Best way to diagnose suspension noises?
 

I rebuilt my front suspension almost 2 years ago (upper control arms, lower bushings and ball joints, and all of the guide rod parts), and for a while it was great, but now the car sits about 1/2 inch lower on the drivers side and makes loud popping noises and pulls to one side or the other sometimes under braking and makes noises when backing up with the wheels turned. I am confident that I put it back together properly when I first did the job, I have checked again now and nothing I did is coming loose, and there is no rust anywhere on the car enough to compromise the strength of the metal. Other than that, I'm really not sure. There is visible play in the front wheel if you grab the top and shake it, but none in the direction of the steering. There is also no visible play in the suspension parts. Any ideas? My best guess is one of the new parts I installed is failing already, but I can't tell which it would be.

I don't want to sound flippant but are all the lug bolts tight? I had a tire repaired by a shop years ago and found out on I-5 just north of Seattle, that the front driver side lug nuts (on my full size Ford Bronco) were loose enough to fall out. I didn't wreck but I complained to the shop and had to put new studs into the hubs.

After that, if there is visible movement on the camber axis, check to see if your wheel bearing is shot. Other than that, maybe the upper control arm? You won't have enough strength to move it when it is weighted but when it is in the air, you could.

You might try dropping the spring and shock to see if there is any dirt in there. If the spring is sitting on any little rocks it may be making noise if slightly moving a bit.
I'm dreading the day I have to get into the steering of my car. It's gonna happen, I just need it to happen when I have a place to work on the car, not here in the street in Jersey City (a big no-no.)

Good luck.
Phil Forrest

I agree with the wheel bolts and wheel bearing check - good place to start. After that I'd suspect ball joints (probably upper one) based on the information given so far.

If there's play with vehicle still on the ground, get that thing jacked up and find the problem! Something's liable to be flopping around once the weight's off the wheel. Locating the issue is a process of elimination and / or visual detection. Move the wheel, see if the lug bolts are tight. Look at the caliper and spindle in the back, see if they are moving also. Look at various other components and watch for movement. It helps to have someone else shake the wheel while you look. And please make sure there's a suitable support under the car in addition to the jack before doing work or sliding underneath.

remember the lil shock under front suspension wears out,and the idler arm too.

Best way to find such noises or other suspension system is with "The Four P's.

Raise the car safely and get underneath with some various size and shape prybars, then Push, Pull, Pry and Prod on every suspension and steering joint underneath the vehicle. For ball joints you will have to pay attention to which one is loaded when on the ground and which one is loaded while the wheel is in the air.

Hope this helps.

lemme guess...

uro parts?

Giant screw driver and leverage! Like Air&Road said, the four P's!

Not 100% sure on the upper control arms, but most of the parts were lemforder parts. I did check the lug bolts and they are tight, I will try jacking it up and prying on stuff this weekend too. All of the steering linkage was new 2 years ago as well.

It could also be the sway bar....it mounts to the firewall and one mount is near the battery area....if there is in significant rot or rust in that area one of the mounts can let go....I have a huge rot hole under the battery...getting close to a mount...

Good idea, I will check the mounts. I know as of at least a few months ago there wasnt any rust in that area, but something coming loose is quite possible.

If you get really stuck investigating untraceable noises I reckon slip plates are the way to go...