it whne running through the neighborhood. I'll try the loosen and retighten thing and see if it works. I'll also check to see if it's hitting anything. I've also been fighting a slight pull to the left and this may be part of the problem.

John

And yes they are traditional underbody sways.

Definitely pinned the knock down to the drivers rear. I removed the sway bar to eliminate or isolate the mounts and drop links and the knock is still there. I check the CV bolts and they are all tightened to spec. The CV's were recently repacked and in good shape. Ideas?

CV's seem to have normal side to side movement with no abnormally large amount of play.
Shocks seems solid.
Wheel bearings have no play.

If I turn fairly hard left or right and get the knock or thud on the drivers rear. If I do the same while accelerating it's a little less.

John

I have the same drivers side rear knock. Mine is most frequent when backing up and turning after car has been parked. I can also get it to do this under hard, quick cornering. Let me know what you find out Ncoast. I am to busy right now to do much trouble shooting, or driving my car. :-(.

Suspension is stock
Car is lowered
Swaybar mounts reinforced

Thanks,
Joe

John did you also check the rear swaybar mounts. THese break very easily if you upgrade swaybars without larger Torsion bars. Sometimes the breaks are difficult to see. If so, just get the upgraded mounts, grind the old ones off and have the new ones welded on.

I also have a knock that appeared after I replaced my bushings front and rear. It seems to come from the drivers front when the weight shifts due to the application of the brakes. I wonder if it could be coming from the rear? I will definitely be following this thread.