Suspension Noises
 

Hi everyone, I have an annoying problem. I have a 1990 Lx 5.0. Sometimes, if I accelerate hard for a quick second, I hear a knock in my suspension. It also happens sometimes when I shift from first to second or second to third - when I put the clutch in. There are two different knocks that I hear: The first is when I am accelerating and the second is when the car is slowing down but in gear still. For instance, if I am in first and gas it, I will hear and sometimes feel something moving. At 3000 rpm, if I take my foot off the gas, the engine slows the car down (of course) but I hear a little different sound, like the first was stress being put on (or off) the suspension and the second was it moving back. I already checked the tranny and motor mounts and shocks. I also changed some of the bushings that looked bad and made sure the k-frame bolts were tight, but I still have the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am at a loss of what to do now.


Thanks in advance,

Josh

Check your rack and pinion bushings and bolts.

rack and pinion? i don't quite get why you think that would do anything when you accelerate or decelerate. Sounds like maybe a U joint problem. Is it coming from the front of the car or back? Could be pinion snubber making noise, could be quad shocks making noise, could be a rear control arm bushing that's messed up.

The noise is definitely coming from the front. I heard that the Lx 5.0s had the same suspension components as the 4 bangers. Could this mean that the U joints may need to be replaced as they were made originally for a 4 cyl.? Is there an easy way to diagnose this? Now that I think about it, I first started hearing the noise when I took a sharp left turn. But now it happens all the time. When I first heard the noise, could that be the rack and pinion bushings and bolts? And if it is, how would that explain the noises during acceleration/decceleration I am hearing now?

Your rack and pinion is connected to the tie rods. The tie rods are connected to the ball joints. The ball joints are connected to the spindles. The spindles are holding the rotors. The rotors are holding the wheels. Any movement in the wheels, and if the rack and pinion is loose, I just have this weird feeling that it may just make a noise. Thats where I get that.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will check both the U-joints and the rack and pinion tomarrow. I will let you guys know what I find out, if anything.

when you accelerate or decelerate both front wheels would move up or down about the same amount, which wouldn't really cause the rack to move. Anyway, the U joints probably aren't it if it's coming from the front. If it first happened when you went around a corner it could be your sway bar bushings or endlinks. One endlink broke on my cougar once and it made a god aweful racket when I went around corners one direction. Check that out. Also could be balljoints, strut mount bushings, A arm bushings, just about anything. Tell us what you find out.

I raised the stang up today and took off the passenger side front wheel. Everything looked good until I noticed that the spring saddle is in about twenty little pieces. This MIGHT be a problem, what do you guys think?!!!. I usually work on my car myself, and I am picking up a spring compressor today from my friend for my mach 1, but is this a job I should just let a shop do? If so, how much would it cost if I brought them the parts?