Hyundai Forums banner

Rattle noise front right strut, just replaced

9K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  MR1Kingsbury 
#1 ·
Hey,

I'm hoping someone might have some ideas as to what a rattling noise might be in my drivers side strut assembly area? The noise only happens after hitting a bump in the road and only on the driver's side. It's very annoying especially after just replacing it. I have an 03 Elantra sedan, 2.0L 4 door 160,000 kms.

Is my new strut faulty? I checked the strut because I thought it might be the rubber piece in between spring and the boot it sits in might be having metal on metal action but when I check it it looked ok. Is it possible the rubber can look like its sitting in there ok but actually not be and making noise still? Where else can this noise be coming from?

Thanks so much
 
#2 ·
Check all bushings. The stress of replacing the strut (allows the lower control arm to drop down further than normal) may have damaged a bushing on a 14 year old car.






And yes, your new strut may be rattling. Doesn't happen often, but it can happen. What brand did you put in?
 
#3 ·
I had a rattle noise that could only be noticed when driving on excessive uneven pavement, ended being the stabilizer link pin


Other things that may rattle are little metal sheets of the front calipers, you should try applying a little grease on the seat of that little metal sheets
it has two of them..

You may also check for the Control arm rubber, and strut mounts.
 
#5 ·
hitachixx, When you say strut mounts, what do you mean? Is that where the spring sits in the bottom of the boot in the strut assembly? If so I checked that piece of rubber and it looks good and in place. Or do you mean the strut mount where the bolts are that bolt the top of the strut to the frame under the hood?
 
#7 · (Edited)
Hows everyone doing and hope all you had a good weekend.

I got under my car today to take another look at all the bushings and engine mounts. There are some broken rubber pieces in both sides on the lower control arm rear bushing (Flemmons was right, I probably ripped them both when I dropped the control arm down to change the struts). I took some pics and I'll attach them all to this post.

Also the center bottom engine mount bushing I think it is, is also ripped. Not sure if this can be the cause of my noise. But I should also mention something else I didn't connect the dots on before. There is also a bad shake in the steering wheel and in the car when driving down the highway.

Higher speeds makes the shake worse. The shake vibrates all the way through the steering wheel really badly. It has gotten much worse very recently. It has always had a little vibration in the steering wheel but nothing too bad. It's really bad now.

So this has to be fixed ASAP now. Let me know what you guys think from the pics and whether that is the true cause of this shake and noise.
 
#9 ·
I called around and the cheapest lower control arms I can find were about $300 for the pair (This is Canadian dollar which is 0.75 cents on the American dollar). I also found a really cheap set for under $100 from an online dealer called Prime Choice. Sounds like some cheaper no name brand type thing. Should I chance it or just pay the extra for better parts and probably a smoother ride??

Is a control one of those parts that should be as close to OEM as possible, not something to cheap out on?
 
#11 ·
Do those bushings have to be replaced and is probably the reason my wheel and car shakes so badly? It's weird how one side only makes a sound when hitting bumps and the other side doesn't... I think that's where the sound is coming from??

One of those pics is of my rear bottom engine mount and the other one is of one of two ripped lower front control arm rear bushing.
 
#13 ·
True but I plan on driving this car for another 140k kms and giving it to my son when he turns 16... If It's a much smoother ride and last until 300k then I'll get the 300 buck ones... I know for the thermostat it was a huge difference in quality and performance for the engine. I'll probably just get the better ones... Those dam auto stores mark them up sooo much though. I know they have bills to pay but still I owe them nothing and I just want a quality part for a reasonable price.
 
#14 ·
Prime choice is an excellent online dealer.. their parts are likely made in china but they stand behind them with warranty and satisfaction... a wheel vibration at speed can also be an axle or cv joint... also stressed when installing new struts, the cv joint can become slightly out of place and start shaking through the steering wheel... I had that prob on my 01. right side.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top