Grinding Noise

[Alex44789]

Hi all,

Whenever I go down the driveway bump or up it or go across anything with different height on the front two wheels I hear a grinding noise that makes for some weird faces from people around and doesn't sound like it's doing her any good.(dxr 3.0 2003)

It's only when you go over/down the bumps at a fairly fast speed but not faster than normal.

Read around and I think it might be the torsion bar/s.(not sure how many)

Is it an easy fix e.g just tightening it or does it require more work than that or money?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Alex.

 

[Stelianos]

i had exactly the same problem and it was the ball joints, changed all 4 and back to silence mode

 

[jonney]

can you get under the front side [ left then right ] and have a mate push the car down and up , this way you might get a better indication of where the grind sound is coming from.

 

[ShortyNavros]

Mine mates a clunking noise but I can't reproduce it when I bounce it around myself. Actually has to be driven over undulating terrain

 

[Alex44789]

Happened again today when we went over a raised drain. Dad thinks it's the torsion bar. i looked up what a bad ball joint does and my car doesn't do that.

It's more like a rusty sea saw going up and down(best thing i could think of)

Alex.

 

[Old.Tony]

My leaf springs do that until I pressure-wash them and then spray silicone lube between the leaves.

 

[jonney]

does sound like the torsion bar or bars are dry of lube.

 

[tweak'e]

never heard of torsion bars needing lube.

try and work out which end. leave springs commonly squeak a bit.
i would be checking bushes. need to jack it up and get the weight off them. check the suspension bushes and the leaf springs ones. i've had to replace those before.

whats it like in 4x4 ? not a cv joint problem?

the other thing is body mounts. they flog out and you may find one or more are loose.

 

[jonney]

torsion bars will become dry due to being submerged in water and after a while they do give that weird dry crunchy sound just like dry suspension bushings do. i had an old valiant which is torsion bar front suspension and when the car was pushed down in the front or going over speed bumps the sound was there. also the top swing arm bushes will become dry and need some lube. so time for a good spary of all front end bushes and try and get the spray into the torsion bar housings. the way to do this is spray with a tube on the ned of can and have a mate push the suspension down up down so the spray lube can get into the areas better.

 

[happy john]

Never lubed my torsion bars in 25 years of Navara's. I've only needed it for other things when I was in a hurry.

 

[jonney]

well if its not the salt water corroded torsion bar end it must be either the swing arm bushing or shockie , as i said spary all and see how things go then.

 

[Alex44789]

was able to get a quick look underneath today, got some pictures if that might help? http://imgur.com/a/di0I6

didn't feel like anything was greased/lubricated and i can't tell what is what apart from the torsion bar.

Alex

http://imgur.com/a/di0I6

 

[jonney]

does the front of car look to be lower than normal ? going by pics 5 and 6 the Bump Stops look to be very close on the lower swing arm which would be giving you bugger all free suspension. its like when you lower a street car the front end can be sitting on the bump stops but with a 4 x 4 it doesn,t allow for much travell and this could be your issue with bottoming out on the bump stops .

 

[larrymdr]

check the bushes on the front struts. Mine were worn and the metal from the pivot point was rubbing on the part that it bolts to .