1998 S70 N/A noises in suspension

[Ocelot]

Hey guys,

I'm having some trouble finding the source of some noises in the front suspension of my S70. I made a dashcam video where - if you turn up the volume high - you can hear the clunking noises when I make a right hand corner. I've replaced the right outer tie rod because it had too much play. The audio/video isn't synchronised 100%, that happens a lot when I upload these videos to YouTube



But wait, there's more! When the car is fully loaded (4 persons, luggage in the rear) the right axle/wheel makes a creepy rattling/wobbling noise when taking a left corner. The sensation in the steering wheel is kind of frightening because it feels like the wheel is about to come loose. You can feel a strange and hard vibration in the steering wheel and you also hear it plain as day. I replaced the right axle a while back with an used replacment because the inner cv joint was shot. I'm suspecting a worn outer cv joint. What are your thoughs?

[Cookeh]

Private video, I'm afraid. Clunks can be drop links though (at least that is what mine is!), and bad arb bushes can also cause clunks on undulating surfaces. Your description of the symptoms for the fully-loaded car do seem to suggest CV joint to me though.

[Ocelot]

Oh, my bad! Here's the link again:

Can you explain what drop links and arb bushes are? Do you mean the rubber bushes in the control arms? Keep in mind, English isn't my native language

[dj_v70]

I couldn't hear your noise very well. I had several ball joints go bad on my old Volvo 240s over the years, they would clunk when going around corners. Left ball joint for right hand turn.

Can you mount your dash cam under car to view suspension while clunk happens?

[800artfreed]

Usually CV joint noise is a clicking sound when rounding a corner especially at low speeds. As you came to a slow rolling stop I heard the noise again. I would look at the top of the strut. The strut mount is a common point of failure but you would probably hear it going straight and over bumps. Also please check the sway bar links. This is the 30cm long vertical bar attached from the end of the sway bar to the strut, one on each side of the car. It has two small "ball joints" one at each end. Jack up the car and then use another jack to reduce tension on the link. If it is bad you should see a lot of movement in one of both of the ends and maybe a broken boot. They fail very often.

[Cookeh]

Oh, my bad! Here's the link again:

Can you explain what drop links and arb bushes are? Do you mean the rubber bushes in the control arms? Keep in mind, English isn't my native language

My bad! Drop links are the little links that are bolted onto your suspension strut on one end and the anti roll bar on the other end. ARB bushes are the bushes holding the anti roll bar onto the subframe.

[Ocelot]

Usually CV joint noise is a clicking sound when rounding a corner especially at low speeds. As you came to a slow rolling stop I heard the noise again. I would look at the top of the strut. The strut mount is a common point of failure but you would probably hear it going straight and over bumps. Also please check the sway bar links. This is the 30cm long vertical bar attached from the end of the sway bar to the strut, one on each side of the car. It has two small "ball joints" one at each end. Jack up the car and then use another jack to reduce tension on the link. If it is bad you should see a lot of movement in one of both of the ends and maybe a broken boot. They fail very often.

Thanks for the reply! The sway bar links are called "stabilisatorstangen" in Dutch language. I will check them like you told me. I think the strut mounts are shot too because I hear the clunks also going on a straight road with bumps. I've just visited Poland so I heard them a lot the past few weeks