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Is Suspension Issues.


BarneyTT
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Going back to what you said Ashar, it's noisiest at lowish speed on sharp bumps. A normally uneven but not potholed or damaged road is ok. It happens (on my car) going over high frequency small bumps/road defects if you understand what I mean- very hard to describe really. If I drive fast over these 'noisy' roads it's ok. It's as though the fault needs more time to react- does that make sense and does that give anyone any clues??

My car has got 'Chinese' tyres on it, all new, fitted before I bought it. They grip fine wet or dry but are noisy over bumps, but more of a slapping sound rather than a heavy metallic like clonk!

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Ok, I spent nearly 2 hours yesterday going over my front suspension etc

I jacked the car up, removed the wheels and let it down onto axle stands under the lower arms, so the suspension was in a 'normal' on the ground position- if that makes sense.

After visually inspecting all the components I used various levers to test joints for wear. All was fine. Even the much maligned ARB links. I loosened and retightened the subframe fixings as well. The brake calipers were tight- no play at all. No leaks from the shock absorbers.

In short I found no faults at all, everything I checked was a good as new!

I can only think that the noise is down to cheap tyres or noisy shocks- probably a combination of the two. As the tyres are all but new and shocks are working fine I'm going to leave spending money on this for another time when I can justify the expense!

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I had a strange feeling that you may end up with this conclusion, as I've been through this with my car. I have been to a few different garages to see if maybe one of them could find the answer. None of them did. My mechanic said that my car is mechanically fine and it was really up to me on how much money I wanted to throw at it. Otherwise just live with it. The problem is that it happens when the car is moving which is something you can not replicate on a ramp.

It's one of those situations where your car is making a strange sound all week and as soon as you take it to the garage for it to be checked it stops. Regardless of how hard you try to make it happen again it doesn't while the mechanic is in the car and as soon as you get home it starts again.

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Difficult one isn't it?

At least I am happy that the car is mechanically sound and does not pose a danger to myself or any other road users.

On smooth roads it is absolutely silent- perhaps what we are experiencing is a sad reflection of the absymal state of the roads in the UK.

Where I live (near Gatwick) no car drives in a straight line as we are too busy avoiding potholes :((

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Hi guys. My mechanic has had the car on the ramp 3 times now and says he cannot replicate the forces generated on the road to get the noise. He thinks it is either the shock absorber or the top suspension mounts. Everything else appears secure. Admittedly, this is my car and not yours, but we all seem to have similar sounding problems.

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My car already had new shock absorbers (KYB) fitted when I bought it, but I question the quality of the work done by the garage. I was thinking of replacing the top mounts. One step at a time......

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In fact Ashar, the job of replacing the front shocks is quite straightforward- hard to do it wrong really.

I'm coming round to thinking my ,problem, is tyre related. The 1st is I had was an early 200s, which had 16'' wheels with 60 series tyres (from memory) that was really quiet. But my Sportcross 300 has 17'' wheels with 45 series fitted. I think the stiff, low profile, sidewall has little give and is thus inherently noisy.

Another forum I frequent had a similar thread and a guy made this very point. To be fair it's only noisy over poor roads.

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I'm sure you are right, but if you'd met the mechanics the previous owner (my uncle and his son) used on the car you would feel as unsure as I do about their abilities.

I think you have a valid point re the tyres. Previous IS 200's that I've owned have all had good brand tyres, manly Dunlop's and I never experienced this type of noise with those cars. My current car is the only one I've owned with cheap tyres (Autogrip). I was in a friends IS who had better tyres than my car and his car felt smoother and had no noise. Our cars are both the same year and from the same dealership from new. His has covered more miles, just felt better.

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That's really interesting Ashar.

I used the car today and concentrated on the noise- or at times lack of it when driving on a good surface. You know I am really getting suspicious of these cheap tyres.

Just a thought- have you thought about swapping wheels with your friend and going for a drive in both cars? If your noises go away but he gains some then we've cracked it!

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Anthony - I wish I'd thought of that sooner. Unfortunately my friend does not live locally, we catch up whenever his passing by or in the area. But I will do this next time he is around. I think I remember reading on here that the IS when new had Dunlop SP Sport 9000 tyres which if you were replacing them you had to check that they were made in Japan as that suited the car. I've been looking around on eBay to see if I can find any decent Dunlop 9000 part worn tyres but there aren't any.

