my pass. side front is rattleing every time i go over a bump. i have no idea what it is. it sounds like my lisence plate frme and bracket are jiggling (not factory i made a new one) it more to the passanger side of the car though. last night some one said a balljoint but i dont know what that would sound like.
i have a trip next weekend and i would like to ttake my car but if it is a rolling coffin ill pass.
Kind of a harsh rusty old bed squeak right.
Ball joints.
I don't know how 'bad' it is to drive on them. I drove for a couple months before I had mine repaired. Not that I was smart by doing that.
Mine has a rattle on the passenger side that it didn't start doing until I did the springs in front...I used all new polyurethane isolators too. I don't know what's making all the noise.
Calipers ratting around perhaps.
Just get the thing in the air and start wiggling....
How do you fix that? My calipers are rattling around and it's going to drive me nuts!
Not too sure. I know alot of the aftermarket calper pins for the Mustang/TC brakes are too small...thus the pads/calipers can bang around. Perhaps try and find some OEM caliper bolts?
I haven't messed with Fox brakes in a while as they are icky.....
check the swaybar endlinks. they will cause a rattle like that.
also the swaybar bushings
I had a swaybar bushing that pulled a dissapearing act. Thats the first place id look.
Yup. Just get under there with a flashlight and move some stuff around.
Just about anything can rattle.
Don't think it's the calipers as I did have the stainless sleeves on both sides and it was making the noise (had to replace the pass. side caliper so it doesn't have the sleeves anymore).
I thought maybe endlinks but I tightened them down pretty good. I've looked and I just can't see what it could be.
Upper strut mount?
i was thinking somethimg with the strut. i hope its easy and cheap to fix. how much are ball joints to get replaced and what all will they mess with so i dont get raped for a $2 part that i could do.
Ball joints are straightforward but can be dangerous because youhave to undo the spindle, which leaves the potential for the spring to come out (and destroy anything in its path, including your head). You must ALWAYS support the control arm so that the spring can't come out. You should also have a ball joint tool that removes the ball joint from the control arm and presses the new one back in (the ball joint is a press fit).
Truthfully, unless you've got the tools and know-how, have a shop do it. You're looking at about $60 apiece for the ball joints (for good ones) and probably an hour per side labour.
Beware, though, that ball joints will usually cause a clunk, not a rattle. Sway bar end links and bushings (where the sway bar boths to the frame), strut mounts, calipers and control arm bushings can cause rattles (though control arm bushings will usually be more of a clunk as well).
To eliminate brakes, simply press teh brake when going over bumps. The brake pressure will load up the pads and prevent them from rattling, so if the rattle stops when you step on the brake that's your problem.
Question: What wheels are on your car? Hubcaps can rattle, as can pebbles trapped behind them. To eliminate hubcap issues, simply pop 'em off.
Ive been told that the ball joints have wear indicators, can someone take a pic of these for me and show me what is "good" and what is "bad"? Just to clarify things a bit for me...
I get some clunking and squeaking but the shop I had my alignment done at told me they are good. I just want to make sure they are right...
i have ponies so hubcaps pebbles are out. it has had a little rattle that i always thought was the licence plate frame and brakets.
ill try the brakes tomorrow, but i just but new pads on not 3 months ago and my car sat for the month and a half i was in Virgina and when i was at the beach. my brakes are being stupid anyways and the braking power is odd. the pedal will be hard and a half to the floor it will stop going down when stopping but the power isnt there. got fluid, air in the lines?
how do i bleed them? helped my dad once but it was a long time ago and i dont want him to know about the rattle.
If you look at the bottom of your ball joints you'll see a small circle (that may have a grease nipple in it if your ball joints have been replaced at some point). This circle should stick out from the metal around it about the thickness of a dime. If it's flush or recessed the ball joint is worn.
If the ball joints are squeaking they should be replaced regardless of what the wear indicators say. Squeaks mean dry ball joints, and dry ball joints will fail soon. On my old '88 Cougar I cheated and made a pinhole in the rubber boots, then injected some grease in :hick:. The squeaks went away and the ball joints lasted until I wrecked the car. Of course, your mileage may vary
i did a lube when i changed the oil. it shouldnt be dry in a few months time should it and what would cause that?
were are the other fittings on the front end?
Alright then, it seems the shop didnt know what they were doing.... typical.
I dont think anyone has mentioned this but I'd also check for dropped nuts, bolts, spark plugs, etc... that my have landed on ledges on the inner fenders in the engine bay. There's a nice ledge running from under the battery to the strut tower, around the k member is a good collection point and then there is a good one under the brake booster. I think there's another ledge further down by the h-pipe. Obviously its similar on the passenger side. Use a magnet to "sweep" around in areas you cant see well. I'd use an inspection mirror also.
The reason I bring this up is I had a serious knocking sound everytime I hit a bump. I thought it was the strut mount or balljoints but I could never nail it down... At least not until I was installing my h-pipe and found an old spark plug that someone had dropped sitting on the ledge under the brake booster. Problem solved.
it was the caliper! im missing a pin!
what pins/ bolts will fit? can i get it from O' reillys?
You can get caliper bolts at any auto parts store, although I know the ones at advance are not very cheap (like $4-5 each)...(the ones they show online are though)
That's wild, I've never heard of a front caliper pin coming out... Scary stuff!
Buy a tube of blue loctite while you're there and use it on the threads.
I see what you mean now.There's all kinds of room for the caliper/pad to jump around. Geez, I bought all new shiny caliper pins and they are the wrong size. =/
Now I gotta figure out how to get the correct size pins.
EDIT: hooray for ebay!
Are your pins the hex type? If so just PM me your address and I'll send you two.
i got some. ther were studip crazy expensive! 6.50 for two torx head bolts!
good news rattle is gone but haw did the pin get out without getting stuck in between the spokes and causing serious damage. i know i had all of them on when i painted the calipers in may/june. rattle started about 4-5 days ago and there were line were the pin sped the rim on three of the five spokes. odd i guess it was just luck.
Ether thanks for the offer though. maybe you would want to send me a car!:grinno:
Ive lost the mounting bolts for the rear caliper brackets on my car. I know the feeling.
how did it make it out and not get caught in the rim
The bolt was only 1.5" long or so, it doesnt use the same setup as the front calipers. I dont know why it came out though.
freaky but im glad it didnt catch the rim and f something up worse.
That is odd,
Check all of the spokes for damage on the sides...it may have grabbed it and bent it pulling it out.
i only saw some little ses on the bake of the spokes
ill check somemore tomorrow