Rear knocking / rattling - suspension?

Gonzo

Gonzo

A2OC Donor
Afternoon all,

I'll definitely have this looked at pretty soon but I'm never one to avoid trying to get a bit of remote keyboard diagnosis......

Basically, with passengers in the back of the car, I'm getting a knocking/rattling from the right rear over small to medium bumps. It's a bouncy old hector at the best of times, but this has just started. There is rarely a noise with no rear passengers. The noise does sound as if it's coming from within the rear wheel arch but I can't be too sure.

The car's an un-molested 2002 TDI SE with 52k on the clock. Original shocks and springs.

Any similar experiences or ideas?

Cheers

Simon
 
With the rear suspension compresed under load, it's most likely that you have perished bump stops. These are fitted on the damper rod and covered by a dust sleeve making them difficult to inspect. Raise and safely support the rear of the car and remove the road wheels. You will then be able to separate the dust sleeve from the bump stop for inspection. If they need replacing all you need do is remove the damper from and slide on a new bump stop. Damper is released by removing the two top mount bolts and the bottom bolt to the axle. Simply unbolt to remove the upper mount from the damper to replace the bump stop. Always replace in pairs.

blue skies
tony
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I'll not start messing around with suspension myself but at least it seems likely to be the bump stops.

If I need to replace the bump stops by removing the dampers, might I as well replace the dampers too? I've been thinking about monroes for a while as the ride is shocking and bouncy. Don't want to get into lowering.

What else is good to replace while we're down there? Drop links for example? What are drop links by the way......? I've seen all sorts of gubbins mentioned elsewhere but don't really understand it.

And apart from the Monroes, are all of the extra bits from Audi?

Thanks again chaps.
 
More than likely it's the rear spring rubber seats. I changed them on my wife's car with 107k. Regards suspension - the tie rods are the metal links on the front suspension that connect to the anti-roll bar. If you're considering replacing suspension, new shocks all round (I fitted Boge), new ARB bushes, new top mount bearings, and new tie-rods should do the trick. That just leaves the wishbones on the front as original. By all means replace the bump stops too - they're relatively inexpensive.
 
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