Now I'm a little peeved... We've replaced pretty much the entire suspension on our Mav, and we still have some kind of "clicking-clanking-clunking" when we apply the brakes. These were new on the car when we got it: Front springs Front shocks Here's what we replaced... Upper control arms + new bushings and saddles Lower control arms + new bushings Upper and lower ball joints Strut rod bushings Inner/outer tie rods Idler arm Rear leaf springs / shackles / bushings / ubolts Rear shocks We did the rear end work. We had a shop do all the front end work. According to the shop they checked and verified everything, even down to repacking the wheel bearings for us. When we first got the car back from the shop, it felt rock solid and didn't have the slightest hint of a squeak, rattle, click, clank, or clunk. Now about a week later, the same clunking noise we had before is back - maybe even a little worse. It seems to be coming from the front suspension when the brake is applied, even if we're just pulling it into the garage. Any ideas???
Did you also replace the upper control arm? Check the coil spring saddle if this is worn or lose it will cause the noise. Did you replace the upper and lower ball joints? This is what I can think of that would cause the noise. I did have similar problems and it turned out to be upper control arm and the coil spring saddles where bad.
Yes indeed - complete uppers with saddles and all new ball joints (I corrected the original post to reflect this) Now that you mention it, I do not think we replaced the sway bar bushings or end links. I'll check that now. Maybe a good time to upgrade the sway bar anyway. Anyone bought either of these on eBay... MQPRODUCTS MAVERICKCONNECTION
New coil springs were already in the car when we bought it, but I didn't ask the shop about the insulators when I picked up the car...hmmmm
I have the ADDCO front and rear sway bars on mine and I like them with two exceptions. The rear hits the differential housing on the center at the back. Not so much since a leaf was added to each spring. The brackets that mount the rear bar to the frame rails use a U-bolt thru the rail. The U-bolt tears the rail. There's a thread on here that describes the problem and solution.
Could it be the brake caliper rattling in place? Maybe get a new brake hardware kit. if the springs are loose it wil let the caliper move and rattle when the brakes are applied. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...=Search_01266_1132243_3571&pt=01266&ppt=C0064
Thanks Ryan - I'll look into that kit. I just crawled under the car and verified the following... 1. New sway bar end links are in place (sway bar frame bushings are original and not in the best shape, but not rotted out either and I can't get any movement from pulling on the sway bar) 2. There are (new) thin rubber insulators on the upper side of each (new) spring saddle, but I can't see if there are any insulators at the top of the springs (???) Just on visual inspection and talking in through with you guys, I'm starting to lean toward something caliper related...
See if you can duplicate the noise with the vehicle parked (just start bouncing it up and down by hand, rock it back fourth, etc). If you can duplicate the noise, then have 1 person bouncing the vehicle while you hunt around to try and find the source.
What or which kind of upper control bushings did you use? The metal ones with the metal cups need greasing all the time. Those are prone to make noise with or without grease. It's metal on metal so as they wear they rattle more and more. They squeek really bad when there is no grease.
One kit does both sides. if the hardware is old it wouldnt be a bad idea to change anyways even if it downst solve your problem it will keep brake noise down.
It was actually a Mustang front suspension kit from Laurel Mountain that came up in their books as the same for our Maverick. The control arms came fully assembled w/ bushings and the shop clearly greased everything pretty well. They even put right-angle zerts on the uppers (to make greasing easier) and hammered out the shock towers just a little to get clearance around the zerts. I will try the rocking / bouncing test though.
