How would you tell the difference between the issue of brake pads moving about, and ball joint problems?

I've got a bit of a downer on my car at the moment, as you might expect after buying it and then discovering £500 worth of suspension damage on the front offside. I've now had the lower arm, tie rod and bracket replaced, and everything should be fine but...

On a full lock left turn with the brakes on I hear a kind of clicking/scraping noise. It will sometimes do it with just a little bit of left lock. I can't make the car do it with the brakes off.

It's very hard to diagnose problems over the web, but is it definitely the brake pads moving? How could I tell for sure if it was the ball joints?


To be honest I'm not that happy with my car right now, it's cost me a lot of money and I've got that niggling doubt that even with all the money I've spent it's not perfect or there could be other issues. Basically I'm prepared to take it in the garage one more time and spend money making it 100%, but if I'm going to get messed about any further then it might be curtains

I've been getting a similar problem and i've put it down to the brakes. I've had bad balljoints and tie rods/ends etc before and i know what it feels like. I also took the car to my cousin who's now a qualified MOT tester and he's said the ball joints are fine. We checked engine mounts and they all seem to be tight. I'll just leave it and see if it gets worse...

Has your car always done this mate or has it only started recently? How old is it?

Funnily enough I heard something this morning coming off the driveway, dropping down the kerb ramp onto the road. A kind of knocking noise. I wasn't touching the brakes either, so maybe it isn't them after all

To be honest i think its only started doing it after i changed the pads and discs. I used to get really bad vibration under braking and they felt crap so i changed them to some mintex pads and standard discs. I went for a bit of a nuts one though and i think i overheated the discs and the vibration has come back and then this slight knocking noise. Its normally only when im pulling up though.

Check ya wheels are tight as this is whats holding your disc on...

edit - x reg (2000)

loose pads is a banging noise when changing forward/backward direction when i had the problem.

Ed

Thanks mate that's the kind of thing I was after. That doesn't sound like my car.

I'm starting to think the ball joint is knackered on the drivers side. It wouldn't normally be at 56k miles but then it has had a knock to the wheel.

Hi there,

ive had front end creaking on mine. It was the brake caliper. Best way to check is to jack the car up and spin the wheel. If it does not spin freely then the caliper is jamming the brake pad to the disk. had a knocking sound at low speed when streeing wheel was turned (eg parking, 3 point turn) will require new caliper+pads and disks. recon calipers are around £100. Another cause could be a leaking shock absorber.

If your discs have warped again fairly shortly after replacing them then it is likley to be the ball joints. You would need to seriously over heat your discs for the to warp. I would have someone look at them.