[semattingly]

I've had a time trying to figure out what is causing the rattle in the video below. I've taken the truck to 2 different shops, both thought they fixed the issue while costing me a small fortune. The first shop swapped the rear LCA and the second shop swapped the front LCA. When I took it back to the first shop to tell them that they didn't fix the problem, the only diagnosis they speculated on was something in lower portion of the air strut, but could not definitively say so. I'm not getting any suspension faults at all. I've checked for any loose brackets, etc. I've considered taking off the front fender panel to see if there is something rattling inside. Any ideas?

 

[diff]

Not sure but check the anti sway bar mounts and rods. Also check for a possible loose brake backing plate. I have not done our bushings but they are available afaik from Island 4x4 UK. Originals are solidly bonded to the sway bar so more expensive and time consuming to change and both end links, at least need separating (they may be the problem). It can be fun to cut the rubber off the sway bar in place from what I have read. New ones are split so they fit over the bar in place. This is typical of north american older vehicles (at least). But of course these suspensions are different and I still have difficulty understanding how well they track given the LCA open web bushings they contain (bonded by the way)

 

[brewersprts]

It’s hard to tell from the video but it sounds like a very similiar noise that I had on my 07 Supercharged. I also had it misdiagnosed. Was told it needed ball joints. Replaced them, got an alignment, all that, still had the same noise.

It ended up being the sway bar end links/drop links. I’m not sure what the proper name is. It’s a vertical bar that is less than a foot long with a couple ball joint looking things on the end. Connects to the end of the front sway bar. You can see them behind the front wheels, especially if you turn the wheel all the way to the outside.

I got a big bar from some leverage and pried on the the sway bar, thinking it was a sway bar mount or something and I could heard the noise coming from those drop links/end links.

 

[semattingly]

Thanks for the input. I did get a chance to get the truck on a lift and get under it. There is still nothing obvious, but one thing I didn't do while I had it on the lift was take a pry bar to various parts of the suspension to see if anything moved that wasn't supposed to.

I had the sway bar links replaced about 14 months ago and they still look good, but, that seems as likely a candidate as any right now, in addition to diff's recommendations of checking anti-sway bar mounts. I don't think it is related to any brake mounts as everything seemed solid there. I have it scheduled to go into the shop that replaced the sway bar links since those are still under warranty. This will be the 3rd shop that will have tried to diagnose this issue so we'll see what happens.

I don't see much discussion on here about the upper control arm bushings. Those looked fine but I'm wondering if it's possible that they're the culprit?

 

[semattingly]

It turns out the front left rattle issue is in the air strut. Regrettably, I put Arnott remanufactured struts on the truck a little over two years ago and they've been nothing short of terrible, the front left has failed twice on me. Fortunately (or unfortunately) they are honoring the warranty. Since they no longer build the remanufactured struts, they are sending me their "new" part. I'm curious to know what could possibly be rattling inside, hopefully after it's removed I can get a better idea.

 

[diff]

I have wondered about the struts as ours has always rattled and i have changed the links and the sway bar seems tight. My wife just watched her range puff air as the other front strut failed while parked in the driveway. I did one side with an arnott replacement bag and it has performed perfectly from a spring point of view. Thanks for posting on the strut noise as there is very little on any site about the possible noise in struts. Now to figure out what fails in there.

 

[mylife1903]

Not sure but check the anti sway bar mounts and rods. Also check for a possible loose brake backing plate. I have not done our bushings but they are available afaik from Island 4x4 UK. Originals are solidly bonded to the sway bar so more expensive and time consuming to change and both end links, at least need separating (they may be the problem). It can be fun to cut the rubber off the sway bar in place from what I have read. New ones are split so they fit over the bar in place. This is typical of north american older vehicles (at least). But of course these suspensions are different and I still have difficulty understanding how well they track given the LCA open web bushings they contain (bonded by the way)

O have similar noise from the front left side. One time i kicked front left tire and found the problem. The noise comes from brake cover. Will do it in winter

 

[diff]

Ours also had the backing plate break out at its mounting points and the metal in the area disappeared. Large washers did work but if worn a lot it might need replacing or 2 washers and possibly a touch longer bolts as they are very short.