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I'm now pretty much convinced the 'suspension' noise and harsh ride is down to the cheap tyres.

I've done several searches on the forum and this topic crops up regulary. It would appear these cars are really fussy about tyres (for silence and comfort).

As you say those Dunlops are hard to find. The current recommendations are Uniroyal rainsport and Vredestein centrac. Both appear to be quiet whilst providing a smooth ride. When I manage to wear out the front tyres I'll try a pair of Uniroyals which I always used some years ago and found them impressive.

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I've got a slight 'suspension' noise. I had some tyres on before that were due to be changed so I had 4 new tyres that have the Uniroyal tyre pattern when I had my alloys refurbed. I'm not convinced it is the tyres that cause this noise. My friend, who is a Lexus technician, reckons it's the shock absorber so I think I'll try that now.

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I think it is a combination of things and narrowing down the options is what we are trying to do as we are all having the same issue. As mentioned earlier I've had my car up on a ramp shaken around to see if we can replicate the noise and nothing. I've had my mechanic who is a Lexus Master Technican tell me there is nothing mechanically wrong with my car and upto me on how much I wanted to spend on it. The shock absorbers, lower ball joints, track rod ends,anti roll bar drop links and caliper slide pins have all been replaced on my car and it still makes the noise. Cheap tyres I think do not help. However It maybe a different solution for all of us.

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I had the noise as most people have, I recently put new coilovers drop links top and bottom ball joints and tie rod ends on the car and the noise has stopped so on mine it was defo one of the above if I had to bet id say it was the shocks making the majority of the sounds

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That's interesting Paul, as far as I can tell I have no problems with any of the ball jounts and drop links. I put my old tatty MOT testers hat on the other day and spent nearly 2 hours inspecting, levering etc all the components only to find all is good.

The only thing I couldn't test was the shock absorbers. I have got the tools to remove them and the springs, which I may do at some point to see if there's any play in the shafts.

You're right Ashar- cheap tyres don't help. Shame they had already been fitted before I bought the car.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi,

Has anyone found a cause for this issue yet? I've also been through the suspension and no joy. Oddly enough, I've found my rear suspension also "knock" sometimes now, in symphony with the front.

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Ok- getting there!

Just replaced the front shocks with Sachs shocks. 50% of the noise has gone. Just left with a knock on certain road surfaces, especially diagonal ruts, where one wheel then the other is affected.

I rode in the car as a passenger the other day and the noise from the NSF was horrific over these sort of bumps- could even feel it through the floor, so something is shot.

I've ordered a ARB drop link because I am deeply suspicious of this- nearly impossible to check in situ (it's usually in tension or compression so good luck with testing that!) The other day I parked the car on the flat, turned the wheels to full left lock and stuck my hand in to feel how stiff the drop link was. It felt as loose as anything and I think it is FUBARB'd

I'll report back in a few days. So far my experience is several things can cause this problem, so one thing at a time!

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"Just left with a knock on certain road surfaces, especially diagonal ruts, where one wheel then the other is affected. "

Hi TonyT. Thx for the update.

This is the sort of knock I get. It tends to happen when I turn (mostly) right, over small bumps or ripples in the road (for example round a roundabout), at slow speeds, obviously.

My local mechanic had a good look around, replaced lower balljoint and sway bar bushes. Had the car for two days and couldn't find anything else faulty.

I should be getting new tyres soon but I doubt that will solve the problem (may lessen it though).

There has to be a definitive answer to this defect/fault.

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Tony, glad you are getting closer to sorting this issue, what is your opinion on the Sachs shocks?

If you don't mind my asking, how much were the shocks and where did you buy them?

I now have the funds to get a set of shocks plus I'm going to order a set of top suspension mounts from Lexus just to make sure.

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Hi Barney-

sachs shocks from here-

http://www.bestpartstore.co.uk/1225250

The parts are shipped from Germany.

I replaced the n/s/f arb drop link a few days ago and the noise has reduced a little more. I'm going to replace the o/s one in a few days.

I think I'm going to be left with the noise from the cheap tyres the car was fitted with when I bought it.

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Many thanks for the information Tony.

What is your opinion of the Sachs shocks on the car?

Best of luck with the other drop link, hope it improves things further.

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