Clonks going round corners. CVs? No, watch out for this!

[fxr]

CVs were replaced in 2022 with a complete GW GKN Lobro kit. ~25,000 miles ago, after we had clonking from the CVs, temporarily cured OTR by swapping axles.

So we had new tires fitted a couple of weeks ago - and on driving away there were loud clonks coming from somewhere underneath when slowing down. I took the van straight back to the tire place, and they lifted it again and spun the rear wheels, as we all thought "CVs!". Sure enough, the RHS axle would move in and out as the wheel was spun by hand, and this looked to be the culprit. Why it should happen immediately after tires were changed we put down to the axles being stretched to full extent, together with the fact I had spacers helping the springs.

After this, the clonk was slightly less, but still there when slowing down.

SO got home, removed said axle, cleaned inspected and re-packed the CVs - no discernible wear so replaced and took down the other side. There was a slight divot in the outer race of one of them, so ordered and waited for a replacement - duly fitted.

With a full refurbishment of both axles, the clonk was still there, but now only when going round LH bends. Grrr!

A few days later, we had to pick up a friend's dog to look after her for a few days while 'Dad' had a bypass operation (all went well). The dog - Poppy -was in her crate which just fitted sideways in the van, and Mrs fxr wriggled down to be behind the crate on the floor. As soon as the first clonking happened she exclaimed it wasn't coming from the back as we'd both believed, but definitely from the front left.

Aha! Removed the driver's side front wheel, and looked for whatever could be the culprit. Spotted the steering rack gaiter on that side had come apart, so zip-tied that up. Looked around more, then spotted the braided brake line had some of the outer plastic worn away. Huh? Looked at the wheel again, and spotted the 20g balancing weight was worn! Yup, the balancing weight had rubbed against the brake line, and as soon as the plastic outer has worn away, the stainless inner had gradually worn away a large chamfer in the weight. Apart from being nice and shiny, the brake line looked AOK, so left that alone, and just replaced the clip-on weight with stick-on ones tucked just further away.

Clonk gone! But from now on, I'll never assume clonking going round bends is always the CVs!

_________________
Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300

[vanis13]

[harvgwen]

Good sleuth work to you both and thanks for letting us know about it.
_________________
1986 Westfalia Vanagon, 2.2 Subaru
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

[LarryMart]

I guess I will add that to my to do list for today! Have been searching for the source of an ever annoying clunk....
Thanks
_________________
larry
91 Multivan

[Wildthings]

I went though this when I last got tires so went to sick on weights as well, but with the stock 14" alloys found the weights would hit the calipers so had to have the stick on weights repositioned.

[Backtotheeightiesagain]

I have noticed different lengths of front hose when placed side by side.
I will look out for that, thank you.

[dhaavers]

[kamzcab86]

Same issue with my '90 after having new 15" tires installed. I left Discount Tire and was simply driving across the parking lot to Home Depot... <bam>. Wheel weights were hitting the larger-than-stock calipers. Immediately removed them. Then, backing out of my driveway while turning the steering wheel left, <tink>. Put the new 15" spare on for a car show appearance, <bam>. Clip-on weights on both of those front left wheels were hitting the upper control arm (had to take the new wheel back off). The difference in sound was due to the different thicknesses of the weights.

Finally went back to Discount Tire with all 5 wheels marked with a no-weight-zone and they rebalanced all of them using weights only on the inboard section. Next time my van needs new tires, I'm most likely going up to 16" wheels to avoid this very issue.
_________________
~Kamz
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子

[Jake de Villiers]

[MarkWard]

@fxr, glad you sorted it, but I’m thinking the wheel weight was hitting a suspension component. That the brake lines have been worn appears to have been going on for a bit and likely wouldn’t make a noise you could feel/hear. I would verify full lock both directions that the tire is not rubbing on the tire sidewall. I have seen vans with aftermarket lines have this problem. A fix is to add a line clamp adel clamp to the upper control arm.

[fxr]