Need some assitance. My 2001 Acura TL with 167K is making a slight banging noise when I go over a minor bump on the road. I think on the front right side. I jacked the car up shook the tire at 9 and 3 position and 12 and 6 position. Just a very small amount of wiggle at 9 and 3. I had the front stabilzer along with bushings along with left and right side stabilzer links replaced last year. The left and right lower ball joints replaced along with new wheel bearings 2 years ago. Did not noticed any strut leaks the other day. Although the front spring mounting rubber looks torn. Do you think that rubber mount migt be causing the noise oe should i look elsewhere?

 

Check the ball joints again. Do the nuts have the cotter pins installed to keep the nuts from backing out. Make sure those nuts are still tight. Not sure which rubber piece you are taking about, the boot around the shaft or the rubber mounting disc. I doubt a torn boot would make a banging noise, probably some noise but not a bang. If the rubber mounting ring was torn that could make a bang if you were going over a bump in the road.

 

Thanks Jon for your reply. Check out that cracked rubber piece around the upper part of the spring. The`upper and lower ball joints still have those cotter pins in place.

 

Good Pictures. The upper seat rubber is a hefty piece of rubber, it shows in your pictures that the it is split and half out of the mount. When you hit a bump the spring first compresses then expands; when the rubber isn't underneath the top of the spring it will hit the metal the upper seat and mount sit in. it could easily make a thumping noise. If you pull them, get a good set of spring compressors and be very careful.

 

Hi Jon,

Since the car has 167K miles do you think I should have a new strut / coil spring assembly installed since those items probably had a lot of use, go with new struts or just replace the rubber part.
Which strut / coil spring assembly would you suggest or strut.

Thanks

 

I am surprised nobody else chimed in. Personally if I was going to take this all apart I would replace the coils and struts. I know others that wouldn't bother. There should be some threads you can search through here to find what others have used. I replaced mine with adjustable shocks and 1 coil on the drivers side. It really depends on the ride type you like.