Front End Suspension rattle

[Mguyva]

Hi All

I have read the other forum on the suspension rattle and still to NO joy still cant find the issue. Any ideas would be much appreciated. 

It is a 2007 Grande (presara) with about 120000km 

Started off with worn shocks that were soft and a small rattle.  The rattle is only on sharp short bumps eg driving into a driveway, Driving down a rough road it is just constant but on smooth roads and under 50km, driving over cats eyes no rattle. Since replacing the struts the rattle is just horrible. 

So I replaced the struts and top mounts and bearings. It immediately sounded like i had left the nuts on the struts loose. Went back and put the old struts back in with the new mounts and bearings and the rattle was quiet again. Tried another set of struts and same thing (loud rattle). So thinking that stiffer suspension may be amplifying my small rattle i went through one at a time to diagnose it and replaced tie rod ends, ball joints (since one was leaking), sway bar linkages, sway bar d bushes, and in turn found my steering rack was leaking and had that overhauled, oh and 2 more tyres because of the rack. but the rattle is still there. Had the lower control arm bushes inspected today but was told they were fine. I have been told that the inner cv joints have play and that maybe it.

In all honesty i not sure about the inner cv joints as the car drives beautifully apart from the rattle. And the rattle sounds so much like your typical worn top mount.

I'm torn on thoughts and money but cant afford to dump the car and i don't really want to either.   

[ZZT86]

Very keen to read this as I have a similar problem but on an older 2001 Camry V6 Azura with even less kms. Curious which struts did you use & assume on stock springs ? For me it's more of a knock & I think it's on the front right but only as you described it over short sharp bumps and only after the recent strut change which I'm sure wasn't there before it :/ Odd

[campbeam]

Main item I would be looking at is the rubber seat between the spring and the strut housing. Next item I would be investigating is any foreign objects e.g. stone/gravel caught up in the spring seat. Just for something extra to do, consider giving the rubber seat a spray with silicone spray.

[ZZT86]

Can vouch for silicone spray curing rubbing/squeak noises. Will pull the front struts out one of these days to investigate.

[matt36415]

Stiffer springs and shock absorbers definitely increase noise. I have lowered 3 cars including my 2007 V6 and its the same each time. Check the sway bar links. They can be tight but still make a noise, I use wd40 then tighten them to make sure all the force I use goes to tightening not to moving rust....

 

However, chasing suspension noises can be frustrating 

[Mguyva]

I have had a couple of other mechanics have a look and they are adamant it is the shocks and that there is no play in the cv's. So i have used a brand called ultima (which i have used before with no issues) but I have decided to trust my initial instinct and have ordered a set of KYB for the front only since the rears are all good (at the mo). So they should turn up tomorrow .All going to plan round eight coming up yay NOT. I will also try the wd40 on the sway bar links.

Will just have to see what happens fingers crossed.

[ZZT86]

Try one thing at a time, go for decent test drive & see if it worked so you can pinpoint exactly what caused the noise. I wonder if it could also be the strut top mount/bearing isn't properly torqued/seated ?

[Mguyva]

After many headaches and stomping my feet and pocket burning I will preach to only buy Very well known brand shocks and genuine mounts.

Turned out to be two issues on the struts. The first was the seat at the bottom of the thread was machined too much (too much of a bezel). The Second was the threaded shaft was too thin as well. And even the warranty replacements we exactly the same but i have since got my money back. All tho i have had issues with the product I will say their customer service is impeccable. There was also a third issue and that was the poorly designed aftermarket mounts the hole was too large. 

I wanted Genuine mounts but Toyota NZ had changed to a new part number but had not bought any yet and the first guy i spoke to didn't check for obsolete part numbers. Turned out they had 7 in stock under the old part number.  

So after 12 removal and installs and issues and with other suppliers supplying miss matched parts i am glad to finally have it all sorted. and hope this is of help to anyone else.

Knowledge is priceless.

 

[KAA]

Thanks, always handy to know in case!

Fortunately our Presara is ticking along perfectly for now..Good Mechanics & Good servicing

KAA

[matt36415]

That’s a lot of work.

[campbeam]

Always appreciate when end solutions to a problem are posted. Initially, I was thinking that your perserverance.

Following Internet sourced quote is applicable:

"Information they learn for themselves is much stronger than “facts” they’ve been told by anyone else."

[ZZT86]

@Mguyva  so which top mounts did you end up using - factory oem or aftermarket ?

[Mguyva]

OEM and will never buy any other brand after this. Learnt my lesson. 

Thank you to everyone for the ideas etc much appreciated.

Now to chase the dash rattle.... fun.

[METAL13]

Bit late to this story but i had a knocking sound on small bumps a couple years ago, ended up being the intermediate shaft in the steering a known issue with aurions. Spent thousands replaced lots of parts to no avail until Toyota on a 3rd attempt found the issue.