J!n K@z@mA

iTrader: (9)

There a rattle from the front end of the car that I can't figure out.

I thought it might be the tie rods and I just replaced them with new ones but it was not the problem.

Then I disconnected the front sway bar links because it might be the sway bar link joints are going bad but that wasn't the case either. It still rattles with the sway bar disconnected.

One shop told me it's the gears of my steering rack but I'm a bit skeptical because I do not feel anything weird holding/turning the steering wheel while driving.

I checked the top ball joint of the front coilovers going bad but I do not feel any slack on them.

I also checked the bushings of the control arms but they are still good.

Any suggestion would really help.

llDemonll

iTrader: (21)

power steering lines, axles, bushings, top-hats on the struts

barneyb

Maybe it has to be metal to metal for the sound to travel into the car. But, whack the front fascia on any newer car and the entire front rattles with all the sloppy loose plastic fasteners holding things together.

Pull the driver's front wheel and explore between the bulge on the transmission and the subframe. There's a metal power steering pipe there that might get bent by a flat rate mechanic doing a clutch job.

J!n K@z@mA

iTrader: (9)

There's a lot of people telling me it's the spherical bearing of the top hats. That might be the case.

I already checked everything from sway bar links to sterling rack and axles but non of those are the issue

CaptainSquirts

iTrader: (3)

When my strut mounts when bad they made a knocking sound. Especially on really bumpy surfaces when going slow.

llDemonll

iTrader: (21)

just went through this same thing. mine sounded kind of like an axle going bad but it wasn't a click/knock type sound, it was much quicker and less pronounced, like a metal binding/clicking sound. hard to describe, but different.

Haven't replaced them yet however we did bang around on the car and trace down the clicking that could be heard when pushing down on the front suspension to the top hats and when off the car you could feel some play in them.

new ones are still on order regardless as mine have 120k on them but i'm 90% confident that's the issue. i'm replacing all 4

Rossi_24

I just finally figured out my clunking rattling noise at start up and while driving turns out my sway bar was hitting my downpipe after my spring install and was sending this awful noise and vibration thru the cabin of the car

heel2toe

iTrader: (41)

Top hats especially aftermarket with sphericals are very easy to diagnose. Pop off the strut and if you feel play then you know thats your issue. If theyre bad enough you'll even be able to jack up the front and see movement in the spherical as the wheel goes from being loaded to unloaded.

Jonno99

I still have stock suspension and have the top hat knock on the left front and my car is right hand drive seems to be always on the left with most cases. Is it going to cause any issues if I just leave it and not worry, for now I couldn't care less


By the way there are threads a mile long in here dating back to 2006 on this issue, its interesting to see how many years it took to find out what it really was, that plus the power steering hose