a clonking sound ?

hey peeps. my 68 bay has a clonking sound coming from the middle or i think its from the middle of my beam. its a rust free from volksheaven and i have had all new components etc like ball joints, track rods, trailing arm etc all replaced. basically its all new. ive had people look at it and they cant find anything wrong and friends from my club have had a look too and nothing. its just really baffling me. a friend of mine said it might be coming from the back but im not sure. one thing i can think about is when i had the tracking done after the beam was fitted by a hi q garage and its never been the same since, before that it was perfect. funny thing too is i have heard people say its common for a bay to do that and i have heard bays like that. any ideas ?. thanks.

pump the bad boy full of grease! it sounds to be dry as a bone to me 8)

hey easy. thats the thing shes had all new grease everywhere too. its really weird. plus i waxoyled everything too. thanks for the reply though

A bit more descriptive please...

under braking

accelleration

steering

or just general driving

but does sound like the torsion leaves are dry and need the tubes filling......

hey there. basically when i go over a bump really it clonks. driving my van there is no probs. everything is fine. it does kinda feel like there is something loose but everything is solid and tight. thinking about it the only thing i can think of right now is the top tube might not have enough grease but i dont know :? .

Check the security of the shock absorber mounts especially the top one where it attaches to the beam plate. Our '68 had an under sized bolt, complements of Hank the Yank, so while everything appeared tight there was up and down movement. Check the rears while your at it, sound travels.

As, above check your shocks.

I had a clonk from the front end of my old bug when i went over any bumps, thought it was a ball joint on its way out. Shocks looked alright, until I jacked it up....

Will be interested in what people say. I have just fitted a new beam to the van and i also have a clonking sound when driving, (general driving along the road.)

Sounds like somthing tapping the anti roll bar, fitted new bushes. :?:

If i was to take the anti roll bar off and go for a test drive, to see if it is that, would it make the van Dangerous to drive.

Providing you didn't go for 100 mph around a hairpin bend, you'd probably survive. Seriously, providing you take things carefully, then it shouldn't be a problem.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person with this problem...I've had the clonking since I got the Van over 18months ago...

Had new shocks all round, new ball joints and whilst the clonking did seem to get better it never totally went away. Havin driven the van yesterday I'm sure it seemed worse!

There must be something that is common to all of our vans that are making this noise. Perhaps its the way they are lowered?? I beleive mine has a folsky adjuster (probably spelt wrong). I have had 2 mechanics check this out and the van has also passed an MOT recently so nothing obvious is wrong. The sound is off putting as you worry that something is wrong. Can it really be as simple as grease?

I used to get said clonking in my last van and its a common problem with vans that have not been well greased in the beam.

Have you tried jacking it up, putting on axle stands and giving everything a good shake? grab the wheel and see if you can recreate the same sound. 8)

easy said:

I used to get said clonking in my last van and its a common problem with vans that have not been well greased in the beam.

Have you tried jacking it up, putting on axle stands and giving everything a good shake? grab the wheel and see if you can recreate the same sound. 8)

Click to expand...

I'm going to give the greasing a go...do I need a particular grease gun to do this or will any old grease gun work?

Most grease ones will work, just have a quick look at your nipples and see which ones they are :shock: :wink:

easy said:

Most grease ones will work, just have a quick look at your nipples and see which ones they are :shock: :wink:

Click to expand...

I'll let you know how I get on greasing my nipples...might even take some pictures....

:shock: make sure you put the pic in the adult tech area :wink: :lol:

hey peeps. i think i have managed to find the clonking noise and it turns out it was a loose shock absorber on the top drivers side. trouble is it needs an 18 mm spanner to tighten it. down to the shops i think :?. thanks for all the replies .

dormbay said:

hey peeps. i think i have managed to find the clonking noise and it turns out it was a loose shock absorber on the top drivers side. trouble is it needs an 18 mm spanner to tighten it. down to the shops i think :?. thanks for all the replies .

Click to expand...

Gareth, I have been thinking about this, the problem is that the bolt is not too loose. It is because it is the wrong bolt, the shaft of the bolt does not fit correctly in the hole, it is too small, thus causing the shock to rattle about the bolt. If that makes sense.

packed the beam with grease and the noise is still there! I can't tell you how frustrating this is...

Check the security of everything. Put a spanner on every nut and bolt on the front suspension and steering. Check the ball joints for wear and play. Most MOT testers will not find worn ball joints.

Clarkson46 said:

Check the security of everything. Put a spanner on every nut and bolt on the front suspension and steering. Check the ball joints for wear and play. Most MOT testers will not find worn ball joints.

Click to expand...

went under the van again today...everything on the front axle looks good and tight..

I have a feeling that the noise maybe coming from the steering box? Could this be a possibility? The steering dosn't have to be moving to get the clonking sound. In fact you can be going straight over very small ridges in the road and hear the sound. strange.

just found this on the samba...look for the post by Amskeptic and his bit on Mechanicals -

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=147029&highlight=steering+box+clonking