Alibro said:

Now he tells me!
I just spent over an hour taking the bush apart then another thirty minutes getting the new bush into the alloy cradle and it made no difference. Grrrr
To be honest I'm not surprised, the rear bush was in good condition (until I butchered it) so my money was on the strut. It is the only thing left unchanged on that corner.
Top tip. DON'T BUY A BARE BUSH! If you value your fingers, tools, time and sanity buy the bush and alloy cradle complete.

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Alibro said:

Nobody likes a smart arse!

LOL, Yeah I knew it would be a pain to change but I didn't think I would need them, the were only there 'just in case'
BTW I had another listen to your sound clip and your noise is almost identical to mine (if you mean the occasional sound I hear mostly at around 1:04 + 1:36/37 and not the continuous mixer noise). My money is defo now on the strut.
BTW why does your car sound like a cement mixer? Have you a dodgy wheel bearing as well?

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Nodge68 said:

I did say my money was on the shock at 10:52 this morning. How was I to know you'd be up with the Lark!!
I still think it's the shock though. I had a similar knock on my ZS180 that I simply couldn't trace. Eventually I had to change shock because of a leaking seal. Once the job was done, it occurred to me that the knock had vanished!! So I set the old shock in the vise and yanked on the rod. There was the knock, although softer because I'm not as strong as the car!!. I decided to cut the shock open to see what was up with it. It turned out to be play between the piston and the rod. This play allowed the rod to move almost 5mm before the piston moved, making a knock when the rod contacted the piston.
Yes those bushes are a challenge to change. Cutting the old one out is the best way. Refitting requires a press or very a large vise, but a threaded rod and some spacers will also work, just.

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flanagaj said:

Haha. I just couldn't resist that one. Read too many horror stories of people using blow torches to melt the rubber ...

Just relistened to the clip. 1:36/1:37 is the exact noise.

"BTW why does your car sound like a cement mixer?" - Haha. I like the description!. Rear prop shaft bearing. Took the shaft off yesterday and took it for a spin and said noise is gone.

If it is the strut then you'll make my day and I'll buy you a virtual beer as I cannot be bothered to keep replacing stuff on a whim.

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Alibro said:

I wasn't up early, just didn't bother looking for new posts before starting.
Shock is next on the list of things to change.
As for the bush, I drilled, cut, hammered, chiselled and swore it out. Then to get the new one in and ended up pressing it in with a bottle jack. I had to nail a long piece of wood to the door frame of the garage so the top was against the lintel and the bush fitted under it but above the jack. Then put an old bearing on the bottle jack so the centre shaft had clearance and pushed it in.

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Alibro said:

It was the shock absorber after all. I bought a used one from a scrapper this morning (complete with spring etc) and the noise is gone.

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Alibro said:

It was the shock absorber after all. I bought a used one from a scrapper this morning (complete with spring etc) and the noise is gone.

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Alibro said:

Thanks for your advice Nodge. I kinda thought it must be the shock but it helps having advice from a third party.

Regarding changing both, I didn't. The car will be up for sale by the end of the week so I just did what was necessary. In any case the strut I fitted came off a K series with a similar mileage to mine so it shouldn't cause any issues. Certainly didn't when I took it for a test drive on main roads and country roads up to 80mph.
I guess it is up to you whether you go for two matched struts from a scrappy (good luck with that but they will come with spring etc so easy to fit) or pay a bit more for struts from the likes of Carparts4less. They were £74 each when I checked but can be cheaper from Rimmers and you will need spring compressors to change them.
You'll need a long breaker bar with a 21mm hex socket to get the strut off and then drop link, TRE and top mounts and it pops out.

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flanagaj said:

Decisions, decisions. I think I might buy some coil spring compressors for £20 and strip the shock down first to see if I can see where the problem lies. I really cannot face another significant purchase without being 100% sure it will sort the issue out. I'll need to replace both as we are keeping the vehicle.

Glad you got it sorted out though!

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Alibro said:

I did that before buying the replacement one. Couldn't see anything obvious so greased everything thoroughly before refitting. Made no difference at all. I paid £40 from the scrappy but I saw the car it came off and even helped remove it so was happy the car it came from was similar age and mileage to mine.

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Alibro said:

My knock was almost silent one day and terrible the next so it sounds as if it is the same.
BTW changing the strut should only take an hour or two depending on whether you have a problem getting the big bottom bolts out or not. A longish breaker bar and hex sockets should sort it.
You'll have to disconnect the battery and unbolt the fuse box which sits above the strut then just pull it out of the way so you can get to the top bolts.
With the right tools it really is an easy job.

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