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lets play diagnose that noise


White93z34

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alright, i'm getting VERY sick and tired of this noise that i've been chseing for months now. to recap my car has:

 

NEW struts, front and back.

NEW balljoints - aprox one year ago

NEW tie rods and tie rod ends

 

this cracking/poping/snaping noise is starting to get worse and more commonplace, also i can occasionally feel it in the floor.

when i let the car sit say overnight and start driving the noise is not there, after some use, it will come back and on almost any turn it will make the horrid noise, and i don't have to turn the wheel far for it to do it. it does it at standstill, slow speeds and on the move.

 

i have also inspected my strut bearings, i poped the tie rod end off both sides and both turned freely and did not bind at all.

 

this brings me to a few possable culprets: the steering rack, and (most likely not IMO) the cradle bushings/retainers/bolts.

 

at this point i'm just looking for anyones input on this one.

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I know my strut tower bearing is bad and it mkaes a horrible noise. Its not really that bad going in a straight line with NO bumps. Once you go around a corner or over a bump, you can hear the noise, which is rather loud!

 

Mines bad enough where I can push down on the car on the drivers side front wheel and itll make the noise just pushing the car up and down....

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i had the exact same problem with my car the poping noise and banging that u can actually feel on the floor, just like everything u said buit mine didnt make noise at a standstill? a few places told em i needed engine cradle mount did that..and its still the same....so then i had the cradle bushings replaces and that solved the problem for me. i was told they often go bad on w-bodys by some guy..so i dunno it worked for me

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I mean I just had a new cradle ( subframe ) put in with all new bushings, and I can still feel it in the floor of the car, and they tracked it down and said it was strut tower bearing. but I guess its the bearing, the plate, everything there is messed up. Its bad enough where you can jack up the drivers side, let it down slow, and you and see it and hear it! Try doing that and see what happens, if its anything like what mine is, well.....

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I'm saying either cradle mounts or something in the strut tower.

 

If I where you rebuild the strut towers. For me, replacing the cradle mounts are basic maintnence on these cars.

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edventually i'll replace the cradle bushings/retainers/bolts. however i talked to the mechanic that does alot of work on our aerostars at work, and had him listen to it, he sugested it was the bolts that hold the rack to the cradle, and i got under the car today and tightened them down again, and the noise seems to be gone for now. time will tell.

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alright, now that its been a few days, i can gladly say that the noise is gone. even if i have myself to blame for the noise to happen in the first place. i must not have tightened the rack down as tightly as i should have when i put the new cradle in, even if all it needed was another 3/4 of a turn on one of the 2 bolts.

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i still haven't changed my cradle bolts/bushings yet. they are decent enough even if they have more miles then my car on them. i'm sick and tired of spending money on suspension parts right now, so i'm taking a brake from that for the time being. its got other things that are more important right now.

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I would think that the strut bearings would be more likely to stick when the weight of the car is ON them. Have someone turn the steering wheel while you eyeball the spring with the car on the ground. You'll see the spring move suddenly.

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you were refering to the bolts that hold the cradle to the car, AKA cradle bolts

 

the bolts i had to tighten were the steering rack to the cradle bolts.

 

and yes, my subframe bolts are tight.

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