Hello all!
I have a 99 Chevy Suburban.
A while back we had taken our car to a shop to get some work done and after we got it back, we started noticing that there is a metal clanging noise on the passenger side when we go over speed bumps or hit little bumps or depressions in the road.
Well back when we took it to those guys, they said we needed to get the inner and outer tie rods and pitman arms replaced and that we had a loose engine mount and that they noticed we had gotten out shocks replaced.
Now today I call another place and ask them how much they would charge to change the tie rods and pitman arm and the guy said that those don’t go bad that often and that they wouldn’t be making that metal clanging noise.
My question is would the tie rods make that noise or could that noise be the engine mount that is loose? The shocks aren’t even a year old and they are A/C Delco parts.
Thanks!!!
GM has been plagued with suspension/steering problems for years. Tie-rods are a very possibility…so are ball joints. Find another mechanic.
I’m going to suggest the ‘clanging’ noise is from a loose heat shield at the cat converter.
You can check for a worn motor mount yourself without even getting out of the drivers seat.
Here’s how: With the engine running, shift into REVERSE then into DRIVE (keep the foot brake applied).
If a motor mount is worn, the engine will tend to roll with a slight jump as the tranny engages.
If the tierods are worn, the vehicle will tend to wander off track. A broken or loose one wouldn’t let you go very far.
I’m kind of leaning towards either an exhaust rattle or possibly a lower ball joint depending on the mileage, road conditions, environmental conditions, etc.
The latter is a real safety issue and should not be ignored.
It’s possible that if the ball joint is worn the old shock absorbers contributed to this. It may not have been noticeable to you before because the mushy shocks were absorbing most of the blow. Stiffen the shocks up and voila, the noise is now present or has developed due to the effect of the stiffer ride on the ball joints.
With car part failures, the old weakest link in the chain statement always applies.
If the ball joint is worn then I would suggest that both sides be replaced because one usually follows the other.
Hope that helps.