Noisy suspension

I am having trouble pinpointing why my car is so noisy going down the road. 8k miles ago, i replaced the struts with billstein tc's, new strut bearings, and installed new cupra r strut bushings, new audi tt lca bushings, new rear bilstein tc shocks, new swaybar bushings, and new vw ball joints. My car is still insanely noisy going over bumpy road. This is my 2nd mkiv, and the first car was no where near this loud. I tightned the subframe bolts a bit on a hunch, with no results. Seems both sides in the front make noise. The only things I haven't replaced up front are sway bar links (didn't seem bad), the front control arm bushings (which looked fine, and seem to rarely fail), and the subframe bushings. Is there any for sure way to diagnose the issue, without putting the car on a lift?

I also suspect my rear axle bushings are shot as well, because after new vw inner and outer tie rods, ball joints, and an alignment, the car still steers poorly at highway speed when hitting a bump, like the rear end sways, and the rear end is noisy when going over bumps as well. Sound like rear axle bushings?

Car has almost 270k on it, i bought it at 215k

Banging on bumps? Squeaky or groans when flexing? Just shock getting transmitted to the body? Do you have tires with stiffer sidewalls on this one?

I have squeaky flex syndrome on the front end. Based on what I've read here, it could be torsion bar (swaybar) mounts. But to me, it sounds like could be upper strut mounts.

I'd replace the sway bar bushings. And even though they may look OK, the front control arm bushings may be making noise. Mine did. I thought it was a bad strut. But new control arms fixed it.

Our Golf developed a knock in the front end and it turned out to be tie rods.

I spent an hour this morning troubleshooting a clunking when turning while moving. Checked underneath the car and found nothing. Checked underneath the hood and found nothing. Checked underneath​ the seat and found a Snapple bottle.

No squeaking or groaning whatsoever. I did have a creak, that the new ball joints took care of. I would say this car has less stiff sidewalls with 225/45 r 17 Yokohama avid envigors, i have not played around with pressures though. Dont see how that would cause clunking noise either way. The other car had 18's with similar tires, and less noise.

Swaybar bushings are brand new vw's with 8k miles on them, and yes, they are the correct 23mm size. Inner and outer tie rods are vw and have 8k miles on them. It is definitely not something rolling around in the floorboard or the trunk.

Like i said, the only front suspension parts not replaced recently are the actual swaybar links, front control arm bushings, and the actual sub frame bushings. And for the rear, my guess is still axle bushings.

The car had a stupid loud suspension before with what im guessing was original shocks and struts, and a bad lca bushing, and the new parts helped a good bit, but i am not happy still with the noise.

Dogbone gearbox mount rocking back and forth?

I replaced that at the same time.

Frontend: Steering rack bushings? Engine mounts? Wheel bearings, push and pull wheels.
Rearend bushings tight? If there's any play they make noise. Tighten them to see.

I'm willing to bet your car takes 21mm sway bar bushings. If that's the case, the 23mm could be making noise. Other than that, I'd go with front control arm bushings. When they get tired they rotate in the control arm and make noise.

21mm wrench wouldnt fit on the swaybar, 24 would barely, i know i have the correct bushings there, made sure to check before getting them

Have a dealer run your VIN. Many vehicles with 23mm sway bars spec 21mm replacement bushings.

eddieleephd said:

Frontend: Steering rack bushings? Engine mounts? Wheel bearings, push and pull wheels.
Rearend bushings tight? If there's any play they make noise. Tighten them to see.

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How do i check steering rack bushings? Engine mounts i do believe are fine, doesnt seem to have excessive movement. Wheel bearings are all tight and have no play. On the rear axle bushings, can this be done with the car on the ground? I am not too familiar with the specifics of these cars suspensions.

Rear axle bushings in my car were really shot when I got it. The rear would clunk something horrible, and you could feel the rear end hop and wiggle. I completely refreshed the suspension and it's absolutely wonderful: I'm currently missing my car- it's at the body shop; I've been driving the blue Golf and it has Bilstein HDs- WAY too harsh for my preferences (get a little clunk in the rear, not bad though).

Also, it's possible that you have a bad shock/strut. Happened to me with the daughter's wagon: sadly, I had to shell out for shipping the defective shock back to Koni (also had to eat the cost for the replacement of the single-use bolts && my time)- I'd like to find something comparable to Koni Reds (don't like supporting crappy companies).

I actually like my bilstein tc's. I feel they are just right. They definitely took some getting used to after rolling around with bad/worn out shocks and struts. The first drive with them installed made me realize how bad the old parts were. I probably had 1/2" gap under the hood where the struts bolt on, and i could compress all 4 dampers by hand fairly easy. I believe that is whats going on with my cars rear end as well. The noise was there previous to all suspension work, so hopefully the new shocks are okay.

Broken spring coils?

I took a prybar to the rear axle bushings last night, and there is quite a bit of play

ghohouston said:

I took a prybar to the rear axle bushings last night, and there is quite a bit of play

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Good news that you (most likely) found the source of your noise.

Bad news that you're going to be on the hook for rear axle bushings! Hopefully they're not the ones with the metal jackets: even if not they're still a pain.