suspension woes

[Cozy]

right last night went out to the shops and started hearing a clunk on every rotation coming from the front passenger wheel, before it was a metalic noise like something was loose, now it seems to be clunking on every rotation which leads me to beleive it may be the cv joint and the noise i heard before was the cv joint on its way out,

so basically it was dark last night and couldn't see much had a quick look around all the bits and still everything looked fine from what i could see with the torch and i didn't have the time to take the wheel off to have a proper look, so if it is the cv joint how do i check if it is broken or snapped, and is it a fairly simple job to replace or not

oh and another thing, seems my tyre has gone down in pressure alot, could this cause the tyre to go down or am i just severly unlucky as this is the tyre i have only just replaced could be a puncture

so peeeeed off it's untrue any help / advise on what to look for greatly appreciated, and any ways to check bits etc before i take wheel off, any checking for movement with tyre on and stuff

sorry for the long post car is at home had to get a lift into work today so really need to sort this out tonight / over the weekend

i have got an air compressor to pump the wheel up tonight just to make sure if a puncture or not, if it is then its swap back wheel to front and space saver on rear if it fits (space saver wouldn't go over the calipers on the front so hope it can over the rears if this is the case

thanks a very peed off Cozy

[Cozy]

well i have got a big fook off halogen lamp and transformer from work so no doubt i will be putting some pics or videos up tonight, will get the wheel off and up on the axel stands and see what i can find out, just hope its nothing major

[BazV6er]

cozy ,

have you checked the cv boot for perished rubber,if so check if its dry inside or still greased

[Cozy]

cheers baz, what do you do with that then can the rubber bit be pulled back to see, sorry still at work as of now just wanna know what to look for on it, i know what you mean by the cv rubber, can it be pulled back to see, if it is dry i take it that may be the problem

[RobbieV]

If you can pull back the rubber then it's fook, check for any splits or holes and see if there's any grease on the inside of your wheel.

[Cozy]

<!--QuoteBegin-RobbieV+--><div class='quotetop'>(RobbieV)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->If you can pull back the rubber then it's fook, check for any splits or holes and see if there's any grease on the inside of your wheel.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

cheers robbie, will check that out first, i get how it works now, if the rubber is split the greece comes out of it, there fore running dry and won't work properly thanks mate, will let you know how i get on

[RobbieV]

Constant velocity joints are usually reliable and largely trouble-free. The two main failures are wear and partial seizure.

Wear in the outer joint usually shows up as vibration at certain speeds, a bit like the vibration caused by an unbalanced wheel. To determine if the joint is worn, find a big empty car park and drive the car slowly in tight circles, left and right. Worn joints will make a rhythmic clicking or cracking noise. Wear in the inner joints shows up as a "clunk" when applying power, or if severe, when lifting off the throttle.

Partial seizure causes a strange "pattering" sensation through the suspension. It is caused by the joint overheating, which in turn is usually caused by the outer joint gaiter having split, allowing the joint to throw out its grease. If caught in time, you can clean the joint carefully, repack with grease and replace the gaiter. Kits which include the grease, gaiter and retaining clips are available from most automotive manufacturers. Some universal gaiters are split lengthwise enabling them to be fitted without having to disassemble the wheel hub and CV joint.

But personally i prefer a proper fitted gaiter for peace of mind [img]/smile.gif[/img]

[Cozy]

right, well just got back and had a look at the tyre, now this is a tyre less than 2 weeks old, what the hell would cause it to do this, bad fitting, there is something wrong with the suspension i think, but will look at that in a min, seems the tyre isn't on properly to the wheel, could this be caused by bad fitting or what, i was gonna try pumping it up with the air compressor but after seeing this i don't know if i should plus the fact as soon as i put it in my cig lighter it blew the bloody fuse






what do you lot think

[Cozy]

well after getting the wheel off i have finally figured out what has been rattling about making the metallic noise and probably most of my problems on the passenger wheel, i have somehow snapped the suspension spring




it is the very bottom part of it that has sheered off and the spring is still sitting there ok, but i think i need a new spring,

just waiting to see if the tyre has a puncture, gotta hook up the compressor to our kids car when he gets round here then take it from there with that

now here the questions begin what do i do now

1. if tyre is ok and not punctured etc can i still drive it with the spring the way it is and get it to a garage to get fixed very soon probably

2. if i am getting the spring changed, do i get both sides done at the same time

3. how much do you reckon it'll cost to change both springs for new ones

i would love to go down the lowered springs way but can't really afford it at the moment but that all depends how much the new springs will cost me it may be just as much to get it lowered all the way round, better handling etc

[MJ]

that tyre doesnt look like its been fitted properly, if it were mine i'd put the spacesaver on and take it back to the garage that "fitted" it in the first place

1) the spring will be fine to drive with ..... you have been for a while now, a bit longer wont hurt, will fail an MOT for it though
2) yes
3) be cheaper to get a full set of lowered (under £100) than a pair of vaux ones IMO and the rears are easy to fit its the fronts that take the time, reckon on an hour a side tops ..... depends what your mechanic charges you really

[Cozy]

<!--QuoteBegin-MJ+--><div class='quotetop'>(MJ)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->that tyre doesnt look like its been fitted properly, if it were mine i'd put the spacesaver on and take it back to the garage that "fitted" it in the first place

1) the spring will be fine to drive with ..... you have been for a while now, a bit longer wont hurt, will fail an MOT for it though
2) yes
3) be cheaper to get a full set of lowered (under £100) than a pair of vaux ones IMO and the rears are easy to fit its the fronts that take the time, reckon on an hour a side tops ..... depends what your mechanic charges you really<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


Cheers matey, yep the tyre isn't properly sealed to the alloy, i inflated the tyre and could hear it hissing out so got some water and put it in there, sure enough it was leaking from between tyre and the alloy, so that is going back tomorrow to ATS where i got it from and get them to sort it

i had to swap the rear to the front and whack the space saver on the rear, just took it out for a drive and sure enough the rattling has stopped and hopefully i should get the tyre fixed tomorrow so back to normal, then its a case of deciding what to do bout the springs, maybe lower it depending how much it will cost

anyway cheers for the help lads

[BazV6er]

cozy

that pic of your spring is what we had to replace om my other halfs escort gti last weekend ,trouble is we had to get the spring from ford for £60 and it look like it had broke just the same as yours in the same place