MQ Front end noise

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: Camden, Sydney

All right, ive just bought a second MQ and it had 2 inch springs in it, cept the front was more like 1 inch springs with extended shackles.

Anyway ive just pulled the whole front diff/housing/brakes/axles/springs/shocks and swapped the stup between cars.

with my road MQ with the this lifted gear in it now it makes some severe clunking/ banging noises from the front, u dont notice it too much on the road (cept bit bumps) but it is really concerning me.

I think the bushes are all fine and the shocks arent the problem.
There is almost no grease on the drag link/tie rod joint but that cant be causing it can it? also the shackles and eyes could prob use a grease,
but this is a really loung clunk and i can feel it through the floor a bit and it comes from the whole fromt somewhere, cant be the graese.

I would love any help u guys can give me on this.
thanks in advance,

Screwy

Joined: 24 Nov 2002 Location: bacabugari

maybe cracks around the spring hanger mounts ? common problem.

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: Camden, Sydney

wasnt doing it before though

Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2003 8:56 am

From what you have described, it sounds as if theres a problem with the diff you have installed. It would be interesting to know if you drove the patrol you just bought and if it made the same noises......might help!

Noises come from vairous areas and its a process of illimination that may take time so be prepared to do it step by step......things to check straight up .....

1: wheel bearings/kingpin bearings... jack up one wheel and place 1 hand at the top of the wheel to push with and the 2nd hand at the bottom of the wheel to pull with, give a slight pull and see if there's any movment. That will check the wheel bearings. Using the same technique only with more pressure will check the kingpins. Do both sides!!.... any movement???

2: You "think" the bushes in the springs are ok???? Warn bushes allow the spring hangers to move up & down in relation to the chassis, if there's a bullbar fitted they may "rub" against the mounting plate for the bullbar .... this produces a "clunking" noise and usually only happens over rough surfaces, like crossing railway tracks,potholes,speed humps. If there's no bullbar then its possiable that its the actual movement of the hangers themselves. To check place a tyre lever between the top of the spring bush & the chassis bush, a simple downward push will show any movement or slop in the bushes.... if they are ok GREASE em!

3: Tierod ends.... use the tyre lever trick again to check for movement and if thery are ok GREASE em. A worn tierod end thats normally "unroadworthy" can be made to pass a roadworthy by packing it full of grease just before the test.... I've seen this done plenty of times b4, its a bit like the old banana skin or sawdust in the noisey diff trick, shuts em up real quick in the short term.

4: You used the other set of springs... are they a different type of pak? Nissan tried several springpak combinations over the years of the MQ, is the set you installed from the same year model? Some of the early paks 80, 81, & 82 used plastic seperators between the leaves to eliminate wear and movement noise. Once these plastic seperators are worn out the paks do make a noise when under load. Thats a pull the pak out job to check. I've used rubber from a conveyor belt to fix em and it works fine.

5: I doubt whether this is related but.... which front drive shaft did you use and does this noise happen in 2wd or 4wd or both. Is the slider in the shaft or the unis stuffed, is the shaft hitting the crossmember, did you seperate the 2 halvesof the front shaft and put them back togther EXACTLY where they were????????

6: Recheck ALL the bolt/nut tensions, a loose "U" bolt will generate a noise.

looks as if your w/ends gunna be busy !!! The Finger

Joined: 24 Oct 2002 Location: ACT

check that the longer shackles can't hit anyhting through their whole range of movement.
check wheel bearing preload.
check that the calipers are bolted up tight.
check that all the ball joint tapers are seated tight.
check some more things that I can't think of at the moment.
Cool

Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2003 9:09 am

Wendle wrote:

check that the longer shackles can't hit anyhting through their whole range of movement.
check wheel bearing preload.
check that the calipers are bolted up tight.
check that all the ball joint tapers are seated tight.
check some more things that I can't think of at the moment.
Cool

Had that prob on a HZ ute .... drove me nuts for 3 years and was only luck that I found it, turned out to be the actual bolt holes in the caliper that were worn...new caliper & 10 min fix once I found it even though I put up with it for 3 fuggin YEARS !!!!!!!!! dont ya hate that.

Joined: 26 Jun 2003

V8Patrol wrote:

From what you have described, it sounds as if theres a problem with the diff you have installed.

this is where my money would be by your description

Joined: 01 Nov 2002 Location: Sydney. NSW Australia

this would be the front end outta my old MQ yes? ok, just to shed a little light on the topic and try to help out, the diff is not very old, bought it from a dude in the trading post and it was not long rebuilt b4 i bought it, can it possibly just be that the front end is VERY tight?? it has been sitting parked at my house for prolly 4 or 5 months without being moved? or is there any play in the front hangers where they mount to the chassis? tie rod ends on that diff were brand new 5 weeks b4 the car was parked, check the U bolts and everything else that everyones mentioned,

Cheers

Ryan

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: Camden, Sydney

Ok guys cheers for all your help.

Spent all day today investigating and found that one of the front shocks is really stiff and the bottom bolt of that shock had worn through a rubber and bent the bolt end maing the noise everytime the shcok tries to extend is banging on the diff housing.

Ive straightened the bolt and re threaded it and put new bushes in it, the noise is gone. thanx guys for all your help.

cheers,

Screwy

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: Camden, Sydney

ok, the shock is stuffed. as it doesnt move, when i put the new bushes in it, after half hour of driving it had all stuffed it self again.
need A single new shock, or can i get it re-con?

cheers

Joined: 26 Jun 2003

Don't bother fixing an old shock... you can have one of my off my old MQ sus kit, or just stop being a tight ass and buy a pair

Joined: 24 Oct 2002 Location: ACT

if this is the axle that was at my house, that I raped the knuckles and stuff off, the passenger side perch looked like it had a dodgy repair job done, might be worth checking that as well.

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: Camden, Sydney

nope its not the same axle Wendle, ive still got that for bits and pieces, already switched a CV outa it though.

How much u reckon a pair of new shocks for a 2 inch lift would cost?