Front 'crack' noise
 

Hi all, I have a V5 type r which is off the road for winter, at the end of the summer it developed an occasional single 'cracking' noise front offside when cornering under load, after the noise it would then track slighly to the left. It would also sometimes crack when turning stationary lock to lock. Also, the front offside tyre has excessive wear on the inside shoulder, all other tyres are wearing evenly.

The car is on cusco zero 2e coilovers and has done about 60k miles.

Any ideas? My initial thoughts are tie rod end, lower ball joint...

Thanks


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Could be a suspension joint but I would check everything. A steering failure can have dire results.
Don't forget the bolts securing the hub to strut. If they're moving, it could give the symptoms you describe.

Thanks for the reply, yes I was going to check everything out when I get some time 👍

I've had this, an initial crack/creak reversing out of the drive, and occasionally on <25mph turns, on passenger side. No solution so far.

Strut mount possibly.

Managed to check all bolts associated with suspension/steering, nothing was loose or suspicious. As far as I can tell the tie rod end and ball joints are OK too. The only thing I could see was a mark on the camber plate where the stut had been in a different position, initially I thought I'd found the problem and that the strut was slipping on the camber plate, but on inspection of the camber plate bolts they were all tight and fine so I guess the marks could just be from a previous adjustment.​:
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...273668f014.jpg
I'll get it to a garage when it's taxed again for further checks.

Given it's on coilovers my money is on a seized top bearing. It'll probably have enough free play to move a bit, and then will 'crack'. I suspect the pulling to one side is then it being stuck the other side of what made it crack. Most don't offer separate bearings, although you should be able to replace them if so inclined, but as an example the ones on my BC's weren't particularly expensive. There are two bearings per side though, one in an alumium housing and another cartridge bearing pressed into the top hat. If this is the problem and you replace like with like then I heartily recommend rebuilding with either marine grease or boat trailer hub grease. The stickier the better! Hopefully that'll make them last a little longer next time for you.

As said above.

Thanks for the replies, sounds promising. Is there an easy way to test whether it's the top bearing? The strut moves freely when turning lock to lock stationary (both weight bearing and jacked up), I guess the seize could be intermittent as it only happens occasionally?
I was thinking of changing the suspension setup anyway as the cusco's are pretty hard on Northumbrian b roads! This might be the catalyst to change.

Not really without removing the strut and turning the top hat to feel for resistance/roughness.

I think I have decided to change my suspension away from the hard and bouncy Cusco's.
Some of you may have noticed a set of EXE-TC's on the various Facebook groups for sale for around £700 that 'look' in good nick, I am wondering whether these might be worth a punt given their excellent reputation, or whether technology has come on and a brand new set of entry level BCs for similar price will give similar performance to this ~10 year old used set of EXE-TC's? Or any other recommendations for a weekend b-road 350bhp car doing 1500miles a year?
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What are your local roads like? I stepped away from the BC’s as they didn’t have the wheel travel or control to work on the rough and lumpy roads that I enjoy driving, although on smoother Scottish A roads they were actually pretty good. I ended up with RB320 springs and Koni Sport inserts inside stock struts, although I’d probably go towards 2Pots Bilstein inserts if they were available at the time (I’m not sure they are yet). These have awesome wheel control on rough roads as well as double the travel the BC’s had, but on smoother and faster roads this leads to a bit more body roll. For me I’d recommend the Koni’s, but if you’re on smoother roads and don’t need comfort then you’d probably get more from something a bit stiffer, to the obvious detriment of composure on rougher stuff. The biggest problem I had with the BC’s was the lack of droop and their ability to lose contact with the road on a regular basis on either fades or rough corners.

if you like exe tc you should look intrax too

My local roads aren't Safari Rally horrendous but are far from smooth. I occasionally get the same lack-of-droop loss of traction with my current cusco's you mention, it can be fun at times! Another option I'm considering is shocks and springs, maybe KYBs or something similar. I'm not really bothered about comfort but would like a less bouncy and a more controlled ride than my cusco's give...

Do you have any polybushes in your suspension? If you do I'd look at those for the 'crack' noise. They dry out and don't rotate unless really loaded hard, then they crack.

Thanks for the suggestion, no polybushes though!

I have the same problem, a CLACK when I change direction forward or backward and I brake hard. I haven't been able to find the sound yet. only on the left side. I already checked everything.:wonder:

I had a similar noise it was one of the wishbone bushes