Terrible Noise From Suspension

[dannyh]

Help Help Help, Terrible squeaking squealing and groaning coming from nearside front suspension, people hear me coming before they see me, 30mins with the RAC, couldn`t find anything, he squirted all the bushes with lots of WD40, done nothing, 1 Hour at the garage (Ford Dealers, I`m away on Holiday at the moment, Great!) they said, " It sure is making a lot of noise, (like I didn`t know that) but we cant find anything wrong)
Now to me it sounds like the noise is coming from the spring itself, possibly the upper seat, spring is not broken, and the noise starts a couple of mins after starting off, and gets worse and worse, leave it for an hour or so, and the noise goes, then you drive it for a couple of mins, and it`s back again.
It is driving me crazy, any advice from you guys would be great, by the way I should have said, it`s a 2000 model Galant GLS Estate.

Many thanks
Danny

[Davezj]

you really do want to be careful here as on the VR4 we have had suspension joint fails and the whole front corner of the suspension has colapsed.

you want to check the lower straight arm that goes to the bottom of the hub carrier. it is the ball joint that has failed on the VR4.

search on" ball joint fail" or "suspension fail" thankfully the failures have occured at low speed and no one has been hurt, but if it fails at speed it could be a massive accident.

i don't know that this is the problem with you car as it is a UK galant. but it is a manufactures racall on the VR4 but should have been fixed on a 2000 car.

my advice would be don't drive it until it is sorted out.

does the steering feel heavy/stiffer than it normally is. when it is creacking?
this is a sign that the ball joint has dried up and is grinding in the socket, if so it could fail at any time.

[psbarham]

as dave says its your bottom arms, take it to mitsu and ask them if the recall has been done on it, if it hasn't get mitsu to buy you some new arms. if it has buy some mitsu arms.

[dannyh]

Oh dear, this sounds like it could be the problem, how would I check if it is one for a recall, will my local dealer tell me, and are the 2000 Galant Estates part of it?

[craigo]

OMG!!! i am so glad i checked this site out.....you guys might have just saved my ass! long story short....i have been geting these loud evil sounding noises (sends shivers up spine thinking bout it) for about a week, getting worse each day!! It will be in the garage first thing in morning........thanks guys

[Kenneth]

If you drive it to the garage first thing, drive slowly! We have had members say the same thing and the ball joints collapsed before they got there.

Its a very serious issue unfortunately. A design flaw In my opinion.

[orionn2o]

Yes this is a serious problem and will make a mess of your car if it happens. I have had it happen to me whilst driving and it was not fun.

[craigo]

Guys i cant thank you enough, basically **** myself driving to workshop, but made it ........thanks again

[gorgath]

Is this the same issue on knocking sound like going over speed humps, small pot holes or rough roads as well as getting over on a drive way?

Coz I have this clacking/knocking noise on my front right suspension.

[orionn2o]

Could be that.

Could be a loose bolt on your lower arms.

If you notice it when you change from going forwards to backwards or vice versa, I would be checking that your caliper bolts are both done up tight