I've always had an occasional knock from the front when hitting a speed bump or pothole, from either side, which has got more frequent of late. Occasionally, the knock is a fair bit louder and can be felt through the floor via my feet.
I recently put the winter wheels and tyres on and there was a very slight bit of feathering on one edge of one tyre after a year of use. For this reason and the knocking I booked the van in for a geo check and mentioned to the guy.
He had a quick drive and picked up lots of movement of the front wheels under sudden braking (I watched a couple of inches of movement on the front wheel when he braked) He put up on the ramps and could detect a bit of movement in the rear bushes on the front control arms. So I swapped the control arms out for Meyle HD arms with solid bushes rather than OE ones with voids. The old rear bushes were starting to split, surprisingly at only 11K miles but not unheard of. I was confident this would sort it, however, it still knocks. I also fitted new bottom ball joints.
So, I've done a nut and bolt tightness test of everything at the wheel end, put a bar under the wheel and levered up and down to check strut top mount tightness, wheel bearing check, hub nut check and nothing untoward found. I disconnected the ARB last week and went for a drive and slight knocking still there but no big bangs (It was only a drive around the village over the usual speed bumps so possibly not enough to induce a big knock).
On smooth(ish) road it drives perfectly, corners nicely and no vices. The tyre wear suggests there isn’t much out geometry wise.
The van is on H&R -40 springs and Koni dampers, fitted at about 1000 miles.
Next steps:-
I'm running out of ideas what it could be – any other suggestions / things to check?
Cheers
Ian
I recently put the winter wheels and tyres on and there was a very slight bit of feathering on one edge of one tyre after a year of use. For this reason and the knocking I booked the van in for a geo check and mentioned to the guy.
He had a quick drive and picked up lots of movement of the front wheels under sudden braking (I watched a couple of inches of movement on the front wheel when he braked) He put up on the ramps and could detect a bit of movement in the rear bushes on the front control arms. So I swapped the control arms out for Meyle HD arms with solid bushes rather than OE ones with voids. The old rear bushes were starting to split, surprisingly at only 11K miles but not unheard of. I was confident this would sort it, however, it still knocks. I also fitted new bottom ball joints.
So, I've done a nut and bolt tightness test of everything at the wheel end, put a bar under the wheel and levered up and down to check strut top mount tightness, wheel bearing check, hub nut check and nothing untoward found. I disconnected the ARB last week and went for a drive and slight knocking still there but no big bangs (It was only a drive around the village over the usual speed bumps so possibly not enough to induce a big knock).
On smooth(ish) road it drives perfectly, corners nicely and no vices. The tyre wear suggests there isn’t much out geometry wise.
The van is on H&R -40 springs and Koni dampers, fitted at about 1000 miles.
Next steps:-
- New drop links and ARB bushes (albeit disconnecting the ARB suggests its not this). Can anyone suggest an equivalent 40mm longer drop link from the VW parts bin that is suitable (I’d rather not have adjustable ones)? I wonder if the big knock is the ARB hitting the chassis rails?
- Fit new top mounts / bearings like these… MEYLE HD 2 Top Shock Strut Mounts Bearings VW T6 Transporter T5 Upgrade Kit NEW! | eBay
- Anything to do with the subframe?
I'm running out of ideas what it could be – any other suggestions / things to check?
Cheers
Ian
