A Suspension Rattle

[Roddez]

For the last couple of weeks, I have noticed a suspension rattle coming from the front right corner of the car.

I checked that all the nuts were tight, took the wheel off but I couldn’t see anything that looked like it was a problem. So, I decided to take it up to Subaru for them to have a quick look.

After taking the mechanic around the block, he agreed that there was a noise coming from the front right side. He took the car into the workshop, pulled the cover off the shock tower and sure enough, that was the culprit. I had checked that nut, but only to see if it was finger tight, and it was, it was just torque wrench loose! Several turns were required to tighten it up to the correct torque.

We also check the left side tower and it also needed about half a turn. The mechanic commented that this is a problem in some cars, but they normally exhibit this behaviour within the first 5,000 k’s, not at 50,000 k's.

So, the moral of the story is that if you have a rattle from the front end, pull the rubber caps off the shock tower and check your big nut!

[smythie]

I presume you mean the top of the strut tower?

[senator]

some one should tell rod that its rude to talk about your big nuts on here

back on the topic, did they check your rears too?

[smythie]

It's just another form of bragging I guess. Just like people posting photo's of their cars

[teK--]

I'd also suggest that the swaybar links could also be loose or have worn bushes, or the control arm bushes could be worn as well; both are also common on higher mileage (>70KKMs, less if you have lowered your car aggressively).

[loweart]

Yeah, I just starting hearing a thumping/knocking sound from the front right side of the Lib. It was the lower control arm bushes that had worn through, but considering my car as almost done 80,000kms on the original ones that's not bad going.

[wassell2381]

I have a similar prob on my lib but it seems like its on the left front side, similar kms too(78000) So is it the lower control arm bushes? Are these expensive to replace and can it be done DIY?

cheers
Dan