Suspension Qs.. Front end Groaning & Rear hitting hard

[walter]

I've had these two problems for a while now and I'm not sure what to make of them.

When I go over speed bumps or something the front end of the car makes like a groaning type of sound. It seems to be making it almost 99% of the time when both wheels go over something. Picture those split speed bumps. Go over one wheel 9/10 times will be quiet, go over with both wheels 9/10 it will make the groaning sound. ( I don't know why but something tells me the Roush front sway bar rotating on those mounts may be the culprit... not sure though).

In the back the car rides fine but on some hard bumps (lets say the same speed bumps) if I don't slow down it'll hit HARD. Again I have a Roush rear suspension that I installed on stock bump stops / jounce bumpers because I went at it piece by piece. Could I be bottoming out on those things? If I am shouldn't they give away since they're kinda soft?

Thanks!

 

[40th GT]

I have this front end noise also and my suspension is all stock with 2250 miles on it.
No problems bottoming out though.
I was guessing sway bar bushings but I could be wrong.

 

[jpplaw]

Does sound like it may be the sway bar bushings. As for the back, when I lowered mine I cut off the top part of the bump stops (around 3/4 of an inch). But even then, with the suspension loaded, there still isn't much clearance.

 

[walter]

How do I go about quieting those bushings then?

Also where could I get some shorter jounce bumpers? Roush does not seem to sell those.. I heard Eibach sold them but couldn't see it on their website.

 

[mustangdave]

Try cutting off the top section of the bump stops.

 

[SpartaPerformance]

Don't the Roush swaybar bushings have grease fittings? The FRPP ones do, if they don't then take them off and put some grease in there see what happens. As for the rear if you're getting clucking noise then it's not the bump stops if it just bounces back hard then most likely that is the problem. As for clunkingnoise in the rear over hard bumps most likely the exhaust banging on the panhard bar 99% of aftermarket muffler for some reason make the pipes hit.....no idea why

 

[o0Dan0o]

The rattling in the rear is likely due to the watts link, specifically the rod ends in the watts. What happens in a rod end with a teflon lining is the teflon gets packed out by a few microns, giving the ball in the joint just enough room to cause a rattle. High quality ends last longer, but they all loosen eventually. I wouldn't say it's a real danger, but it is very annoying.

As for the hard hit, try trimming the bump stops some. If you want to test it, put some putty or grease on the bump stop, then go over a hard bump that cases the noise and see if the putty/grease transfers to the axle.

For the front, I would try greasing the bushings, and if that doesn't help then it might be the stock strut mount (to the strut tower). The spherical bearings in those can go out, similar to the rod ends, but normally make a knocking sound going over bumps.
Dan

 

[walter]

The rattling in the rear is likely due to the watts link, specifically the rod ends in the watts. What happens in a rod end with a teflon lining is the teflon gets packed out by a few microns, giving the ball in the joint just enough room to cause a rattle. High quality ends last longer, but they all loosen eventually. I wouldn't say it's a real danger, but it is very annoying.

As for the hard hit, try trimming the bump stops some. If you want to test it, put some putty or grease on the bump stop, then go over a hard bump that cases the noise and see if the putty/grease transfers to the axle.

For the front, I would try greasing the bushings, and if that doesn't help then it might be the stock strut mount (to the strut tower). The spherical bearings in those can go out, similar to the rod ends, but normally make a knocking sound going over bumps.
Dan

The rattling I knew was from watts link. It's all metal so it'll make some noise going over stuff if you remember I just live with it. The rear apparently hits hard enough to affect the exhaust. I had my car aligned and checked before after the install on the watts link and the technician showed me where the axle tube from the watts was leaving an indentation on my exhaust piping.

The front I have upgraded to GT500 insulators when I removed the stock suspension which leaves the fault somewhere else. Considering that it's only when the suspension is loaded on both sides that leads me to believe it's the sway bar rotating on dry bushings making a groaning sound. I haven't read anywhere on the web about this though.