Technical Wishbone bushes - time to change?

[AAB1992]

Hi there I’ve got 68 plate pop with 85k and I’ve been hearing some rattling noises from the front end over rougher roads. Checked all the usual suspects (drop links, D bushes, top mounts, springs and shocks) which seem fine. All I can see is what looks like a relatively worn rear bush on the wishbone. Can’t feel any obvious play but do these look excessively worn?

Adam

 

[lambou1d]

Can't tell by looking, so you need to get a pry bar and block of wood. Push up on the wishbone by the edge of the bush to see if there is movement.

 

[The Panda Nut]

The most likely culprit for noise is drop links that will clonk long before you can get discenable movement.
Yes those bushes look tired but are not likely the cause of clonking, The rear mount is almost just a stabiliser. My Front ares were changed a few years back, and dont have the bonded rubber just a the star shaped bush like your centre part. There is vertical movement on my car but no lateral movement as far as I can remember they have always been this way and they function OK. (after market parts) Check the front mounting as this is the bit that does most work and will bang first. In any event at 70K you will have a few rattles. Its worth considering replacing the whole lot if its never been done before as the parts are comparatively cheap and the work does not take a lot of time.

 

[eeeno]

If the car passes MOT, i'd not worry about it too much unless it was making constant noise all the time. All older cars tend to have knocks and rattles now and then and all quiet on sunny days.

Many aftermarket parts are pure rubbish and you'd be changing them every other year. From the pic you can see stabilizer bar bushings. You can try to move the bar to see if it's very loose. They look to be in a reasonably accessible place so you could just change them. You could spray some silicone oil spray on the stabilizer bar bushings and like magic that part will be very quiet for some time until you need to do it again. Change the drop links (premium stiff ones) too.

Too high tyre pressure can make it worse.

 

[chris3234]

If the car passes MOT, i'd not worry about it too much unless it was making constant noise all the time. All older cars tend to have knocks and rattles now and then and all quiet on sunny days.

Many aftermarket parts are pure rubbish and you'd be changing them every other year. From the pic you can see stabilizer bar bushings. You can try to move the bar to see if it's very loose. They look to be in a reasonably accessible place so you could just change them. You could spray some silicone oil spray on the stabilizer bar bushings and like magic that part will be very quiet for some time until you need to do it again. Change the drop links (premium stiff ones) too.

Too high tyre pressure can make it worse.

A not the the absolute minimum needed to be on the road

It definitely does not mean it's 100% safe

It all depends on how bad the rattle or knocking noise is as to if it needs doing soon,

 

[eeeno]

I assume that a car which has relatively low mileage 85k, shouldn't have any serious faults in the suspension and steering system. Of course if it had been in an accident, then that's another story. If the steering wheel doesn't vibrate, feels tight and firm and car moves straight effortlessly without having to correct it then it is something less serious.

I have some mysterious rattles and knocks which mostly disappear after adjusting tyre pressures to 2.2 bar. My car's wishbone looks exactly like the one in the picture, maybe a little more worn out but it does not appear to have any play in it.

Car's original parts have been engineered to last a lot longer than the aftermarket ones. Also there are stories of Fiats having these knocks even under warranty, main dealer changed everything but the car still knocks sometimes.

I'm not familiar how thorough the MOT is in the UK. But here they do suspension tests with a machine and simulate bad pot holes and rough road conditions to see if everything is in order.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

My previous 4x4 needed a wishbone replacing at around 40k miles because one of those rubber parts separated from the metal ring it was bonded to. But when that happened it was clear to see as the wishbone ‘dropped’ and was in contact with the subframe.
Back to drop links, you can only really check these when no weight on them. Jacking the car leaves them ‘hanging in tension’. Best way to tell: jack the car and remove the wheel. Add a second jack under the hub and raise just enough to take the weight, then try to twist the drop link. It should be stiff to twist. If at all easy to twist, it will rattle/clonk when driving.

See this earlier post and the comments that follow:
Post in thread 'identifying a clonk from below..'
https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/identifying-a-clonk-from-below.494716/post-4641449

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

By the way, those wishbone bushes are designed to have a little movement- they are in effect a hinge. So prying with a bar should allow a small amount of vertical flexing. There should not be any discernible flex in a horizontal direction though.