Technical stilo suspension

[gazzer01278]

hi all, trying to help my brother who has just bought a 03 jtd dymanic. after first drive have noticed a annoying knocking from the drivers side struct area a local garage gave the car a quick check over today, and noticed this struct was raising when pushing down car about 10mm i would quess he tried to tighten but all was turning on beliving the seller who said recently new structs fitted garage man advised going back to them to correct having checked records-history this will not be possible.noise seems to go after building up speed but bad at slower speeds is there a tip on tightening a struct with out the whole thing turning not sure why garage coulndnt do this today but there any help welcome.we hate niggles by the way car seems to pull to the left and tyres appear to be scuffed on edge would love some advice as he feels dissapointed on his purchase..

 

[Davren]

Hi, Welcome to the FF.

The top suspension strut mounting is a floating bearing. The rubber surrounded plate visible from inside the bonnet can move up and down about 5mm when bouncing the body.

If the top mounting nut has been left loose, there's an allen key socket in the top of the strut piston rod to hold it still whilst tightening the nut.

The knocking noise is more likely to be the anti-roll bar drop link(s) worn.

Tyres worn on one edge is likely to be poorly adjusted tracking.

 

[gazzer01278]

cheers for the reply they did try and tighten but using ring spanner and allen key it was all turning like i said raising about 100mm more thread showing one side than the other

 

[yampug]

100mm is 4 inches so that doesn't sound quite right?

with an allen key in the top and ring spanner round it it wouldn't be all turning as you say unless some one had shagged the allen key hole previously?

Like davren says could be your drop links but if the suspension has been put back on incorrectly it might be the top mounts making the noise as you turn the steering?

maybe post some pics? some one might see something obvious then.

 

[Morty Mort]

Is it this gap? If so, it's supposed to be there. You won't notice it when the car is jacked up as the front suspension will follow Newton's laws.

 

[gazzer01278]

Is it this gap? If so, it's supposed to be there. You won't notice it when the car is jacked up as the front suspension will follow Newton's laws.

yes that was the gap and sorry 10mm not 100!! as you push car up and down you can hear and see the knocking at this area,you say this gap should be there but shouldn't it be same as other side that's not making this noise.there is definitely more thread showing above the nut one side than the other will try and post some pics as you said thanking you so much for the help having had to scrap his last car with fuel issues/ecu wishing him an easy time with his new purchase!!!!!

 

[Morty Mort]

Well, if the shocks are equal, the gap height should be the same. You can check by removing the top nut when the car is standing on the street. Do NOT remove the nut underneath - that holds the spring to the shock (within the top mount). It might be that this second nut wasn't tightened enough, or has come loose - which I find very strange. There is quite some force within the unit.

Anyway the layout is very simple. You can see Decks strut guide or my Eibach guide on the guides section for help. The strut assembly is removed in one piece for inspection, and then you might be able to tell if there are threads on the underside of the nut, that has yet to be tightened. You will eventually need two long spring compressors or four standard ones (as I used).

 

[sparkybhoy]

The knocking could also be the CV joint, especially as it disappears at speed. Is it more prevalent when the wheels are turned left or right?

Slight hijack, but I have some similar problems on the Mrs' Stilo.

It pulls to the left yet the tracking is fine, also clonks when wheel is turned left or right of centre, you can even feel it. Feels like a broken spring but it's not an no other obvious indicators of what it could be.???

 

[gazzer01278]

the steering seems fine its just the knocking that's and the slight pulling to the left a concern. the garage noticed the tyres have been swapped around to prolong wear still find it odd theres more thread on one shock showing in the engine bay and the right hand side dosnt show this gap when pushing down the front........

 

[Morty Mort]

Might just be two different nuts used on each side. Remove the top nut and the large rubbered shim to reveal the main nut underneath. This can safely be done with the car standing on the wheels. If the car is jacked up the strut assembly will fall out - so: let it rest on the wheels. No harm can be done. Take two photos and post them on here.

 

[gazzer01278]

right here goes tried to undo-tighten nut while holding with allen which wouldnt undo-or tighten the whole thing turns as one with no budgeing maybe why the garage left it alone on inspection!! next tip plz!!

this shows the difference 10mm gap drivers side when i push car up n down you can hear the poss knocking

 

[Morty Mort]

Hi. One of them looks a bit too high. When I had the OEM suspension on, the gap was much higher than when I changed the setup to Eibach. But that has nothing to do with the strut itself. The nuts that came with the Eibach set was shorter, like a standard nylock nut. The OEM nuts had an extra flange, making the top shim/mount rest higher.

I would still try to remove the top nut to see if the nuts underneath are the same. They will be pretty tight... as you have figured. But you need to stop the piston from spinning around. To do this you need an offset ring spanner and either a large (for torque) hex key or a common wrench. Different shocks have different design. If you have to remove the complete unit, this thing has to come off anyway.

 

[Morty Mort]

https://www.fiatforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=27299&d=1177503393

https://www.fiatforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=27304&d=1177503732

See the difference on the nuts?

 

[mihaitza83]

why do i have this impresion that your problems are from this part...
i've had the same problem with my ex skoda fabia...it's a bearing inside that part..