banging sound

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J

jdm_cracker

Junior Member
i hear a thud whenever i hit my brakes .... it doesn't happen if i'm light on the brakes but moderate pressure on the pedal produces a loud thump .... my buddy says maybe my ball joint ... any ideas guys???
 
hmmm possibly a abll joint or also a loose caliper bolt....ummm why dont u take your wheels off and check it out then see where ur at
 
-20 celcius? what is that? like 12 degrees farenheit?

Are you really that much of a pansy that you can't bear the cold for your overall safety??
 
i've spent enough time freezing my ass off in the garage working on the car this winter but i remember the trouble i had replacing the cv boot on the other axle in the summer ... it took me a really long time cause i don't have a compressor and everything was seized .... after about 20 outside in this weather it's just too cold and spending that much time outside is just stupid .... and -20 degrees celsius is -4 degrees farenheit
 
Hey make sure u checked for all the possible problems stated above, if that doesn't seem to be the problem, make sure the shims that are supposed to go between the brake pad and the caliper are they. If they are not, u are going to get a banging sound every time you stop because of the movement of the pad.
 
I had something stupid like that happen to me before, only one of my lug nuts was missing :eek: car shook really bad then i looked, and i was missing a damn lugnut.. but prolly not the same problem you have.
 
Maybe its the midgett u threw in the trunk ( AND FORGOT ABOUT) and every time u brake he rolls forward and makes a loud thump....... :wacko:
 
Originally posted by jdm_cracker@Feb 15 2004, 03:02 PM
i've spent enough time freezing my ass off in the garage working on the car this winter but i remember the trouble i had replacing the cv boot on the other axle in the summer ... it took me a really long time cause i don't have a compressor and everything was seized .... after about 20 outside in this weather it's just too cold and spending that much time outside is just stupid .... and -20 degrees celsius is -4 degrees farenheit
Click to expand...

I can respect not wanting to work on your car in that...I changed my altenator one night in my driveway and it was -35C (-31F) outside with the windchill...it's no fun...anything with a "minus" in front of it is no fun...but when -5 starts to feel warm...then you know you've been working in a hell of a lot worse for way too long! (Thank-god my buddy let's me use his garage when he's not home...un heated...but still, no windchill)

Now as far as your question...

Ball Joints are a good place to start...I had something similar thought that happened to me...it was the sliders on the calipers that compressed the pads together, one wasn't working properly and it was causing a "clunk" when I applied the brakes...for me it was about $60 in parts. Hope that helps. :)

Jason
 
had the same thing happen to me a few weeks ago, it was the castle nut on my lower ball joint that wasn't tightened all the way (had replaced a wheel bearing a few days before that). have you dissassembled anything down there right before this happened?
 
i took a look today and the shims for the pads were there.... i grabbed the rotor and rocked it in all directions and there was no play ... the most recent work i did there was when i replaced the outer cv boot in september ... the nuts are there but i didn't check to see if they were fully tightened ... so i guess now it's on to the caliper bolts??? how do u check to see if they're working right?
 
you sure the noise is coming from the front?

check the 12 or 14mm caliper bolt and make sure its tight, just dont over tighten it. check the two 17mm caliper bracket bolts for tightness.

maybe even before pulling the tires off have somebody drive your car and hit the brakes while you stand beside it. watch the front wheel for jerky front to back movement. check both sides. if you see movement then your problem is most likely connected to the control arm (like bushings, etc.)and you should be able to go from there.

or you can jack up one front tire, take the tire off and set the parking brake and block the rear tires. start the car and CAREFULLY accelerate to the speed you normally hear the clunk at when braking. dont worry about your car driving off with the one wheel on the ground unless youve got an ITR or CTR or a LSD tranny. basically you want to duplicate the noise while getting a closer look. the tire may need to be on to get the clunk just accelerate at a slower pace.

hope you find it.
 
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