STRUT TOP MOUNTS

[yung-gun]

Has anyone experienced what happens when a strut top mount becomes perished and damaged?

i have a knocking on my car that seems to get faster when i increase speed and more violent when i turn left slightly.
when the car was stood on my drive and i was doing a few bits when turning the steering wheel left i could hear a grating noise of the bearings on top of the strut grinding as if they had sand in them

Cheers guys

[e30kid6]

I also have this knocking noise, I haven't really looked at my top mounts yet but its definately the rear left.

Cheers

[yung-gun]

Rear left? It sounds to me like it's coming from the front right hand wheel :/

[jmc330i]

I've not had to deal with the front strut top mounts, but if yours are perished and damaged, it wouldn't be a bad idea to change them.

I would think e30kid6 is talking about the rear shock mounts. The rubber gets weak and eventually cracks and fails so the shock can move about causing a knocking from the rear. Best to replace both if they are of the same or unknown age. The mounts for the E46 Cabs are a direct replacement and better than the E30 ones.

[Grrrmachine]

When replacing rear top mounts, it's essential that the shock washer is fitted. This is a metal washer that fits underneath the shock mount, to spread the force of impact when the shock compresses.

Very often these are removed and thrown away when people replace their top mounts, and don't fit new ones. The top mount will last DAYS without it before splitting apart, so you might need to disassemble the rear suspension and see what's there.

There's a Wiki guide to help you, if you need it:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... Top_Mounts

[yung-gun]

Thanks for the heads up guys. but thinking about it rationally it can't be top mount as it wouldn't get louder and faster with speed :/