Just posted the attached article on a UK bulletin board. It relates to that annoying bloody clunk,clunk,clunk that seems to always come from Cits and Pugs front ends and seems to be tha bane of everybodys life.
I have had people tell me that it is brake pads (non genuine) that you have to replace drop links or control arms and that they don't last etc etc.
Yesterday I got sick of listening to mine rattling away and people making comments about it so I got stuck into it. Found that it can be cured in aabout half an hour at no cost. The car has never been quieter. Will try for some photos today and post to keep this write up company as it is one of those jobs that is very easy to do but difficult to explain to anyone who has never done it before..

Cheers,

Alan
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Well I eventually got shamed into getting rid of the front end clunks in the 16V that had everyone convinced it was in fact a pop corn machine on wheels
When little old ladies keep asking "Wot's wrong with yer car???" you know it's time for action.
Did the usual check list; brake pads - check; OK
Movement in drop links on sway bar - check: OK.
Ohoh!! here we go; big problems - I think to myself.
Check upper & lower, control arms, ball joints, tie rod ends, pipes, cables, cross member; all checked out OK. Put suspension up; down, in the normal and high settings; I jumped the front up & down, kicked wheels, pulled, pushed, swung off top & bottom with handbrake on & off, used jacks to take the weight off and iron bars to put load on and guess what? Not a sound!!!!
Decided that I'd start at the drop links anyway so I removed the RHS one first. Looked OK but was a bit tight I thought, so I removed the dust cover to have a decent look. The grease was black and obviously water contaminated so I cleaned up, smacked the bottom joint from behind with a ball pein hammer a couple of times and it suddenly freed up. Took the dust cover from the top one and did the same thing followed by a tapping around where the ball is retained in the drop arm (which I think Bob Smith has recommended in the past) regreased both before refitting the dust covers and refitted to the car. Noise gone.
I have suspicions that these things wear, grease becomes moisture contaminated, and then bind inside the ball housing thereby causing a cracking sound as they move, which duplicates the sound of loose brake pads we all know and learn to live with on BX's but to a louder degree.
The big problem is that the noise cannot be created with the car stationary as it depends on the wheel moving up and down rather than the car, so movement is a necessary factor.
Best news is that it only takes half hour to do and apart from the fact that you no longer make heads turn when you drive down even a smooth street, there is an instant improvement in ride and handling due to the smoother operation of the drop links to the sway bar.
Alan S

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