donk and a slight shudder

Post Sat May 17, 2014 5:27 am

I drove into pot hole in my sister's driveway. Now when I go over bumps at about 5 km I get a thud from the front right hand side near the wheel. I have given it a bit of a look over, but I cannot find anything wrong. nothing seems broken or detached. Are there some things people can suggest I check for? The car still handles well.

Post Sat May 17, 2014 8:01 am

Get a torch and have a good look at the coil spring, sometimes they snap and its not easy to see.

Post Sat May 17, 2014 10:09 am

With the car lifted and the wheel off,try levering the outer end of the wishbone,the balljoint may be damaged.

Post Sun May 18, 2014 9:05 am

I spent a bit of time under the car pulling on things and bouncing things. I could not see any damage. I did photo the ball joint. It seems solidly attached but the rubber boot on it looks a bit dodgy. The car only makes the noise at lower speeds and is very smooth on the freeway. Do you reckon it is OK to drive? It has also decided to start a huge oil leak from somewhere. AGGGGG! it was too good to last. 2 weeks of perfect driving and it lets me down.

Post Sun May 18, 2014 9:33 am

That's old cars for you!

You may be able to replace just the boot on that balljoint,I believe they are available seperately here in the UK as that one of yours would fail an MoT!

But I still feel that the balljoint will have some play in it,and that's where your clonk is coming from.
Two options,really.
Easy way is to fit a replacement wishbone,along with a new rear mounting bush.
Difficult,but cheaper way,is to fit a new balljoint to the existing wishbone.

Post Sun May 18, 2014 9:42 am

Lucky no MOT here in Australia. Is the wishbone the boomerang shaped part(controlling arm)? Should I still be able to drive around in it till I get a pair of wishbones. I am guessing it is about two 4 hour sessions of spannering to put in a new pair.

Post Sun May 18, 2014 10:53 am

That's right,the boomerang bit!

Simple enough to swap,do not forget to upgrade to M3 type rear bushes whilst you have the thing in bits.
You will need a forked type balljoint splitter for the inner joint,and getting to the nut at the exhaust side may need careful threading of a long extension,think the nut is 22mm,but it's been a while since I was there.

Post Mon May 19, 2014 2:42 am

Thanks.

I will replace the whole wishbone. It is only $150.00 for the whole new assembly. I guess I am looking at about 4 hours of spannering. My son broke my ball joint splitter so I will need to get a new one.