Hey guys, my front rhs suspension seems to be making a clunking sound. Does it if the wheel is fully locked to either side and i accelerate or if i brake very hard, other than that it seems fine?.
Have you checked the Tension Rod Bushes(and the front support brackets for those rods)? There have been several instances of the sheet metal around that area cracking and tearing.
steering rack related perhaps, does it pull to one side and feel nervous at high speed, even with the wheels alighned?.
Same here actually. mine seems to only do it when I come out of a corner and I think its coming from the back rear left, no idea what it is and only has happened since I got my suspension redone Thought it might be a boot or bump stop when I saw brisz's For Sale thread in the business section, that came to mind, no idea when it comes to suspension (that's why I got someone else ie a shop to do it but now comes this noise.....)
Do you have adustable FUCA ? If you are using adjustable Front Upper Control Arms you might want to check them. I had a similar issue a few years ago when I was using UAS upper control arms. The screw threads (for adjustment) had begun to collapse, but the damage was not visible because of the outer sleeve.
No it doesn't pull to one side but the steering doesn't center itself. I bought the car about 3 weeks ago. Driving it home from Newcastle to Sydney I noticed that the steering seemed quite stiff. Basically you could turn the wheel and then take your hands of the wheel and it would stay in that position until such time as you changed the wheel to a new position. I had UAS do a major service, they said it just needed a wheel alignment which they did. Thay also replaced one of the suspension parts (can picture it in my mind can't remember what its called - Y shaped bit I think). The steering is a lot better now, I have no complaints about the steering itself anymore apart from the very occasional clunk under full lock. However the steering is still not self centering (but no longer really stiff). I looked it up on the net and it sounds to me like I have negative castor (negative castor meaning the pivot point of the wheels is behind the wheels instead of in front of it - think of a shopping trolly) and as a result the steering is not self centering but prefers to turn. I still think I have that (but not to a problematic level anymore). I wouldn't describe it as "feeling nervous at high speed" because it doesn't make me feel nervous it steers beautifully (recently drove from Sydney to Brisbane and back and it is a joy to drive) but if you mean that the steering prefers to turn rather than go straight ahead as per negative castor then yes I probably have that. Its really not a problem though except for the occasional clunk which I can avoid simple by not doing a hard lock turn.
Errrm not to likely M8. If a wheel alignment was done then any alignment issues would have been noted and fixed then. Stiff/tight steering will be either a binding balljoint or an over tensioned steering rack damper or a sticking steering shaft bush.
