sriki

I have the famous thumping/clunking noise in the front and the car is still under warranty (CPO).. I took it to the dealer and he said there is nothing wrong with the car and the noise is "normal". So I took it to an indie who works on my passat and here's his email...
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As far as the the noise is concerned, I lifted the vehicle and checked the tightness of all suspension components to find nothing with an excessive amount of play. The bushings in the lower control arms are cracking and look as if they will need replacement soon. The lower ball joints also look as if they are starting to lose grease out of them, but they are tight.
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so given this information can i get the dealer do anything about it or do i have to wait for something catastrophic to happen to get them fix it? They did confirm that the ball joint replacement is covered under warranty. If nothing works out there, I'm guessing my best bet is to get the bushing set/ball joints/tie rod from tm engineering (daizen kit) and do it myself...Wife is scared to drive the car after seeing some of the ball joint failure photos on the forum.

any suggestions?

sriki

After looking at the daizen fiasco's I think this is what I'm going with..

LBJ's and Tie Rods from Sewell
Upper and Lower bushings from ROCA. (of course 1 set of passenger and 1 set of driver side.. and i have to make sure that install them right )
Poly steering rack bushings and sway bar bushings.

Do I need anything else?

PHML

iTrader: (33)

Thats a good start....I'd do the LBJ and tie rods first.

sriki

ok.. i got the caster arms, LBJ and tie rod's in... but the thump is still there... it seems to happen more at lower speeds and braking.. searched the forums and it's down to these three..


1. replace upper control arm bushings + LCA #1 bushing..
2. bad shocks
3. brake/caliper sieze
4. bad motor mounts

any suggestions on which one to go after next? the wheel has 0 play in all directions and the car is level, so i doubt it's the shocks.. not sure how to test the caliper/brake issue... do i just brake hard and see if the rotor is hot? is there a easy to figure out if the motor mounts are bad?

2eXceL

iTrader: (2)

So you replaced the LBJ's, the No. 2 LCA Bushings, and the Tie-rods on both sides?
Guessing it could be the brakes if you only notice it when braking, could be you don't have the tiny bolt that holds your Brake Rotors to the Hub?
Could also be Shocks, how many miles on them?

Either way, replacing the LBJ and No. 2 LCA bushings was the right call given that they were cracked and leaking.

sriki

I don't think there is any bolt holding the rotor to the hub... the holes are to detach the rotor from the hub. i doubt it's the brake though.. i tried slowing down without applying the brakes and the noise is still there.. since i'm not turning, i'm guessing its not the uppers... so it's probably lca#1 bushing.. since the noise is repetitive, it is less likely to be the shocks.. i will take the brake pads out and see if i can lube the caliper pins.. i did notice that one of the pad was stuck in the caliper..didn't bother removing it from the caliper, maybe that is the problem..

sriki

and i should say, the car drives like a new car.. i am now going to do a suspension refresh on my other car as well.. it's worth the trouble and $$$

2eXceL

iTrader: (2)

Do the Front Sway bar bushings first. It's way easier and cheaper and many times will fix the noise in the front. Get the Prothane bushings from Amazon or Energy suspensions.

sriki

the front sway bar bushings took out 75% of the noise.. the thump is still there.. but not as bad as before.. when i have the car on the jack stands, i tried shaking the wheels and there was some play when i shook it side to side.. the 3-9 check.. but no play when i do the 12-6 check.. does this mean that the bearings are on their way out? it's probably not the brake as the wheel is rotating ok without any noise.. are the upper and lca#1 bushings next or should i just go ahead with the wheel bearings/... suggestions please..

YxUxMADDDD

iTrader: (2)

Figs got metal ones. I'm getting some. Again, METAL, not poly.

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

I may be able to offer some ideas this weekend. I too have the clunk in the right front. When I recently did my front brakes I noticed the dust boot on the KYB strut was broke into several pieces. I'm going to try removing those pieces and see if that helps. I also noticed the ball joint on the SPC UCA looks kind of janky, so I'll be replacing that too.

Hopefully that'll fix it. And I'll have a possible solution. I wish those FIGS UCAs were available already!!!!!

sriki

and it looks like the noise level was less right after the car was put down.. so it's either the shocks or the wheel bearings??? doesn't sound like bushings anymore..

DND

Sucks to hear your dealer is ignoring this. I had similar symptoms and extended coverage and my dealer swapped out LBJ & lower controls arms.

The creaking noises came back, but this time it was my brakes. My dealer reused the old shim/fitting kits when they swapped out my pads. :-|

BayAreaLex

Does anyone have a part number for this bolt or the specs on it? And does this exist just on the front or front/rear?

Thanks.

2eXceL

iTrader: (2)

I was wrong, I was thinking there was a small bolt to hold the rotor to the Front hub, but looking at the drawing on Sewell it doesn't look like there is.