Grrrr….ruddy suspension knocking noises…

[Sladie07]

Got my T6 Caravelle 4Motion a week go, and the drive back from Birmingham to Wiltshire was absolutely fine, aswell as the few days backwards and forwards to work and back. However yesterday going round a roundabout I heard a bit of a knock from what I thought may have been the front drivers side wheel/ suspension area. I wasn’t sure what I’d heard so just carried on the few miles home. Doing a sharp, slow right turn onto our driveway I heard the nose again which I couldn’t tell if it was something catching (our driveway is a slight upwards slope). Anywho…driving to work this morning seemed fine but again on the way home I heard the knocking noise a few times, mostly going round a left hand bend when the front right wheel was under load, but also again on a very slow right turn with full lock.

I can’t see anything obvious, though I have no real idea what I’d be looking for! The last MOT in Sept 2025 (only about 1500 miles or so ago) had the following advisories which may or may not be relevant:

1. Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i))
2. Offside Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i))

I was already contemplating upgrading the suspension as the ride is either wallowy or crashy depending on the road, so was going to talk to @CRS Performance soon, but this has brought that conversation forward a bit so have emailed them for options and prices this evening. I’m not sure whether it’s ok to drive on, but depending on what CRS say, I’ll either get it to them and do everything in one go, or pop it to the garage next to my work for the immediate repair and get it up to CRS down the line.

Grrrr….flipping frustrating after just a weeks ownership. Welcome to van life I guess!

 

[Dellmassive]

I was there today....

Post in thread 'Dellmassive`s Camper Van Adventure'

10 Apr 2026

-- CRS Performance --


Thank you to Steve, Rob and the lads at CRS performance. - @CRS Performance @BiTurbo

For sorting out my Bus and being such great people and T6Forum Supporters.


but before we get to that bit, lets start at the beginning. . . . . . . .

we bought the van like this, it was a Panel van to Kombi conversion and had already been to CRS for suspension & H&R wheel spacers with the previous owners.




after our conversion and adding in the pop-top, seat swivels, RIB bed, full kitchen, full electrics etc etc we changed...

• Dellmassive

• 
• 

 

[Sladie07]

@Dellmassive that looks ace!

 

[Paynewright]

The OEM lower arm bushes have voids in them. On my 1000 mile van they were giving a bit of fore/aft movement under braking. I swapped them to Meyle heavy duty arms which have solid rubber bushes. This solved the movement issue.

 

[Sladie07]

Ah ok, that’s interesting. Was yours making a knocking noise too, or just the movement?

 

[DaveD]

@Sladie07 , was it a private sale or did you purchase your T6 from a dealer?
If you bought it from as dealer I'd take it back and ask them to rectify it.

 

[Sladie07]

It was a dealer, but they are a decent trek away from me. I might ping them a message and see what they say

 

[Paynewright]

Ah ok, that’s interesting. Was yours making a knocking noise too, or just the movement?

Just excessive movement.

 

[DXX]

1. Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i))
2. Offside Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i))

Great dealer if they sent you out the door with those to take care of!
Review a Business,

 

[Sladie07]

The saga of this ruddy van continues! It got looked at last week by my local mechanic who believes it to be either an issue with the ARB or the bottom ball joint, however he couldn’t get the wheel off due to corrosion in the time we had in order to fully inspect so he squirted penetrating fluid in and said to leave it the weekend and he’ll try this week.

Over the weekend all was absolutely fine, however upon jumping in this morning to drive to work, all hell broke loose on the dash display within 50 yards of my house!

Firstly, a tyre pressure warning light came on, quickly followed by the ABS and traction control light. Then…on the other display it said Error: Stop Start.

So…god knows what’s going on with this thing…I’ve quickly jumped in the wife’s car to come to work but I’ve only had it 4 weeks or so and it’s already causing me real headaches as we’ve got long trips booked over the summer and my confidence has already gone in it.

If anyone has any ideas…I’m all ears!

 

[Sasquatch]

Did you buy it from a dealer? if you're inside 30 days id reject it.

 

[Sladie07]

Yep, was a (non-VW) dealer in Birmingham. Got it on the 3rd April so a little bit of time

 

[Brookfold1]

The multitude of lights is most likely just an abs sensor. Needs the code reading to confirm which one.

 

[Salty Spuds]

The multitude of lights is most likely just an abs sensor. Needs the code reading to confirm which one.

Agreed, that’s got Wheel speed sensor written all over it.

 

[PhillH]

Jack it up and check the wheel bearing. ABS pick up is on the back of the bearing. Could be coincidence or related to your knocking noise

 

[Sladie07]

Hopefully the mechanic I use will pop into the Roastery where I work and I’ll ask him

 

[Sladie07]

Funnily enough, I’ve asked him to check the wheel bearing as I’m also getting a ‘chirping’ noise as the steering wheel is moved slightly off centre!

 

[Sladie07]

Just spoken to mechanic, he’ll plug it in tomorrow to generate a report and is happy to write me a full report of the issues so as to either ask the dealer to pay for the fault repairs or to reject it if he gets arsey. Half tempted to reject it as it stands…

 

[CRS Performance]

Just spoken to mechanic, he’ll plug it in tomorrow to generate a report and is happy to write me a full report of the issues so as to either ask the dealer to pay for the fault repairs or to reject it if he gets arsey. Half tempted to reject it as it stands…

I think , If you generally like the van and the way it performs for you , just fix it , the problems you have mention are easy to sort out , I would say you need a spring and ABS sensor , these are common issues to deal with on any vehicle , not costly but if the dealer pays good result .

 

[Sladie07]

Yeh, you’re probably right, I’ll get the full report tomorrow and take it from there. Was getting a bit frustrated this morning!