I took the 63 chevy impala out last night for an evening cruise and discovered two problems the first and most in need of attention is a loud knock when ever I go over old bumpy streets. It is coming from the front suspension of the car. I just got down there and checked the sway bar end links and a few other bushings, everything looks fine except for my passenger side lower bump stop is missing and I can not figure out where exactly the upper bump stops are positioned. Would missing or extremely old bump stops cause this knock type noise on old bumpy, chewed up streets? My second issue was found when I turned on my headlights last night, I noticed one of my under dash lights on the drivers Side flickering. I haven't had a chance yet to look into that but I will in a couple of hours when the sun falls. Any help on these issues is appreciated, thanks.
Issue #1: has the car been lowered? Check the upper and lower arms bushings. Uppers when bad will make a knock sound. Are the bushings on the lower and upper shock mounts good ? Btw the is only one set of bump stops, either on lower arm or just under upper arm on frame. Issue #2: i would change bulb first to see if the filiment has an issue. Next i would check the ground.
My a arm bushings bolts had come lose a while back and were making some bad noise/squeaks but I tightened them all down and those stopped. As of yesterday I had this knocking noise. I'm going to check the others you mentioned tomorrow, thank you.
Btw i was thinking different suspenion on the bump stops, u should have both in the positions i stated above. Does the knock also happen when braking ?
Jack it up and check ball joints and tie rods to see if they are wore out. If they all check out and the arm bushings are good then i would take the shocks off and drive it a short distance to see if maybe the inside of the shock has come apart. Usually a noise like this is caused by a bushing being bad OR a broke or cracked frame usually around the arm mounting area or where the crossmember welds to the side rails but this is most times more of a popping sound. Look around the steering gear bolts for cracks in the frame..
Jack the car up and lower it onto jack stands under the lower control arms with the tires just clearing the pavement take a pry bar from the side and try to lift the tire. If you get any movement have a friend look to see where the movement is coming from or have him do the lifting. There should not be any play or movement. While you are under there grab the tie rod ends and shake the shit out of them. Push and pull on the tires from the side with your hands at 3 and 9 o:clock. the linkage should not rise and fall. If it does you need an idler arm. Front suspension is fun to work on. All the diagnosing is done with the naked eye. No special equipment required. No mysterious black boxes to deal with. If it's loose it needs replacing.
Yeah pry em like stated in last post but also pull on the top and bottom of the tire like ur checking the wheel bearings, this is where the upper ball joints come in to play. You should have no play in the uppers or lowers doing this either,
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