hey-

been having problems in the driver's side front end. have replaced all shocks, steering damper, track bar. all done by a trusted mechanic. myself, replaced sway bar bushings and the link bushings above and below the sway bar. the "knock" occurs during suspension compression and release. but it also occurs with side to side motion, like over a speed bump. thinking maybe the control arm or the other bushing on the link, that mounts to the frame.

also i have had to add brake fluid consistently. have checked inside of all the wheels. doesn't seem like anything blew and i still have a good pedal. any common problems??

thanks--any help is appreciated

 

As far as your brakes you will have to keep looking, that fluid isn't just disappearing. You don't say what year it is but I am assuming it has drum brakes, so if you haven't pulled the drums, you should because there is a good chance that the wheel cylinders could be leaking.

The best thing to do in order to find you suspension problem is to jack the front end up and shake or wiggle every component of the suspension that you can, hopefully you will find something that is loose.

 

it's a 99--you are right about the drum brakes. would a pinhole in a line show wetness?

 

If you had someone in the truck pumping the brakes while you watched to see if there was a stream of fluid leaking out it might. I would still pull the drums and look for the wheel cylinder seals to be leaking.

 

Your truck could hide quarts of fluid before it ever drips onto the ground. Like the previous guy said, you have to look closely. Adding brake fluid at any time is not proper. Check those wheel cylinders, calipers, and especially where the line runs behind the fuel tank. There are a few tees to look at as well. Don't mistake a possible brake fluid leak as motor or tranny fluid. (Not insinuating anything, just suggesting).

Adding fluid but still having a decent brake leads me to think pinhole, or a seal leaking somewhere.


Good luck.

 

have you checked your ball joints for the knocking noise?

 

both upper and lower ball joints are new, but no, i haven't got into that yet. is it possible that both problems are interrelated.

a NEW symptom over the weekend was going over a couple bumps on the highways at about 70 mph, and something severe happened. hard to describe, but loud knocking, driver's side front end, continuously. i had to slow to about 40, it went away, and then i sped up and it wasn't there.

caliper?

 

I had a strange knocking in my front end, turned out to be the rubber bushings on the top of my shock towers were bad allowing the washers to hit the tower.

 

i recently replaced all the shocks, and then replaced the front drivers again, after the trouble started. the shocks are gabriel, and the rubber bushings are different from the stock, but i figure that it would do it on the opposite tower, or it would have changed replacing it twice.

any thoughts?

 

It started when I replaced mine. They shop said the dodge needed a bigger bushing than what came with the shocks.