[Wattsy]

Hi guys

I am getting a constant low level thud thud thud while driving eminating from the left hand wheel area. As I accelerate it gets faster and faster, also when I take a long corner at any speed over 40 It get a sound like you are going over a rumble pad. My inital thought was the bearing but after looking into it a bit more I now recon it could be the CV joint or the drive shaft.

Just spent £500 on it to pass the MOT, new left side upper wishbone and new front tyres.

Can anyone help with diagnosing this? How much is it to replace CV joint / drive shaft?

I love my Alfa but I have spent nearly 3k on it this year and the car is now only worth a little over that :|

Thanks in advance

 

[Dave Brand]

Sounds tyre-related to me. Was it there before you had the new tyres fitted?

 

[trashbat]

Checked whether your wheels are bent? Mine were, but my thump-thump-thump manifested itself most at 25mph, less so at fast speeds. Also manifests itself as really uneven tyre wear, especially if the tracking is off.

See: http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-147-156-and-gt/288718-bent-156-ti-wheels.html

 

[ecnarfi]

When mine were buckled it only seemed to cause a noticeable thump-thump-thump at around 50-60mph. I guess it depends on wheel size and how buckled they are as to what speed it's noticeable at.

Having said that I would have expected the MOT to have picked up on any that are buckled, even if it just reported them as advisory.

I had one wheel which caused the MOT to fail and 2 that were advisory! The worst one had to be replaced but the other 2 were sorted by being refurbed. Apparently its becoming quite a common MOT fail on alloys that are 17" and over.

 

[trashbat]

I didn't think there was anything in the MOT test about roundness of wheels, but I don't know why I thought that.

Obviously if you have more than one buckled wheel the symptoms will be varied because they won't be in perfect sync.

 

[andypj]

I had a similar kind of noise, but it was the tyres that weren't round - they had a flat spot on them. This was caused by a tyre being parked for a period of time on an underinflated tyre. This can also be caused by poor tyre storage. If it has only occurred after new tyres have been fitted it could very well be the tyres. I only found out about mine when I changed wheels front to back. Apparently it's a common problem on low profile tyres. Just get the tyre fitters to check the wheels/tyres for roundness/blemishes first -it should be free!

After the wishbone was fitted was the alignment checked??? If not get this done at somewhere that is really good at it with proper equipment who knows what they are doing. I'll be honest I buy my tyres from a local tyre retailer and they are very, very good - but when I get the wheels aligned I go elsewhere - it costs more but afterwards, whichever car they've done it always feels right.

 

[Guest]

Check the stick on weights aren't clipping the caliper as the wheel spins, I had this after some new tyres and was surprised it didn't knock them off completely. As for the rumble in long corners check all the nut's and bolts are connected properly on the drop links and suspension struts, these would have been removed during the upper wishbone replacement. Also check the bolts on the upper wishbone pivots I did mine and couldn't beleive how tight they should be.

 

[Wattsy]

Thanks guys I will do some investigating and tighning if need be on the weekend.