front suspension clonking sound

[FREDA MIND]

hi guys ive noticed a clonking sound coming from front suspention when ever i drive over a rough piece of road(quite often these days!)
is this nomal or is it possibly worn drop links or lower suspention arm joints
any ideas
cheers rick

[helen&tony]

Hi Rick
Droplinks/ front rollbar bushes and brackets most usually, but can be lower wishbone bushes and ball-joint.
Cheers
Helen

[mikeonb4c]

Hi Rick
Droplinks/ front rollbar bushes and brackets most usually, but can be lower wishbone bushes and ball-joint.
Cheers
Helen

Yup, most likely. If you search on here you shuld find loads of advice

[FREDA MIND]

cheers guys, on closer inspection i found oil residue at bottom of shock, think its possible near side shock what do you guys think
ricky

[mikeonb4c]

cheers guys, on closer inspection i found oil residue at bottom of shock, think its possible near side shock what do you guys think
ricky

Hmmmm - is yours 4 wheel drive? need to eliminate that one along the way

[FREDA MIND]

no its 2 wheel drive bud

[mikeonb4c]

no its 2 wheel drive bud

Hmmm - so that rules out the oily things that can happen when 4WD components go AWOL.

I can't recall a failed shocker incident on here before - you'd think there would be some obvious rebounding and lack of damping symptoms if a shocker had let go enough to clonk wouldn't you?

There have been some failures of wishbone bearings etc. (see Helens post above) on here before, though that would leave the oil still to be explained.

It's quite possible the oil is not connected with the clonking, and its still possible the clonkng is down to the most common cause i.e. droplinks and/or antiroll bar bushes, so I'd have a good look at those to establish how old/worn they might be. If rubber bushes look perished then they are due for replacement anyway and its fairly cheap to do that.

[FREDA MIND]

ok mikeonb4c ,i agree,
iam going to replace the shock absorber 1st, its leaking oil so is deff shot,the sus on that side front does feel quite soft,should i replace both front shocks though, the other side seems ok?i will inspect all other components aswell.
rick

[missfixit70]

Personally I'd replace both, chances are if one's shot, the other isn't far behind & probably won't be doing it's job properly. Keeps it balanced then & you know it's done.

[mikeonb4c]

Personally I'd replace both, chances are if one's shot, the other isn't far behind & probably won't be doing it's job properly. Keeps it balanced then & you know it's done.

I agree. Painful though the extra cost is, its got to make sense to have a balanced pair, giving balanced handling, on one axle. have a search on here as one or two people have done OK on replacement cost using brands ('Protech' springs to mind but have a search as I can't recall)

[FREDA MIND]

HEY GUYS , SHOPPED AROUND AND SOURCED A PAIR OF FRONT SHOCKS FROM MOTORMANIA FOR £48.0 EACH .....COOL BEANS ..... JUST GOT TO GET EM FITTED BEEN QUOTED £100.
NOT TOO SAD AFTER ALL!
RICK

[mikeonb4c]

HEY GUYS , SHOPPED AROUND AND SOURCED A PAIR OF FRONT SHOCKS FROM MOTORMANIA FOR £48.0 EACH .....COOL BEANS ..... JUST GOT TO GET EM FITTED BEEN QUOTED £100.
NOT TOO SAD AFTER ALL!
RICK

That sounds like a mega-good result - keep us posted on how it goes

[FREDA MIND]

finally having my new shocks fitted today,,,
hopefully sorting the suspention issues ive had
ill let you guys know monday how she handles
cheers ricky

[mikeonb4c]

finally having my new shocks fitted today,,,
hopefully sorting the suspention issues ive had
ill let you guys know monday how she handles
cheers ricky

I'll be very interested to hear. Mine are (I guess) fine but I wonder if your Bongo will handle potholes with less 'thumping' once new shocks are fitted as the slightly crude suspension on my Bongo (all Bongos?) is probably my biggest single criticism. On half decent roads it's a very nice car, but on broken up surfaces at tramps and rumbles somewhat (not bad, but not up there with most saloon cars - maybe thats just not possible)

[gmaczbongo]

Being a newbie with a new MOT just before I picked it up and the anti-roll bar repairs, I was wondering what the current noises were.
They are not too bad and the previous posting has explained that it is par for the course.
Good smooth roads are great (Shetland would be good) and poor roads leave it noisy (Stay away from Mull).
Suspension is crude is a true statement.
Wonder what the roads are like in the Bongos homeland.