Help! Serious Knocking

[crazyscoot]

This may sound odd but you need to carefully check the rear shock absorbers. You'll probably find that the lower "eye" rubber insulater/s have deteriorated causing this symptom
This happened to me, on my '96 van.Good luck

This happend to me also but it was the top rubbers and it used to knock all the time. going around corners wasnt fun

[AndyG]

This may sound odd but you need to carefully check the rear shock absorbers. You'll probably find that the lower "eye" rubber insulater/s have deteriorated causing this symptom
This happened to me, on my '96 van.Good luck

This happend to me also but it was the top rubbers and it used to knock all the time. going around corners wasnt fun

When I first heard mine it sounded really serious When I found what it was, I couldn't believe how non serious it was and happilly drove home with the stereo turned up

[peter]

Thanks again guys, This really is a great forum! I'll get the man to check the rears and bushes this morning and hopefully i canrest easy withthe stereo up too!
Peter
Ps I'll post the results tonight ...

[powerbear]

mine had a knocking and a scraping coming from the front and its mot was due so asked the garage to have a look and he could find nothingwrong at all and it flew through its test . trouble is the noise was still there and it started getting worse ( and i did quite a few miles ) so i took it to a different garage and it turned out the front wheel was loose and id give it a wiggle and found no play he nipped it up and presto .... unfortunatly it had knacked the wheel nuts and i snapppeda stud trying to put my spare on but thats a different story

[peter]

much the same here .... I got 2 garages to have a look yesterday and they both said ''nothing wrong'' ... so i'm going to travel and live with it.
It wasn't the wheel, wasn't the bushes, not the shocks or mounts and not the springs. One guy did suggest that, because there is no load in the van it is riding high and therefore there might be a bit of a gap between one spring and the rubber cup it sits in when the body keels over. This would give a soft knocking until the ''cup'' was worn enough to allow metal on metal contact with the support member underneath. This might give the elusive sound but there is no way of telling without a strip-down of the suspension.
I'm not going to worry anymore so i'm off on the ferry tonight. Thanks again to all you enthusiasts for your comments.
Peter

[pictishpunkgirl]

Hi Smooth Hound here on Pictish Punk girls log in.
Have a look at your front calipers. 1/ that the bolts or bolt arent loose or missing. 2/ check for sideways movement espesially if the pads are fairly worn, side ways movement is not a problem as it is supposed to move sideways abit to allow for wear on pads asaobviously they get thinner, but if they are noisey then i cant remember what but some minor part is missing , if they do rattle from side to side though then i am sure someone else will tell you what that minor part is. Good luck .
Mike

[FredTransit]

I would say springs too, we had a knocking like that and despite the van being a 22ft twin wheeler, we don't have an anti roll bar.

[motorwise]

mine had a knocking and a scraping coming from the front and its mot was due so asked the garage to have a look and he could find nothingwrong at all and it flew through its test . trouble is the noise was still there and it started getting worse ( and i did quite a few miles ) so i took it to a different garage and it turned out the front wheel was loose and id give it a wiggle and found no play he nipped it up and presto .... unfortunatly it had knacked the wheel nuts and i snapppeda stud trying to put my spare on but thats a different story

good garage and a well executed MOT test - not

[stivh]

Totally off the mark probably but I lived with similar like knock until the starter motor fell out of it's housing one day. Check that it is fully secure as it will start your engine if only just resting in the housing.

[powerbear]

mine had a knocking and a scraping coming from the front and its mot was due so asked the garage to have a look and he could find nothingwrong at all and it flew through its test . trouble is the noise was still there and it started getting worse ( and i did quite a few miles ) so i took it to a different garage and it turned out the front wheel was loose and id give it a wiggle and found no play he nipped it up and presto .... unfortunatly it had knacked the wheel nuts and i snapppeda stud trying to put my spare on but thats a different story

good garage and a well executed MOT test - not

yep first time ive used that garage and last i reckon . in the past ive wished for an mot'er that was lenient but i think this bloke does his work from his arm chair lol

[thehangmen]

Noticed this on two different vans now, a swb and to a lesser degree on the currrent lwb minibus.
It seems noticeable through the floor and particularly through the throttle pedal if it's the same thing. It's intermittent as well which doesn't help.

Tightening the exhaust downpipe solved it the first time!
But with the latest round, that all checks out fine and the 'knock' feel is still almost identical to that first problem.

If it's any consolation we got a few thousand (worried) miles out of it in that condition.

[peter]

Still knocking 5000 miles later but some old Ukrainian Guy who keeps public transport tansit buses on the road when there isn't much of a road (or much of a bus) said to keep an eye on the wheel nuts , (as suggested here of course) because sometimes, with standard torque they dont quite hold, especially if someone has mistakenly used copper grease on the threads and it's spread to the hub. (i know it sounds wierd).
I'm going to wind them up a bit over the top with a scaffold bar later today and we'll see ...........
Thanks for the further comments..
Peter

[MrMPuk]

I'm going to wind them up a bit over the top with a scaffold bar later today and we'll see ...........

I really wouldn't do that, they are torqued for a reason. If they are tight I would leave them alone.

[rover]

Totaly agree MrM, they are tourqued for a reason....if there is too much strain on the studs you run the risk of snapping one (or more), and that would be far more hassle than checking the tightness every thousand miles or so wouldnt it

Rover.

[Luke]

I'd agree with the 2 above dont over torque the wheel nuts

quickly reading through the whole thread (might have missed summat but) i'd have thought shocker top mountings - quite oftern a phisical check will produce no movement but under extreme load- i.e. while the vans moving it will knock!!