Banging noise in front end

[Gjac]

I have a 1995 P30 chassis and when going over bumps or pot holes I get a banging noise in the left side about where the tire is. I found a loose nut on the upper shock and tightened that. Thought for sure that would fix it it did not. The noise seemed to go away when I applied the brakes and hit the pot holes so I thought maybe it was in the brake calipers. I then removed the left front tire and noticed a slight play in wheel bearing repacked and tighten it. Also noticed a lot of movement in the brake caliper, so I removed the lower slide and noticed the spring clip which is suppose to have a slight arch it it was almost flat so I reshaped the spring and inserted it back in the caliper and it became tight again. Took it for a test ride and that noise is still there. My front end was rebuilt 2 years ago all new upper and lower ball joints and lower arms. Anyone have any other ideas to check? How would one check for engine mounts?

[Gjac]

Good thought John, but I did find the problem it was loose brake pads that were making the clunking noise. Compressing the ears on the fixed pad and bending the anti rattle spring on the piston side fixed the problem.

[John_Joey]

Gjac wrote:
I borrowed a 12 ton jack and will jack it up by the lwr A arm to compress the coil spring when the rain stops and check the ball joints. I realized that just using the MH jacks was not really a good way to check the front end parts because of the tension on that coil spring.

Here's a thought since the best we can do is brainstorm. If you're going thru all this trouble take it to the next level. Get a long board and a fulcrum. Place the board under the tire and the fulcrum close to the tire. On the far end push up and down on the board. Try to mimic a bad road. With a little bit of luck you'll hear a clunck. Then you can ask for help while you listen closer to figure out exactly where the clunk is.

I'm assuming you got levelers and now the 12 ton jack. Between them both you should be able to lift just about everything that would clunk. BTW, be careful. Nothing worst then being under something that heavy when it falls.

[Gjac]

jyrostng wrote:
Been there done that with rattles and bumps, it sure is a LOT nicer driving not having to worry about,"what's that noise".

. Especially when we had an accident 2 years ago when the banging noise turned into a broken ball joint because it was the wrong one. See Mikes post above. I stopped at a front end shop in Wy. because I could not figure it out. He charged me $ 375 and told me it was just the coil spring which he reseated and told me the rest of the front end parts were good. 1000 miles later the ball joint broke when I was rounding a curve to get on the hwy. I am just glad it did not fail coming out of the mountains of Colorado. So that is why I am sensitive to noises and am wary of front end shops.

[jyrostng]

Been there done that with rattles and bumps, it sure is a LOT nicer driving not having to worry about,"what's that noise".

[Greyghost]

Perseverance paid off. Great Job

[Gjac]

bigred1cav wrote:
Let your wife out of dog house.

Actually I have been driving this thing with out the dog house on to try to hear where this banging is coming from. After a week of checking, tightening a loose shock mount, removing the shock, fixing a loose caliper, checking the front end parts I finally found the problem. The brake shoes were loose in the caliper mounting slots. The fixed pad has ears that fit on the caliper which I had to bend together in a vise. The movable pad had a spring clip that I had to bend about an 1/8 in. Took it for a test ride and no more banging, I want to thank everyone for all their ideas.

[bigred1cav]

Let your wife out of dog house.

[Gjac]

mike brez wrote:
Hey Gary, it's a long shot but I found these notes in my files from when I had my p30 my parts guy was pretty good and I have noted two different lower ball joints for the p chassis. Moog K6122 and K6175 the first has a narrower shaft the second is the correct one. I know your front end was pretty much rebuilt. Wonder if they used the narrower shaft one. When hitting a bump would possibly make noise and while braking puts pressure on it and goes away? IDK just thinking out loud. If you happen to have a receipt with parts and numbers used. Hope you can figure out your problem.

I know what you are saying Mike, I had that wrong lower ball joint installed on the drivers side and it failed on me two years ago in Ohio. I don't want to go into along story but the shop out there put the wrong one in also. Superior Spring found the bad ball joint and replaced it. When they replaced the lwr A arms the ball joint came with the arm. I borrowed a 12 ton jack and will jack it up by the lwr A arm to compress the coil spring when the rain stops and check the ball joints. I realized that just using the MH jacks was not really a good way to check the front end parts because of the tension on that coil spring.

[Gjac]

jyrostng wrote:
Hitting the brake and the sound stops may be a good clue. The caliper mounts on softer pieces so that it can slide as the disk pad wears. see if you can move the caliper at all, it may be the caliper rattling over bumps, those parts are replaceable separate from the caliper.

In my OP I stated that the caliper was loose and I reformed the lower spring clip to remove the slop and it tightened the caliper, I thought for sure this would fix the problem but it didn't. I am now wondering if some how the brake pads are loose. I don't know what else would make the clunking noise go away when the brakes are applied.

[jyrostng]

Hitting the brake and the sound stops may be a good clue. The caliper mounts on softer pieces so that it can slide as the disk pad wears. see if you can move the caliper at all, it may be the caliper rattling over bumps, those parts are replaceable separate from the caliper.

[mike_brez]

Hey Gary, it's a long shot but I found these notes in my files from when I had my p30 my parts guy was pretty good and I have noted two different lower ball joints for the p chassis. Moog K6122 and K6175 the first has a narrower shaft the second is the correct one. I know your front end was pretty much rebuilt. Wonder if they used the narrower shaft one. When hitting a bump would possibly make noise and while braking puts pressure on it and goes away? IDK just thinking out loud. If you happen to have a receipt with parts and numbers used. Hope you can figure out your problem.

[Gjac]

Trackrig wrote:
I'd take the shock off and go for another test drive.

I know you said it sounds like right where the wheel is, but do you have a sway bar that can be loose or broken on the left side, or the sway bar's rubber on the left side has worn out?

Bill

I removed the shock and went for another test ride but still have that clunking noise or rattle when going over a pot hole or a series of pot holes. The shock bushings looked good and they took about 75 secs to fully extend after compressing. The sound goes away when brakes are applied. The sound is on the passenger side under the seat.

[Gjac]

MountainAir05 wrote:
Did you check the bell crank for worn bearing. Nothing loose when you had that side jack up an inch off the ground.

Bell crank on left is a Henderson replacement no movement on rt side. Everything looks tight. Put long steel bar under tire and lifted. Also hit tire with a sledge hammer to see if there was any noise or movement, nothing that I can see or hear. And yes I know I can see or hear as well as I use to.

[Gjac]

Greyghost wrote:
I had a very similar issue on a 93 P30. The backing plate on the left front brake was loose. The bolts that secure it were missing. I had to pull the wheel to see the problem. If you can't pull the wheel, crawl underneath and hit the plate with a wrench or something. If it's loose you'll know it.

Checked backing plate and it was tight.