What causes did you find for body/suspension squeeks and clunks?

[ausdrift]

What causes did you find for body/suspension squeeks and clunks?

My r33 is modified and it does make a variety of noises while driving. I've just gone and replaced my coilovers for new, replaced my caster rods and even replaced the passenger side front lower control arm ball joint and to my great shock; all the squeaks and noises I had before, I still have! I'm especially confused as, in particular, I'm running out of things to replace on the front left, but I still have a clunk noise.

So it got me thinking, what parts of the car have you proven were the cause of squeaks, clunks or general body noise? What have you changed which has solved it? I love my car and want to get it as perfect as a 20 year old car can be, so lets share the ways to make it a more pleasant drive.

[Duncan]

a common  and unexpected clunker is the shock top mounts, particularly if you either re-used the factory ones with your new coilovers, and also if they are new but are rose joint type they can start clunking surprisingly quickly.

also, it can simply be a loose nut on a joint that causes the clunk without anything being wrong bush-wise, so check them all.

BTW do you think it is front or rear clunk. rear clunk would most commonly be subframe or diff bushes

[tridentt150v]

I was chasing an annoying squeak in my 4wd, you could hear it as you were driving along, looked at shocks, suspension, engine covers, you name it.....turned out to be the bonnet rubbers being screwed down a bit too much.  I give them more height so that the bonnet was a snugger [not even sure that's a word lol] fit and it fixed it.......not saying its one of yours, but its definitely worth a look.

[ausdrift]

To throw another one out there, I was getting a noise in my other car which sounded like a container ship groaning. By spraying WD40 on it to test (makes the noise temporarily go away) it appears its the rubber swaybar bush where the bar goes through which wears and causes that noise. I have new ones ready to install.

Back on me now, the clunk is front left (I believe) and although the coilovers are new, they are designed more for comfort than drift harshness, so I'm going to assume it shouldn't be them. I have replaced the tie rod ends and swaybar links in the last 2 years, so they should be in good condition, but I will have to check that everything is bolted on property and tight.

From the rear Im getting mostly squeeking noises. I have rear camber arms, a rear suspension brace kit, upper tower bar, aftermarket swaybar as well as metal subframe bushes. Ideas? Could it be else ware on the body even?

[ausdrift]

30 minutes ago, tridentt150v said:

I was chasing an annoying squeak in my 4wd, you could hear it as you were driving along, looked at shocks, suspension, engine covers, you name it.....turned out to be the bonnet rubbers being screwed down a bit too much.  I give them more height so that the bonnet was a snugger [not even sure that's a word lol] fit and it fixed it.......not saying its one of yours, but its definitely worth a look.

Yeah, stuff like this is good as I would never think to chase it to something like that

[V28VX37]

Almost a mission impossible, so many possible causes.

We were just chasing a weird squeak on my car after replacing the engine, sounded like a frog pond?! It turned out to be a heater hose clamp scuffing the firewall, doh.

Another thing that drove me nuts back in the day was a clear clunk when braking, which turned out to be aftermarket castor rod bush ID not matching the OEM bolt OD. Pro tip: Measure the bush ID of all suspension parts before throwing them in to make sure that it matches the original.

Also anything with a rose joint (i.e. most aftermarket suspension parts) will be noisy, compared to an OEM rubber bush.

And let's not even start on the mechanical diff...

[V28VX37]

Also WD40 all your exhaust hangers just to be sure

[Robzilla32]

27 yo R32 GT-R with a stack of miles on the clock (and probably a stack off it).

1. Door glass on hardened rubber
2. Door latch on striker plates
3. Bonnet rubber seals on cooling panel
4. Passenger searbelt retaining bolt loose
5. Centre console surround loose.
6. Steering wheel surround expands with heat and rubs.
7. Something in boot squeaks after about an hour

[tridentt150v]

Another one I had was an annoying little rattle in the drivers door of the Skyline.  I looked and tightened everything, even stuck more foam on the door wire/rod latches...no fix.

More recently my rear view mirror stopped folding in, so I took everything out to fix it and duh duh....the front window guide/bracket rubber was torn and hanging.  You couldn't see itat all and looking down through the window sweeper gap it didn't show.

I ordered new brackets from the Brissy business [will add their name if I can think of it]  and fixed the rattle, so very happy.

[ausdrift]

16 hours ago, Robzilla32 said:

27 yo R32 GT-R with a stack of miles on the clock (and probably a stack off it).

1. Door glass on hardened rubber
2. Door latch on striker plates
3. Bonnet rubber seals on cooling panel
4. Passenger searbelt retaining bolt loose
5. Centre console surround loose.
6. Steering wheel surround expands with heat and rubs.
7. Something in boot squeaks after about an hour

Its like fighting a losing battle having an older car

[V28VX37]

4 hours ago, ausdrift said:

Its like fighting a losing battle having an older car

Straight pipes -> problem solved 

[niZmO_Man]

Upper control arms (joint/bushes).

[junkie]

On 3/27/2017 at 4:42 PM, ausdrift said:

Its like fighting a losing battle having an older car

or pretty much anything nissan. all my cars have a variety of sounds that change according to ambient temp. some days its silence, other days all sorts of random stuff rattles and shakes

[JDM33R]

I have a rattle behind the drivers and passenger ac vents. Its not always there but when it is.... its bloody annoying.

Whats even more annoying is it rattles with the vibrations of the motor at idle..

if the Ac comes on and drops the revs a little, it goes away, but is there at 950 rpm. which is where the car idles haha

[ausdrift]

One more I've read about and I'm sure people on here have had to deal with is the heater vent box? thing under the dash. Its fixable, according to threads on it but I hear the real pain is getting to it, often involving dash out. Lucky I don't have that one...yet

[ausdrift]

Update, I had a poke around the front left suspension and found that the swaybar link OD is slightly smaller than the swaybar and car ID so I believe that's where the clunk was coming from. The swaybar is aftermarket and I've tried to fix it as best I can but I think I need a proper go at it in the future. Also the whole car squeaks like crazy, so a winter job might be to try take apart everything suspension related, inspect, clean, lube as needed and refit. Its driving me nuts; good thing I have a loud audio system.

[ausdrift]

Just thought Id revive an old thread. I always thought I was on top of the suspension side of things and most of it was all aftermarket or changed out within the last few years. Ive since learned that I had completely forgotten about my subframe bushes and while I haven't yet changed them out (will do soon), im very sure that this is the cause of a large amount of the noise ive been putting up with. Am changing out the diff mounts while im at it.