General Wow, that could have been nasty!

[randomizered]

Had a knocking at the front right for a few weeks, especially under braking, and suspension travel.

I thought it may have been a caliper or clearance issue after the 257mm vented conversion, so stripped all the braking down.

I found the source of the knock! One of the 3 bolts that hold the lower arm on was almost out, and the bracket was flexing downward!!! This is the arm I replaced when I did the engine conversion (all torqued up to 88Nm)

It was only a few turns from being out! Guess I'm lucky I didn't put it off another weekend

All is well again now though

Anyone else ever had this happen? Maybe I should thread lock them!?

Kristian

 

[col7104]

crikey! Very lucky you looked in time! Makes me wanna go check mine out first thing tomorrow

 

[randomizered]

Indeed, I check all of the lower arm bolts once i spotted the one, and they were all still torqued up fine so goodness knows how it happened.

I know I won't be putting off those little noises for so long in the future

Kristian

 

[custard]

are they niloc nuts?

 

[randomizered]

no, just plain old long bolts. If they were I would have replaced them no question. There are 4 in total (two either side of the car) and all 4 were removed for the powerflex bushes, just the one came loose.

I'll be keeping an eye on it now, thats for sure.

Kristian

 

[custard]

yeah i couldnt remember what were lock and what werent.
when i had the cinq the fiat dealers were 5 minutes walk up the road so handy

 

[Brooky]

mmm,i changed a bottom arm the other day.i didnt torque them up tho,just as tight as i could

But.....i did forget to do the ball joint nut up i set off after finishing work on the car at 12:30 at night and had this awfull squiling,the bottom arm was pushing onto the brake disk.not good but i did it up in the morn

The old ball joint was shocking tho,it just rattled arond in the casing

 

[auto_blanco]

mmm,i changed a bottom arm the other day.i didnt torque them up tho,just as tight as i could

But.....i did forget to do the ball joint nut up i set off after finishing work on the car at 12:30 at night and had this awfull squiling,the bottom arm was pushing onto the brake disk.not good but i did it up in the morn

The old ball joint was shocking tho,it just rattled arond in the casing

I recently had that on an E30 320i I had and ive just today changed both lower arms on my sisters Fiesta, balljoints were unbelievable its almost dangerous to not check them pretty regular, ie more often than MOT time....

I think if you do them back up as tight as they were when they came off you should be alright, remembering to always replace Ni-Loc nuts if fitted...just get a big long breaker and do them up properly tight though

 

[soopahfly]

I wonder if the balljoint is making mine howl when going round a corner.

Hmmm.

What tools do I need to check?

 

[custard]

I recently had that on an E30 320i I had and ive just today changed both lower arms on my sisters Fiesta, balljoints were unbelievable its almost dangerous to not check them pretty regular, ie more often than MOT time....

I think if you do them back up as tight as they were when they came off you should be alright, remembering to always replace Ni-Loc nuts if fitted...just get a big long breaker and do them up properly tight though

you shouldnt be using a breaker bar to torque up nuts/bolts.way to much scope to over torque/shear etc
personally on critical components i always use the torque wrench

 

[auto_blanco]

I wonder if the balljoint is making mine howl when going round a corner.

Hmmm.

What tools do I need to check?

to check a balljoint for play, jack whichever corner up, and 1st, get a lever and pry against the ground and the tyre, and/or, take the wheel off and lever against the strut/lower arm etc and if there is no play, you are good, all you need is a long ish lever

 

[auto_blanco]

you shouldnt be using a breaker bar to torque up nuts/bolts.way to much scope to over torque/shear etc
personally on critical components i always use the torque wrench

so do I but for those that dont.....cant really go too wrong, ive only ever sheared bolts taking them off!

 

[custard]

yeah but if its over torqued you could be creating an issue for the next time you remove it.
eg a good one would be the lower arm bolts that goes into the chassis!! snap that and many hours of joy ahead

 

[auto_blanco]

lol yep!! ive never done it myself but I have had to fix someone elses over torqueing and a captive nut for a fuel tank that had half the bolt left in it, not fun....:bang:

 

[GoBe]

Real fun one for that is the off-side engine mount. Mine was pre-messed up so when I went to torque it up it never torqued down before stripping the thread. So I was left with the car in the middle of the drive and the only thing stopping the block from hitting the ground is the engine crane! :bang:

 

[K4RL]

not quite the same problem, but i had a knocking coming from the front of mine the other day. got worse the faster i went.

turned out 3 of the wheel bolts had came lose for some strange reason!!

that could of been nasty too, lol.

 

[randomizered]

Like what happened to GhostWKD, But his sheared off! That is one thing I always check every week or so, even carry the torque wrench in the boot for the purpose lol...that and "self defense"

Kristian