Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Hi all, I have a creak/rattle from my front nearside Suspension.

I've had a good look around at the bushes and none seem to be perished (visual check only).

It could be the strut or perhaps more likely a balljoint?

Big question is it's BL Day tomorrow. Would you risk doing a 200 mile round trip? It seems to be driving OK, but the creak/rattle it offputting.

Just got back from hols yesterday so haven't really had time to do further investigation.

Lower arm to subframe bolt perhaps?

Got the wife to bounce the car whilst I looked under with a torch. I could feel the creaking part which, when referencing Haynes seems to be the track rod arm. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Track rods are nice and cheap but get your tracking done after fitting.

1234dist wrote:Track rods are nice and cheap but get your tracking done after fitting.

That's good news, thanks Craig. But perhaps not so good for BL Day tomorrow :-(

If the source is the track rod, as opposed to the track rod end, it could be that its ball joint is dry. They seem to rely on internal lubricant introduced during assembly. One of mine developed slight play - replacement needed the rack to come out.

Check Bottom Ball Joint. Carefully pull the rubber boot away from the bottom ball joint shaft and spray some lube in. That's usually the cure.
It could also be strut top bearing which isn't easy to get lube into without dismantling the Spring from the Strut.

I've had this sorted. Lower suspension arm needed cleaning and greasing.

I wouldn't say the noise has gone away but it's a lot better.

Had both sides done.

Paul_1978_yorks wrote:I've had this sorted. Lower suspension arm needed cleaning and greasing.

The inner bush or the outer balljoint?

GTiJohn wrote:

Paul_1978_yorks wrote:I've had this sorted. Lower suspension arm needed cleaning and greasing.

The inner bush or the outer balljoint?

I'm pretty sure he said outer balljoint. Rings a bell anyway!