Loose/clunky suspension

[JCLW]

Don't drive my wife's 5 very often but used it the other day and noticed that the suspension no longer feels like one integrated system - more like an assortment of parts loosely holding everything together. Steering wanders, things clunk, and wheels hop over bumps.

2013 w/~190k kms (120k mi). Suspension is all original. Vehicle is well maintained, everything else works flawlessly. Newish brakes and tires.

Currently my wife's daily driver, but will probably become the kids car as they obtain their licences in the next few years. Just looking to restore near-OEM ride quality and ensure things don't come apart on the road.

At least some shocks/struts are definitely blown - I'm just going to do them all. KYB Strut-Plus (Excel-G)? Bilsteins are price competitive when comparing struts alone, but not when you factor in mounts, springs, etc. Or am I better off just doing the struts themselves and keeping the other original OEM mounts, springs, etc? Ride height still seems OK.

I don't mind paying a little more for better quality but I'd rather not get into a situation where I'm doing the struts this year, the mounts next year, and the springs the year after that. Plus its much easier to install a complete assembly.

Similar question regarding other suspension parts - better to keep the original OEM stuff and try and identify exactly what is clunking/loose? Or just get something like the Mevotech (Supreme) complete front end kit (whole kit is roughly the same price as a single OEM control arm)?

I'm kind of leaning towards just doing everything now with non-OEM kits but curious to hear what other people's experiences have been.

 

[kpoon]

I just bought an '06 w/ 28k miles & front/rear clunking.

I started w/ replacing swaybar bushings + endlinks since those seemed worn & the most common cause, & other items seemed OK.

I avoided OEM & went w/ Moog. Front clunk is now gone & am in the process of doing the same for the rear.

I'm low mileage, so for me it makes sense to just fix the exact problem.

Loose mounts seem to be another common cause of clunking, but the fix may be to just tighten them.

I usually say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

At high mileage, though, you have no idea how much life is left in the unbroken parts.

At 120 you can't go wrong taking either path. It's just a matter of, "Pay now or pay later."

Good luck!

 

[negusm]

Got KYB front struts about 25k miles ago and it removed the clunking. Replaced the front swaybar bushings at the same time. Replaced the upper strut bearing\bushing thing with all those little ball bearings in it too.

Front clunking is already back after 25k miles. Not too happy with KYB if their struts s*** the bed so fast. Maybe it's something else. I haven't really checked.

Replaced the back sway bar with a beefier one from a Mazda 3 and KYB shocks. No issue there so far. Rear mounts had a little white rust but no cracks or issues.

Right now it's a second car and I only drive it every other week so Imma just gonna live with it until it gets worse and I can zero in to exactly what the issue is.

 

[kpoon]

...exactly what the issue is.

I would bet swaybar endlinks.

 

[Lazy2.5]

Don't drive my wife's 5 very often but used it the other day and noticed that the suspension no longer feels like one integrated system - more like an assortment of parts loosely holding everything together. Steering wanders, things clunk, and wheels hop over bumps.

At least some shocks/struts are definitely blown - I'm just going to do them all. KYB Strut-Plus (Excel-G)? Bilsteins are price competitive when comparing struts alone, but not when you factor in mounts, springs, etc. Or am I better off just doing the struts themselves and keeping the other original OEM mounts, springs, etc? Ride height still seems OK.

The original struts are likely not blown.
Get the car up in the air and inspect components which frequently fail.

end links, sway bar bushings, tie rods, control arm ball joints. It's likely that one or more of these components has worn out and now has play in them. That's where you would want to start, before deducing it to worn struts.

 

[negusm]

I would bet swaybar endlinks.

Could be. They should be easy enough to change and they are original.

 

[JCLW]

Thanks for the replies all,

There is undampened wheel hop after going over bumps which is why I'm looking at struts and shocks.

Rear passenger is definitely blown, and I think rear driver as well. Going over bumps while taking slight turns at highway speeds results in the back end hopping sideways like a mad bunny. More so when turning left (weight on passenger side) but still noticeably present when turning right (weight on drivers side).

Something is up with the front passenger strut as well - it just crashes through potholes instead of the wheel extending down into the pothole and then retracting in a controlled fashion.

Now that it has stopped raining I'll try and jack it up this afternoon and have a better look at things.

 

[JCLW]

Well, I had a chance to look at the rear...

Swaybar bushings seem a little loose, end links seem OK.

Trailing arm bushings look like they are no longer pressed all the way in (both sides similar)?

Is this typical/normal? Hard to find images online. Definitely some movement when I pry on them - I wonder if the traling arm is hitting the side of the unibody and clunking over bumps?

 

[hleboklop]

Well, I had a chance to look at the rear...

Swaybar bushings seem a little loose, end links seem OK.

Trailing arm bushings look like they are no longer pressed all the way in (both sides similar)?

View attachment 336724

Is this typical/normal? Hard to find images online. Definitely some movement when I pry on them - I wonder if the traling arm is hitting the side of the unibody and clunking over bumps?

Yes, trailing arm bushings are known to go out. You can test by opening the hatch door and rocking the rear end left and right. If you hear quacking, it's them.

 

[JCLW]

Well, I got some stuff::

Did the rear shocks, sway bar bushings and end links yerterday.

Both old shocks were done - both sides had hardly any resistance, left side would take 10~15 minutes to extend after being pushed in, right side would just stay where you put it.

The old sway bar bushings were a bit deformed but probably OK -I swapped them anyways because they are relatively cheap and easy to do.

Driver's side end link had a loose ball joint - changed both sides.

Car drives better already, rear end no longer skips sideways when going over bumps while cornering at speed. Rear end seems quiet(er?), but the trailing arm bushings are still suspect.

Will try and make time to do struts on the front end tomorrow, there is definitely some noise from the top of the right side strut so I ordered mounts as well.

Front sway bar bushings look like a nightmare to replace (probably easier with the vehicle on a lift) - I will have a better look at them when doing the struts.

 

[kpoon]

Well, I got some stuff::

View attachment 342794

Did the rear shocks, sway bar bushings and end links yerterday.

Both old shocks were done - both sides had hardly any resistance, left side would take 10~15 minutes to extend after being pushed in, right side would just stay where you put it.

The old sway bar bushings were a bit deformed but probably OK -I swapped them anyways because they are relatively cheap and easy to do.

Driver's side end link had a loose ball joint - changed both sides.

Car drives better already, rear end no longer skips sideways when going over bumps while cornering at speed. Rear end seems quiet(er?), but the trailing arm bushings are still suspect.

Will try and make time to do struts on the front end tomorrow, there is definitely some noise from the top of the right side strut so I ordered mounts as well.

Front sway bar bushings look like a nightmare to replace (probably easier with the vehicle on a lift) - I will have a better look at them when doing the struts.

Are trailing arms another name for lateral links?

Front sway bar bushings are easier to do after the end links have been removed.

Good luck!

 

[JCLW]

Borrowed a set of spring compressors and got the front struts done. The original springs looked to be in great shape but the struts were completely gone - the right side had no resistance what-so-ever and the left wasn't much better (neither would extend by themselves).

Getting the new stuts into the knuckles was giving me some grief until I used a cold chisel to wedge the pinch clamp assembly open a bit. Everything else was pretty staight forward.

The front sway bar bushings did not look terrible and the end links seemed tight so I left the originals on for now.

Night and day difference on how the van handles/feels/sounds. I think there still might be something a little loose/clunky but it's a least 95% better then it was.

Are trailing arms another name for lateral links?

Trailing arms run front to back as oppposed to lateral links which run side to side. Bushing at the front end where it bolts to the vehicle, hub is attached to the back end.