Technical Front end creaking over bumps

[Quantum Fireball]

I've had an intermittent issue with the Panda (1.1 Active Eco) and some creaking noise (kind of a squeaky creak?) from the front end, which is most pronounced when going over speed bumps i.e. the whole car is pitching. Rocking the car by hand from the side doesn't really make any noise. It seems to go away when it's wet.

Based on some searching here, could it be the anti-roll bar bushes? The drop links look fairly new, as do the springs/shocks (although off-brand). I don't feel any obvious play when I lift the front wheels. I guess it would be easier to determine if I disconnect the drop links?

 

[koalar]

Find somewhere that repeatly causes the noisr

Spray some soapy water on the anti roll bar bushes and retest, if it stops it can only the bit you sprayed

 

[Quantum Fireball]

I had tried that a few times with silicone spray or WD-40 and I never really got anywhere with the intermittent nature of it. I'll try soapy water though, thanks.

 

[koalar]

The most likely place in my opinion would be the bushes on the lower control arm, still the same test

 

[Quantum Fireball]

Thanks for the suggestion. It does appear to be the lower control arm bushes. I guess the only option there is to replace the whole arms? Any recommendations on brands?

 

[DaveMcT]

Original Birth from Shop 4 Parts have been good to me.

Make 100% sure the ball joint pin clamp is locking tight onto the pin. Mine was bolting up but leaving the pin loose. I had to replace the whole knuckle.

 

[koalar]

Thanks for the suggestion. It does appear to be the lower control arm bushes. I guess the only option there is to replace the whole arms? Any recommendations on brands?

Here in England I find if i buy from a local motor factors there normally okay, they don't want you turning up at their counter for a return

I would stay away from febi, there rubber parts in general have not been the best quality, we have also seen there thermostats fail

 

[koalar]

. I guess the only option there is to replace the whole arms?

Last ones I fitted I bought as a pair on offer, Can't remember the exact price, was over £30 but under £40, and got a couple of quid back on the old arms as scrap

For that I got 4 new bushes and two new ballpoints


I have replaced just the bushes about a fiver each in the past, but there's a lot more work involved, worth it on some car where the full arms are expensive, last time I checked it didn't make sense on the panda, Depends on budget, time, tools available and so on

 

[Shuggie]

Original Birth from Shop 4 Parts have been good to me.

Make 100% sure the ball joint pin clamp is locking tight onto the pin. Mine was bolting up but leaving the pin loose. I had to replace the whole knuckle.

My car came a couple of years ago with lower arms where the rubber inserts had become totally detached (God knows how it had passed an MOT) and I fitted a set of Original Birth arms, bought from Shop4Parts. They seemed fine, but more recently, road noise has become a real bugbear, so I replaced the Original Birth arms with premium Lemforder items which seem to have much more compliant rubber inserts - not much change in road noise but the car's handling, steering and general quietness of the suspension over bumps is dramatically improved. In the greater scheme of things, I think the Lemforder arms are superior value, despite the higher (but hardly excessive) cost. For cost-conscious owners, the cheap arms are of course safe, and functional.

I wonder if your loose pin problem was a result of someone being heavy handed with a chisel/screwdriver to open up the lower knuckle bolt hole to release the locking bolt, something that I've seen done on many YouTube videos. A carefully deployed ball joint splitter separates the lower arm pin from the iron knuckle without any drama.

 

[Quantum Fireball]

I was recommended TRW parts, which seem reasonably priced (around €75 for two lower arms). I guess I should get a ball joint splitter too.

 

[koalar]

Nope

Do one side at a time so the anti roll bar is helping you

Undo all the bolts, heavy hammer helps

Smash down with a 2 1/2 lb or greater club hammer and it will drop out

The bolts need tightening with the wheels on the ground


Be careful with the torque of the pinch bolt, early Haynes manual and some online resources quote it wrong, copied and pasted from the later models which use a larger bolt

4410B40 LOWER WISHBONE (WITH BALLJOINT) OF LEFT OR RIGHT FRONT SUSPENSION (ONE) - R+R -CHECK WHEEL GEOMETRY SEPARATELY - Fiat - PANDA - eLearn - 4CarData

Piece of cake, less than 5 minutes once you done one and if you have the right tools to hand

The pinch bolt, undo the nut and drift the bolt out, if it's corroded together and you use a breaker bar on the bolt head side, you risk twisting the head off, I never broken one but other have,

Nut should go to the front of the car

 

[DaveMcT]

Drift the old bolts out and scrap them. Fit a new high tensile bolt with plenty of anti seize paste. Shop 4 Parts sell the OEM bolts for not very much.

Use an old screwdriver to CAREFULLY open the clamp, otherwise you will not get the ball joint pin out of the hub carrier. When the new arms are bolted up make sure the pins are fully clamped. My Multijet had been used with a loose clamp. The hole had worn so much that it could not clamp the pin. I had to replace the hub carrier.