Knock

Howdy guys,

Please dont move this to suspension, nobody looks there.

So i rebuilt the front end of my 65 Ranchero 200 and it knocks whenever i go over a speed bump. I did have an issue where Les Schwab didnt tighten the upper contol arms to shock tower bolts very tight and they ended up coming loose. This was when i had them do the alignment and camber adjustment. I tightened them to 120 ft-lbs. I still have the knock but its not as bad. I definitely feel it in my left foot when i have the clutch pedal in going over a bump.

I just had it taken back to les schwab to have everything checked out again after i almost flipped out at them, and nothing is wrong due to the loose nuts for the upper control arms. And everything else is tight, i was down with the guy in the pit.

I replaced the ball joints, coil saddles, coil rubber, center link bush, new tie rods, strut rod bush, sway bar bush, upper control arm kit, shocks, the whole enchilada. I did not buy new A arms since they looked fine.

Any ideas what this could be?

Thanks,
Ryan

Hi, I would take a close look at the strut arms, maybe use a pry bar to see if one will hit the chassis. Next is sway bar links, but you feel they are good. You can always unbolt the sway bar, fasten it out of the way and drive it. How about the left shock? Why not unbolt the top and check it out? Good luck

On my Mustang the sway bar was rubbing against the frame. But, honestly it could be a lot of things. Like B RON CO suggests. I would eliminate one item at a time and look for rub marks.

Are all you components stock? Did you do any mods?

Check the motormounts, especially if you feel it in the clutch pedal.
Sway bar end links, also check the swaybar for shiny spots indicating rubbing/knocking.
Keep us updated.
DannyG

2X the above
"Check the motormounts..." (transmish as well)


note the other conditions during occurrence (not just going over bumps) excelleration, cornering, breaking.
Get out (in prk or neutral w/p.brake on or chocks) & push down slowly/rapidly @ each corner, wiggle forward'n back (listen, watch).
Too bad U can't mount yer friend onda hood & drive around! Sometimes the different perspective can give some clues to cause/location...

B RON CO":1k0pqaiz said:

Hi, I would take a close look at the strut arms, maybe use a pry bar to see if one will hit the chassis. Next is sway bar links, but you feel they are good. You can always unbolt the sway bar, fasten it out of the way and drive it. How about the left shock? Why not unbolt the top and check it out? Good luck

Click to expand...

Thats a good place to start, i havent even thought of the strut rods hitting the frame.
What would unbolting the shock do?

65coupei6":qsob89x0 said:

On my Mustang the sway bar was rubbing against the frame. But, honestly it could be a lot of things. Like B RON CO suggests. I would eliminate one item at a time and look for rub marks.

Are all you components stock? Did you do any mods?

Click to expand...

Ok i will. All the components are stock, no mods. It wasnt doing this before i rebuilt the front end

DannyG":1rqsmdjt said:

Check the motormounts, especially if you feel it in the clutch pedal.
Sway bar end links, also check the swaybar for shiny spots indicating rubbing/knocking.
Keep us updated.
DannyG

Click to expand...

How would the motor mounts do this? Or the tranny mounts?

chad":18tkp6ff said:

2X the above
"Check the motormounts..." (transmish as well)


note the other conditions during occurrence (not just going over bumps) excelleration, cornering, breaking.
Get out (in prk or neutral w/p.brake on or chocks) & push down slowly/rapidly @ each corner, wiggle forward'n back (listen, watch).
Too bad U can't mount yer friend onda hood & drive around! Sometimes the different perspective can give some clues to cause/location...

Click to expand...

Its just going over speed bumps, not potholes or anything else.
I can tie my buddy down like a deer on the front, that might work. Haha.

What i dont get is that its all stock stuff, it wasnt doing this before. It was literally take off anf put on.

"...It was literally take off anf put on..."
that's another good 1, ie:

what wuz the last thing done B4 the noise started (C turbo's quote in my sig)?

Hi, if you unbolt the shock at the top where it is easy to do, you could make sure the rest is nice and tight, and the shock has nice resistance going up and down. Good luck

Hi,
One clue you mentioned was that you felt it in the clutch pedal. That linage goes from the side of the engine block to the chassis. If you've got a broken drivers side motor mount, the engine could be hopping when you give it gas, makes "thunking" sounds and also pulls the clutch linage z-bar for a ride .
DannyG

chad":xsecd98x said:

"...It was literally take off anf put on..."
that's another good 1, ie:

what wuz the last thing done B4 the noise started (C turbo's quote in my sig)?

Click to expand...

The alignment was the last thing. I didnt go over any speed bumps on my way to les schwab so it mightve done that then.

DannyG":365lgio8 said:

Hi,
One clue you mentioned was that you felt it in the clutch pedal. That linage goes from the side of the engine block to the chassis. If you've got a broken drivers side motor mount, the engine could be hopping when you give it gas, makes "thunking" sounds and also pulls the clutch linage z-bar for a ride .
DannyG

Click to expand...

I think the reason i feel it in the clutch pedal is because its touching the floor which really gets the knock feeling. The college i go to has a bunch of speed bumps so ill make sure its in neutral when i go over the bumps to make sure its the floor getting the force, not the pedal

B RON CO":3u64haed said:

Hi, if you unbolt the shock at the top where it is easy to do, you could make sure the rest is nice and tight, and the shock has nice resistance going up and down. Good luck

Click to expand...

The shock has plenty of resistance. I was pushing on the front of the car real hard today and it was stiff as a board, but no knock. It seems like its a speed bump thing. Or im not pushing hard enough to get the car low enough

Check the upper control arm bushings for the shaft. I ran into a similar issue with our Mustang after I rebuilt the front suspension. It ended up that I had one of the shaft end caps too tight and it would make a noise during suspension travel.