TC21/100 - Rattling from front

My Grey Lady makes a rattling sound when the front wheels go over bumps. I have tried to find the obvious loose items under the car such as exhaust, wing struts, heater blower etc which all seem to be held firmly and fast. I am beginning to suspect the front suspension and wondered if anyone had any thoughts that might help my diagnostics. The ball joints had new caps a couple of years ago, and the slave steering box was removed and sent away for refurbishment. That solved the "floating" steering sensation and considerably reduced the steering wheel play. The noise is more pronounced from the kerb side. Can anyone give me a clue as to what I should be looking out for please? I should add the car passed its MOT last time and the noise was just noticeable then. I did not have any advisories relating to suspension. I can be contacted direct if permitted on my mobile 07919373836 Posted by Nigel Griffiths 10/06/2013 14:22:46

Could be; 1 worn shock absorber bushes/fixings top & bottom 2 steering idler arm hitting chassis 3 worn trunnion pins top/bottom 4 worn inner wishbone rubbers top/bottom 5 steering idler thrust bolt loose allowing idler to float up & down 6 upper wishbone bump stop fallen off  7 broken spring 8 anti roll bar chassis &suspension mounting rubbers worn  If none of the above are obvious and you have a tame MOT man get him to put the car on his suspension shaker thing and watch closely Posted by Peter Martin 10/06/2013 20:18:09

Thanks Peter. I will investigate accordingly. Posted by Nigel Griffiths 11/06/2013 08:36:07

Hello Nigel,  If your car has wire wheels, the brake drum retaining screws have a habit of unscrewing themselves and allowing the drum to rattle. I cured mine with a spot of thread locker.  good luck, Andrew Posted by tf1695 11/06/2013 12:19:44

Andrew - thanks for that. yes RLX 367 does have wire wheels and the shoes have recently (the summer before last) been relined. Now I come to think about it the rattling started not long after that. It will be the 1st thing to check out. Regards Nigel Posted by Nigel Griffiths 11/06/2013 13:59:59

Nigel Did you fix  your rattle? I found one inside the n/s wing along  the bottom edging strip rather than the stay. Broken ends therein were invisible but twitched against each other over bumps. Also the horn supports work loose..and drop off.   Vic Round Posted by Vic Round 15/01/2014 11:08:00

Vic A tame local MOT centre diagnosed that 3 of the trunions are showing signs of wear. I am about to order replacements and have these installed. Just need a break in the weather to take the old girl out to the garage. I did check the struts holding the wings and the horn. All seem well and withstood some serious tugging. I will get the garage to check these again when they work on the trunions.  We are booked in for the Fougeres rally so it is important the car gets a thorough going over. I have a slight leak from the from sump plate which is also annoying. I hope it's just a matter of tightening up the nuts. The plus side it keeps rust away from that part of the car and chassis! I just hope I don't have to take the whole plate off and reseal it. It was easy when the engine was out of the car but will be awkward now. Thanks for your suggestions. Regards Nigel Posted by Nigel Griffiths 20/01/2014 09:52:10