I have a 2000 Volvo S40 and had noise in the front end. Usually, it was just with bumps but last week I had a very alarming loud pop. I took it in and they replaced the cradle bar (I could see a bend from the front of the car) and the bushings. It seemed important and a safety issue and now the car is quiet. But what is a cradle bar and why does it matter?
I was hoping you’d tell us what a “cradle bar” is.
I have no idea. Never heard of it before.
What “bend” did you see?
It’s something you can’t google, apparently. I think other manufacturers might call it a stability bar, but I can’t tell for sure.
Basically, it goes across the car and appears to help support or provide protection for some of the undercarriage. It may or may not attach to the axle–I confess I know very little about the undersides of cars.
The ‘bend’ is definitely a bit of an understatement. If you think about looking at a pencil held horizontally in front of you, and about a 40 degree bump in it, that’s the ‘bend’. I hit a broken cinder block in the middle of I90…someone was mining the freeway off the back of a flatbed (at least that’s what it looked like) and the cinder block parts were spread for about 5 miles. It was exciting.