How far do i go?

[montana]

Been chasing a NS clunk around trying to eliminate it recently and have explored many areas. So far i have changed the NS inner track rod and outer track rods on both sides, also replaced the lower anti rotation droplinks on both sides.

I have ruled out the balljoints as they are solid and were replaced by the previous owner.

My symptoms are (with the clio on the deck) I can feel slight play at the 12/6 position (which led me to initially believe balljoints) - this play isnt present when the car is jacked up and in the air however!

Without jacking the clio up, I can feel the movement in the wheel and also the strut. Which then pointed towards top mount / shocks, checked the top mount (thinking it could be loose) but its fine (&tight) and yet the wheel movement is still there. So in my eyes the fault lies with the shock.

Interestingly i can feel the play on the deck but if i jack it up and then drop it down to the floor again , the movement has temporarily gone, until i drive the car any distance and then i can feel the movement again when rocking the wheel by hand (nothing is felt from the cabin apart from an annoying knock over uneven ground).

Which leads me onto the point of this thread. I need to replace the NS shock (and they will be replaced both sides), i will also replace the top mounts with Febi items as i cant 100% guarantee their condition until the shock is removed, by that time, if i dont have replacement top mounts i am stuck.

How far do i go...I am aware of the drivers side spring being replaced by the previous owner (can still see the label on it), which means the NS one is older - do i replace the springs all round too? Lowering springs ?

Also whilst i am replacing the front shocks (& maybe springs) do i also replace the rear shockers.

Hopefully this gives you an insight as to the dilemma i have now - a bit of an essay but it may help others, made more of a dilemma because of the £££ should i decide to replace shocks/springs/top mounts all round.

Any thoughts ?

 

[Chris]

Generally speaking when changing springs it should be done both sides. So thats a fault from the previous owner.

You thought about uprating the suspension fully? As in coilovers.


Also if the previous owner replaced the balljoints, was it done properly? Its a bit of a specialist job.

 

[montana]

Generally speaking when changing springs it should be done both sides. So thats a fault from the previous owner.

You thought about uprating the suspension fully? As in coilovers.


Also if the previous owner replaced the balljoints, was it done properly? Its a bit of a specialist job.

Cheers for the reply.

Yeah he paid £160 incl Labour to get 1 spring changed. I suspect the price of springs at just short of £100 each played a part too.

Coilovers are out of my budget at £600+

 

[Pav]

a tough one..you have ruled out a few options there..
if it was me i would always change both springs or shockers on the same axle...hope you get it sorted..let us know what it was...

 

[The ANT]

The reason why it is different from just being lowered and after a drive is the drive will let everything settle whereas after its just being dropped every thing is under tension as the suspension will have gone from full height to its ride height without the wheels rotating and as the wheel goes up it doesn't go up at 90° to the ground. While you're driving this isn't an issue as the tyres can slip slightly as they roll along but stationery they can't slip so easily as they ar trying to slip at one point of the tyre not its entire circumference as only one point is on the ground.