does anybody else have a lot of cling clang noise comming from the a-arms of the car or is it just mine ? not really sure where the hell its comming from. i thought it was the shocks at first, but that wasnt it. it is comming from both sides of the car. i now think it is comming from the tie rods, i can see where they are hitting on the mounting brackets on the power steering unit when i twist them by hand it doesnt seem there is enough room on the mount for heims not to hit the sides of the mounts ? everything feels nice and tight when i jack the car up and try to move the arms and stuff ? anybody else having this problem ?
thanks for any help you can give me!!!!!!!!!
greg
riverside, ca

Post up some close up pic's of your front end setup. Maybe we can tell from looking at your setup.

-Josh

heims squeak, if your hearing a clang, it's prob. the shocks when your wheels are hitting full extension through the choppy stuff or while the front end is lifting under power...

Heims squeek?!?!?! My buggy has zero noises. No squeeks, rattles, no nothing. Quiet like a BMW. I thought only bushings would squeek?!?!?!

I was saying if the noise was from the heims, it would be a squeek, so the clank was ruling out the heims IMO...


And yes, heims do squeak from time to time, especially the new stuff.....

If you can't find anything visibly loose check the sperical bearngs in the shock eyes. That is an area often overlooked .

I was buying a Amplified from a buddy and when I test drove it I could'nt stand driving it for 2 minutes. Everything on that buggy made horrible noise. I've been in 50 year old semi trucks on the 710fwy that made less noise. Needless to say I ended up buying a new buggy. When my buggy becomes noisy I will sell it and buy a new one. Of course I would tell the buyer it's noisy and give a discount.........

I will be right next door to you guy's in the morning doing a shop move......

Do you have limit straps? Clank from both sides is most likely the shocks fully extending or the shocks hitting the arms against the straps. I hear similar noises when hitting big whoops.

This is off-topic... but...

If you buggy makes too much noise... you aren't on the gas enough...

I only hear my trailing arm bushings when im slowly pulling through camps... turn up the motor volume

Second, my car is so loud with the straight cut gears we are going to have to wear ear plugs because of the high pitched whine .

Are you hearing the bypass valves clicking in your bypass shocks?

When do you hear this noise?

I know this sounds stupid but, could be your front brake pads moving around. Quick check, lightly push on the brake pedal while driving and see if the noise goes away. Just my two cents.

Lug nuts, loose hardware on the suspension, shocks, tie rods....Id go throught the entire front end with a fine tooth comb. Dont want something coming off at full speed.

My front end was all noisy.
I went around and snugged up all the a-arm bolts and the noise vanished.

Do you have King shocks? If so, swap them out for Fox and all your problems will go away.

HAHA you beat me to it. Kings are noisy.

yes, i do have king shocks. i took the tires and shocks off and it looks like it might be comming from the shocks ? springs moving side to side hitting the shock. i can move them with my hand to make the same kind of noise. i also checked out the brake pad noise that also made the same noise i am hearing ,but while i was driving with presure on the brakes it still made the same noise. its a fast study klang klang noise and it dont have to be in big chop or going fast either

Maybe add a little preload to the springs. If they are too loose at full droop they could rattle around. That or its the bypasses clicking.

Same with mine. You must have a fortin tranny also Get some headsets with an ipod and you will love it. No more buggy noise! My car has always made noise to, but its from the bypass shocks clacking around. I know most cars with bypass shocks do this.

I have foxes and they are still noisey, but not nearly as bad as kings. The kings make a lot of noise!

King bypasses do make a clicking sound but if you thing it's the springs here is a possible cure. Regular Kings come with dark blue spring dividers that have a lot of slop over the shock body. If you buy the "billet plastic" spring dividers (a lighter blue color) from King they fit much better and will keep the springs straighter. I don't understand why they don't put the better dividers on every shock, but they don't.

Here are all the things that have clanked in the front end of my car in the last ten years:

1. not enough preload on springs because I really need to have lighter springs up front. They are just about loose enough to let the bottom plate slip out. They do rattle.

2. shocks had no gas in them

3. brake pads rattle.

4. Uniballs and heims worn out. With the suspension bolted together you may not be able to feel any play, but if the lining of a heim is gone or they are worn, a couple of mm of play can result in quite a clanking as you're traveling through rough stuff...even at low speed...(I pulled a 9 year old uniball that was about to fall out of the outer cage. When the front was bolted together there zero play because of the tension created by the shock and the weight of the parts hanging when we jacked it off the ground.)

5. If you do not have limit straps the shock might make a lot of noise when it hits the stops

6. loose lug nuts

7. a worn rack and pinion can make a lot of noise

8. The big gluteous maximus bolt that holds the spindle to the bottom a-arm can loosen up allowing a lot of things to make noise when you're out driving hard.

9. When a good friend pulls the floor board and dumps in 6 or 7 old cv balls, there could be all kinds of noise. (haven't done this or had it done to me, but it would be funny)

10. If you have a hood there could be some loose things underneath that bounce around

11. Wheel bearings make noise when they get really bad

12. Tell the front passenger to use the foot rest or sit on his or her feet so they aren't bouncing up and down.

13. a crescent wrench has slid down to the bottom of a tool bag strapped to the lower front base of the front passenger seat and it hits the aluminum floor everytime you hit a bump.

14. ????

Guilty as charged!

GB, Have your ridden in similar cars? May be completly normal.

no I have not been in any other cars like this one !!! i am finding out that the noise i am hearing is the normal sounds that most long travel a-arm cars make. a friend of mine brought over a guy that had his own shop where he built sand cars and i took him for a ride (i live where i can drive from my garage to some pretty good terrian) and he said that everything sounded normal to him, so I am just going to go out and drive the piss out of it this New Year's Eve at Glamis, Thanks everyone for all the help I really appreciate it.


Greg