suspension clunk

[mrdandandan]

Hey everyone,

I'm having trouble with suspension on my '85 dg engine camper, its developed a sort of rattly knock from the front passenger side when driving over potholes /minor lumps in the road surface, pretty rattly on minor roads! the upper wishbone bushes appear fine,shocks and springs working nicely, no bouncing or bottoming out. The anti roll bar bushes and linkage are just renovated, all new bushes as I envisaged that was the problem but, no, its still there... the outer radius rod bushings look cracked and my other suspicion is the lower wishbone bush as it too looks cracked. Running out of ideas but need to get it sorted quick, does anyone have a suggestion?
PS
is the lower wishbone bush pressed in? I'm assuming the whole arm plus stub axle can be manouevered away without stripping it down.

[Oldiebut goodie]

I had the same problem and also did all the bushes with no result. Then decided to change the shocks - this was where the problem was, there is a metal spacer sleeve at the top and this was worn. Replaced this at the same time as the shocks and clunking gone.
Worth a look - problem is the nut at the top is bound to be rusted in place so is a bu**er to undo. You end up trashing the shock to get it off so don't start unless you are ready with replacements.

[mrdandandan]

Hi, thanks for your reply, I'll try that, as it is the kind of thing that could keep you guessing and replacing till christmas...
Dan