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Re: [alfa] Inspecting suspension parts



Hi Mark:

Did you give the castor bushing a good inspection, and the ball joint on the far side of the castor arm? Sometimes it's tough to feel any free play, but with the suspension loaded (i.e. with the wheel off and with a jack stand under the lower a-arm), you might feel it. There might be another source, but that clunk you described with the brakes has always been a castor part on 105/115's I've had. There are a few different types of castor bushings, one that has a set of washers, and one that doesn't. I don't recall what year it changed, but the best solution seems to be polyurethane in that spot, anyway.

Regards,

Dean
Lutz, FL
'74 & '87 Spider Veloce's

At 10:37 PM 6/30/2004, you wrote:

Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 21:14:04 -0400
From: Mark Denovich <denovich@domain.elided>
Subject: [alfa] Inspecting suspension parts

I'm trying to track down a small clunk in the front end of my '86
Spider.   It's not really audible, but can be felt clearly through the
steering wheel.   I feel it coming from the driver's side.   It seems
to happen in a fore-aft manner.   Generally happens upon application
of brakes, or heavy bumps...   not all the time.   Seems to flop in
one direction ans stays there until the opposite motion causes it to
flop back.    I never notice it at speed over relatively smooth
pavement.

I had the car up on stands and went over the various ball joints/tie
rods/bushings.   I found a bad outer tie-rod end which I replaced (and
it had a wonderful effect on steering) but the clunk is still there.
Is there a more accurate method of tracking down problem parts other
than pulling/pushing on various bits hoping to feel some slop?

- --Mark
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