clunking suspension

[ericbushby]

Hi All,
I have a similar clunking sound from the rear suspension on one side which has started recently.
However I have the dust covers fitted, so the top of the shock absorber and the shaft are not visible.
It looks like a strip down for me.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[alan.barker]

I jacked up the car with the rear suspension hanging and the small Stilsons i have just slid between the Spring coils. The retainer threaded collar to hold the Insert in place was a round one for a "C" Spanner not hexagonal.
It took me a long time to find where the clunk was coming from. I had to put a Finger on the Shock Piston Rod and threaded Collar at the same time to feel the movement, while moving the Suspension.
Alan

[pharriso]

Hi All,
I have a similar clunking sound from the rear suspension on one side which has started recently.
However I have the dust covers fitted, so the top of the shock absorber and the shaft are not visible.
It looks like a strip down for me.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

"However I have the dust covers fitted" so do I, you can see them in the picture:

But with the suspension at full droop there is still access

[pharriso]

I think I can get my new 1 1/2" service spanner (wrench) on there without taking this apart...

excellent ! an other special tool to add to the list one needs for an efficient maintenance of elans...

1/8" of a turn for a 24TPI thread I believe, that is not a lot of play...

Agreed, but obviously enough to make an irritating noise

[ericbushby]

Thanks Phil, That is hopeful as I did not think there I would get access.
I will get to it soon and will do whatever needs doing.
Eric in Burnley

[ericbushby]

Hi All,
OK, I could not get access to the top of the strut to check the nut, so I have removed the suspension on that corner.
Sure enough the top nut holding the shock absorber in had unscrewed a couple of turns.
It isn`t making a lot of extra work because some painting was needed there anyway. So two jobs done in one.
I did not know where the `Clunk` was coming from so thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction.
Cleaned, painted and rebuilt it will be good as ever.
Thanks
Eric in Burnley
S3SE DHC

[pharriso]

Good to hear Eric

[Quart Meg Miles]

It's odd that there seems to have been a sudden spate of this, but a nice result for Phil to mark his 10 years on the forum!

[pharriso]

It's odd that there seems to have been a sudden spate of this, but a nice result for Phil to mark his 10 years on the forum!

Ha! Hadn't even noticed... Happy Anniversary to me

[Bigbaldybloke]

Sounds like you have it sorted, but similar noises could it be caused by the exhaust pipe or silencer knocking on the chassis or boot floor, there’s not much clearance and if the exhaust is not centrally positioned it’s easy for it to contact the body or chassis when going over potholes etc. And noise travels and is often difficult to pinpoint the location of the source.

[bill griffiths]

My recently rebuilt Plus 2 has a disturbing noise in the rear end. It occurs whenever the rear wheels pass over a rut or pothole and indicates to me something is loose.
It is not exhaust pipe, loose tools, etc.
The car came with the body off and the PO had assembled, looking like new, the rolling chassis.
First I discovered the near side vertical diff mounting bolt was loose allowing about a quarter of an inch of vertical movement.
When I designed and built an Al fuel tank which allows fuel to fill vertically (and thus preserve the paint work on the near side rear guard) I could have easily allowed better access to the nut...but it was achievable and attended to.
The noise remained.
The PO did not allow for easy removal of the split pins at the tops of the shocks with the body back on!
One of them took, including time for tactical considerations, about 5 hours to remove.
I plan to replace them with nylocks, with or without loctite, with or without the best shakeproof washers I can find and with or without a fixing to prevent rotation until removed!
Anyway, I tightened them to 50 fp which required perhaps 30 degrees of rotation.
They certainly were not loose.
The noise remained.
The shocks, yet of unknown brand, were, I am told, new when installed.
Now I can remove them although I shall try tightening thei lower ends first.
What noise making causes I might find with them apart I cannot imagine but I hope I recognise it when I see it!
My guess is that something has not been properly installed. A missing spacer? Introduction of an incompatible part?
The car was COMPLETELY disassembled in 1975 and did not turn a wheel until a few months ago.
The odometer reads about 35,000 miles so I doubt wear is a contributing factor but how esoteric the fault may be has me concerned.
I have found on this part of the forum (which I have spent hours reading) a variety of references to rebuilding and refitting these components which seem to be omitted in the workshop manual.
Perhaps someone with far more knowledge than me will one day prepare the quintessential diagram showing pitfalls and best practices!
When I first drove the completed car from the hoist a few months ago I got only a few yards before a rendering noise caused me to stop!
The PO had installed CV joints, perhaps of inferior quality but certainly each pair was separated by too short a shaft.
One of the CV joints had immediately failed.
Even now, with the correct components fitted, there is slight resistance when turning the wheels while the rear is at full droop.
I plan to find even newer rear Plus 2 shocks with external adjustment and which limit droop, but by how much?
And from where, and perhaps by a couple of inches?
New years greetings from Tasmania.
Regards,
Bill

[rgh0]

Sounds like it may be the shocks loose in the strut tubes. Some shocks require spacers to be fitted or may be the top nut for the strut tube is not fully tightened down.

cheers
Rohan

[h20hamelan]

When you jack the offending rear corner up, and wiggle bits around. What’s loose?