Front end banging.

[Bill Lee]

Lots of banging and noise from the front suspension when I hit any rough road. Any thoughts.
Thanks.

[noR]

Bushings. Maybe a broken swaybar link.

Why's this specific to Canada?

Also, fill in your profile so we know how old your car is, what motor it has, what transmission, etc.

[Tesla]

Originally Posted by noR

Why's this specific to Canada?

We have lots of snow so we use a lots of salt ( tones and tones of it). Salt is melting the ice and the water is filling the cracks in the road during the day, and freezing over night. All that expanding and shrinking of the water is breaking down the asphalt thus creating big holes. In Toronto, it's so bad that we have emergency service to deal with patching potholes 24/7. All you have to do is give them a call and within 48 hours they will patch it ( well... in most cases ). In 2 years since I have my Bug I went through 3 sets of sway bar bushings, and 2 sets of strut mounts, bearings and bushings, front and back. Did I mentioned 2 sets of control arms, plus another set of CA bushings?

[Tesla]

...and rear axle bushings too!

[noR]

ahh, okay. Now I get it, thanks.

[CrazyJames]

Originally Posted by Tesla

We have lots of snow so we use a lots of salt ( tones and tones of it). Salt is melting the ice and the water is filling the cracks in the road during the day, and freezing over night. All that expanding and shrinking of the water is breaking down the asphalt thus creating big holes. In Toronto, it's so bad that we have emergency service to deal with patching potholes 24/7. All you have to do is give them a call and within 48 hours they will patch it ( well... in most cases ). In 2 years since I have my Bug I went through 3 sets of sway bar bushings, and 2 sets of strut mounts, bearings and bushings, front and back. Did I mentioned 2 sets of control arms, plus another set of CA bushings?

Pot holes happen everywhere...

Front end noise can happen on any car no matter their geographic location...

I think what noR was getting at that this thread would get more attention if it was in a technical area as opposed to the Canadian corner...

[Tesla]

OK, here is a diagram of your front suspension. The things that fail first are the bushings. There are many of them but lets start with the ones that goes out first.
Sway bar bushings (#7) and sway bar end links bushings (#21). They are easy to replace and you can do it on your driveway. You need 2 sway bar bushings ( app $7 each ) and 2 sway bar end links with bushings ( app $30 for left and right side ).
Upper strut mount bushings ($8 kit ) with bearings ($25 kit ), can't see the # clearly on the diagram, but look at the assembly on top of the struts.
Control arms bushings ( Big, cookie like rubber piece on item #1 , $40 upgraded-Audi TT kit )
Ball joints ( #11 app $20 each ).

Good luck

[Bill Lee]

Thanks for your help,I will start looking under the car as soon as the weather warms up. Is there any problems to watch for when changing any of these bushing and kits.

Bill Lee
2000 Beetle GLS 2.0 Gas 5 speed.
193.000 km.

[Tesla]

Originally Posted by Bill Lee

Thanks for your help,I will start looking under the car as soon as the weather warms up. Is there any problems to watch for when changing any of these bushing and kits.

Bill Lee
2000 Beetle GLS 2.0 Gas 5 speed.
193.000 km.

If you decide to replace ball joints, alignment is highly recommended. Try not to screw up thread on screws.

[Bandi]

I just did my control arm bushings today... best way is to knock them out with an air hammer if you have access to one, and press them in with a vice, using a block of wood on either side with a hole drilled through it for the centre part of the bushing.

Get your parts from a VW dealer... they're actually cheaper from Volkswagen than NAPA.

It's nice to be able to drive on our terrible roads as well as use my brakes without a massive clunk

[Tesla]

Audi TT bushings are a nice upgrade!

[Bandi]

Ah, my stock VW ones lasted 567,000 km. I'll be happy if the replacements last half as long.

[aldis]

Hi Bobby and welcome, glad to have you here. Make yourself at home and enjoy the ride, if you stick around you'll find new friends and ppl that will help you when you are tinkering with the car or to simply have fun with fellow beetlers from all states and abroad.
Make sure you post some pics of your NBC so we can enjoy it too.