Front Suspension Noise

[Rising]

Okay so basically since I've had the car there has been kind of a crazy noise up in the front whenever I hit a bump. It sounds like it is coming from the front passenger side of the car and has a rattling noise after the initial thunk. I'm chasing down all the random noises i've just grown accustomed to and this is definitely one I need to address. The cars ride is AWFUL right now anyway, so new struts are a must sometime in the near future. But I was just wondering if there were any common causes of front End noises on mk1s?

Thanks!

[bbob203]

the anti rattle clip on your brake pads could be missing to check it lightly press on your brakes wile driving and see if the rattling goes away. also kicking your wheels with your brakes depressed and not depressed.

[wolf_walker]

Rebuild it all.  At one time. Make sure it's safe, then collect parts till you are ready and be done with it. There are a few tricks and finding quality parts is a bother, but it can be done. It'll make you smile afterwards.

That said, yes the pad springs, or the caliper bushings, rusted dust shield, loose upper strut mount, really worn out strut. Lots to rattle. Hit it all with a rubber mallet to help isolate.

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[TylerDurden]

Agree with both above posts, particularly doing it all at one shot.

[Rising]

Good call on the mallet. I'll start beating it into submission haha.

I have a feeling it might be the strut. Its in pretty bad shape and its a pretty loud thunkity thunk thunk type rattle. Doesn't sound anything like a heat shield or brake parts .. didn't know if maybe there were some bushings that went bad. EVENTUALLY I will replace all the suspension bushings along with a coil over kit... but for now...

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[Rising]

Okay so I can't tell if these problems are related or not but on my mk1 rabbit I've recently started getting a wobble in the steering but only when turning even just slightly left. It seems to come from the front right and makes a big wobble over bumps. It does it in gear or out of gear, brakes on or off, and has gotten progressively worse since I've noticed it and makes the rattling wobbling noise described in this thread when it happens.

I pulled the tires off and shook everything and looked for loose things. Found a loose brake Carrier. Tightened that up and unlocked my front right strut while I was there. But the wobble still persists. I checked the tie rods for play and they seemed okay.

What else could possibly cause this?

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[srgtlord]

Tire out of round or the  rim is slightly bent?

[Rising]

Hmm I guess I could move the rim and see if that fixes it... But I feel like I'd have noticed the rim bend suddenly and not gradually degrading. I think I hear a squeeking noise now... I'm beginning to suspect wheel bearings.. could that cause the shimmying?

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[air-cooled or diesel]

im also one for completely rebuilding both front ends.
from the inner a-arm rubber (make sure rear one is installed correctly, its in book),(check or replace) also axles inner cv joints, outer cv joints and axle nut(are they torqued?). brake pads, calipers, and discs are not hard to find at decent prices. axles too, complete. wheel bearings. there are a couple of other things to get to complete job.
rebuilding rear is not too difficult and makes sense, esp since you'll want to do the rear shocks, rear outer wheel bearings need a fair amount of attention. rear brake kit, wheel bearing kit (you need the tools to set races in drums). maybe rear drums too.
some of these parts you can find at rock auto, or google vw diesel parts online(a couple of web sites to stay away from on online list). napa has a lot of these parts too.
a manual is handy here, as it always is(bentely).
i'd even go so far as wondering of your master cyl,
you'll want new tires after all this and an alignment.

[burn_your_money]

I'd look at the upper strut mount and also the ball joint.

[Rising]

Yeah I'm absolutely planning on rebuilding the whole thing when I get the chance. I guess I'm just concerned because of don't have the money for a full suspension overhaul right now (or probably for awhile since my wifes car just spun a rod bearing..) so I wanted to at least have an idea what was worn to make sure it isn't something that could catastrophically fail and cause injury to myself or others. If I suddenly lose the ability to steer that could be a problem. Lol.

That being said I'm starting to believe bushings/other rubber could be worn to the point that it has too much play. Which would also explain the bump steering I'm experiencing. And why the car seems to wobble the most between 40-60.

BYM on my strut mounts there seemed to be a a small amount of up and down play. I could move the nut on top up off of the rubber a sixteenth of an inch or so by grabbing the bottom of the disc and wiggling up and down. Is that abnormal?



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[air-cooled or diesel]

I think asap you should take a torque wrench to your entire front end, front brakes too. take an impact (if you have one) to front axle nuts (outer) and inner axle bolts (special 8 or 12 point tool). your uppers should be tight I forget what the mk1 cap bearing/top of shock set up look like. I have a mk2 and have a metal cap bearing w/a flange, it requires a special tool that goes on nut(a socket like tool that has a big center hole and can accept a wrench), and a 7mm allen goes down center of shock, then you can use a 7/8th wrench or something like that size and use both to tighten shock upper mount. this is for a mk2 though I haven't seen a mk1 myself for a few years though.

[burn_your_money]

I think they way to check strut mounts is to grab the wheel and pull and push on it like you were going to check the front bearings. If the whole strut moves then it's the strut mounts. I'm not sure if there is more to check with the bearings or not. I wouldn't be worried about a small amount of up and down play on the strut mounts. You could see if the 2 nuts that hold the strut mount to the body are loose at all though.

Balljoints you check by jacking the car up and then putting a pry bar between the bottom of the strut and the control arm. Pry up and if there is any movement at all in the balljoint it is bad and should be replaced ASAP.

Youtube has some good videos showing how to check these things.

[smutts]

My bet is the slotted M14 nut on the strut is loose.

[Rising]

Okay I'll check the strut mounts and ball joints...

Which bolt are you referring to? The top of the two bolts that hold the strut to the control arm?

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