Hi all,
Looking for a little help here.
I've been chasing noises in the front area of my higher mile '02 996tt for a while.
So far I have:
1) tapped and hammered all of the front suspension looking for something loose......can not find any rubbing or looseness at all.
2)Added the windshield foam cord .......might have helped a little.
3) Added the Teflon shim between the passenger side dash mounting strut and the bulkhead mount......maybe a little help.
4) Stuffed dense foam everywhere that noise might be generated and tapped and tightened anything and everything.

Now I'm back to the suspension. The noise seems worst when cold (So. Cal. Morning cold), maybe even disappearing after 20 miles or so. It seems to occur when going over rough surfaces........but so do all rattles.

I'd really felt like it was a strut.....but of course the sliding surfaces look great, and I've never heard of a shock absorber making noise. I have cleaned and greased the front spring seats too.....which can help.

Now I'm researching and hearing about the upper strut mounts (bearings) making noise and wondering how to validate that short of replacing the parts, realigning etc? Can I squirt some grease in? Check for free paly? Visually examine them??

Should I replace all the struts on this 120k miler??

Thanks,
Mk19

 

i've never heard a broken/damaged strut but i have had wheel bearings, bad spring installs that clunk at hard lock etc. but if you ever need anyone local to chase you up or down one of these hills so you can replicate the noise or a 2nd set of ears lol pick a hill and lemme know. those of us in the 120k club gotta help each other out when possible.

but on paper? changing out the upper mounts could never be a bad idea.

 

At that mileage new struts/mounts etc are in order.

 

I have a clunk coming from that area, and its pretty high up, over certain bumps at certain speeds. I have been tracing since I got her! I have changed everything except struts and uppers. I would like to like to lower the front about 3/4". I am waiting to find the best option and then I will tackle the front end!

 

just tossing this out there. my setup is jrz coil overs with gmg drop links up front. after having olsen motorsports rebuild all my coil overs i reinstalled everything and hear a clunk in the front over bumps. called olsen and the reply was do i have heim joint drop links? yes i do. completely normal I'm told, apparently all the drop links with heim joints make the noise. i have rechecked everything front and rear at least 3 times and nothing is amiss. the shop seems to have nailed the noise.

possible its the same for oem setups? ( never had oem since i owned the car so can't compare)

 

Thanks all.
Mk

 

What they're telling you is BS. I've had heim joint drop links both front and rear on my car for the last 3 years and they make ZERO noise. None. If they are making noise, that means they have play in them in which case they are worn out. It doesn't take much play in the joint for it to make noise. Everything on my car is monoball with majority of it CUP and there is absolutely no noise from the suspension.. If you want to check your drop links for noise, just disconnect them at the sway bar and go drive the car. If the noise is gone, it's worn out heim joints. If it's still there, it's something else.

To the OP, if you are getting clunking from the uppers, there is a strong chance that the rubber in the stock upper mounts has broken down especially if you have a lot of miles on the car.

 

what you are saying makes god sense. but as this shop is the only midwestern authorized jrz rebuilder and does a 90% race oriented business i have to give some creedence as to what they say.at no time did they try to sell me anything other than what i asked for regarding rebuilding my coil overs. its surely possible my heim joints are in the end of their cycle, but i will disconnect them and see what noise is made

 

The only way a drop link will make noise is if the end joint has play in it. If it has even a tiny amount of play in it, then it's worn out and will make noise. There is no other way around that. Olsen is a good shop from what I understand. But to say that drop links with heim joint's make noise is wrong. A good quality heim joint is not noisy.

 

I had a rattle on my 01' Turbo when cold coming out of the top mount, and ended up having both the rubber bushings were bad on where the strut bolts into. They looked ok until I took the strut off, and both were bad. Replaced them, and problem went away. I had been trying to find if for a whole summer

 

The noise turned out to be coming from the sway bar bushings in front. They look like rubber blocks, but they have a fabric liner impregnated with some plastic. In one the lining was gone. Cheap fix, but only after I replaced all of the shocks and upper shock mounts for nearly $2k in parts. Live and learn.
MK19

 

mk If they hadn't been changed in 120k it wasn't wasted money but get what your saying about a cheap part making the noise.

 

Thanks for the update mk. Just goes to show how tricky suspension noises can be to diagnose. Glad you finally figured it out

 

Is it possible to change the uniballs in 997 gt3 front topmounts?

 

I had a similar noise on the (new to me) 2001 turbo, turned out to be the lower control arm bushing. Hopefully doing the fix this memorial weekend.