Great write ups and advice on front suspension work...maybe you can help me. I have done a complete front end rebuild on my 84 300tdt:
New Bilstein comfort shocks
New wheel bearings
New ball joints
New guide rod mounts (at footwells) and mount kit (at LCA
New upper control arms
New LCA inner bushings
New tie rods
New drag link
(also new rotors, pads, rebuilt calipers)

My problem is that I still have bumping noise at the front end. It only happens (or is most noticable) at low to moderate speeds (15 to 30 mph or so) only when going over "washboard" surface (dirt road, section of patch paved road, railroad tracks)...the type of surface that will cause the front end to rapidly go up and down...almost a vibrating motion. What I hear is a very noticable bump, bump, bump....far down at the wheel....it sounds like a bad ball joint, except that I never hear the true symptoms of a bad ball joint..a pronounced bump at a big dip in the road. This sound sounds like something is loose. I looked at everything...tightened all bolts, made sure rotors were tightly attached to the hub, and so forth.

What I am trying now as we speak is coating the backs of the brake pads with that sticky stuff that is supposed to quiet disc brake squeal..I am thinking that maybe the pads are banging around in the calipers...I usually put this stuff on the pads, but i didn't do this the last time I did pads, when i did ball joints (I will really be surprised if this fixes the noise).

I am pretty much as wit's end...I even rotated the tires to see if the rims/wheels were causing the noise (cracked rim?). The noise is definitely at the wheel/hub/LCA area, Not at the foot wells, not up high near UCA.

After I do the sticky coating on brake pads, there is absolutely nothing else I can think of. I also checked to see if there is any other loose item....AC related, bad motor mounts (but these are recent), engine shocks, etc. But I can't find anything that is loose.

Any suggestions? Am I missing something obvious?

Thanks in advance,

Mark

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1984 300TD Wagon, 407,800 mi (current daily driver)
1985 300DT Sedan, 330,000 mi (gone to that great autobahn in the sky)