Tiny knocking noise on rear end of TD5 90 narrowing it down slowly but surely

Hi all,

I am still on my mission to eliminate this odd clunk that i am getting on the rear of my 90. As previously mentioned every now and then not very frequent at all i get this little pop sound from the rear of my td5 90. It tends to occur when you have a bit of a judder such as braking and then lurching forward or when pushing the rear end over a kerb to reverse into the drive. EVEN then it doesnt do it all the time just once here and there. I have even taken it over a big mound of gravel thinking i could force the noise but couldnt!

it sounds like when you plop your finger against the side of your mouth or when you put your tongue to the roof of your mouth and make a plop sound.

okay so you get my drift!

Anyway, here is a list of what i have replaced so far.

Rear Half Shafts
Rear half shaft drive flanges

I have kinda checked the rear a frame ball joint however i want to try it again with a bigger pry bar to see if it has any play in it.

HOWEVER today i replaced the rear coil springs and shock absorbers complete with new bushes etc.

Since i have replaced the shock absorbers and springs i went for a short test run and only heard this little knock ONCE and it was a damn sight quieter than when previously encountered.

I did make one observation though whilst i was fitting the new springs and forcing the axle away from the body to get springs in. I noticed quite a big gap appearing behind the lower link mounting rubber where the lower link bar attaches to the chasis. This gap was probably about 10mm or so when i had the axle forced well apart to get the spring in.

Obviously once i released the pressure i was exerting on the axle the gap closed up quite a bit but there was still a fair gap around the rubber.

I am wondering can these lower links cause the clonking noise i am experiencing? Or is this normal to have a small gap around the mounting rubber.

The vehicle has done 60,000 miles 2004 td5.

Any suggestions eliminating the

rear half shafts
rear drive flanges
rear coil springs
rear shock absorbers and bushes

It's probably worth replacing the rubbers where the trailing arms join the chassis anyway while you're rebuilding the suspension. I did mine last autumn and there was a bit of movement on the driver's side bush. Since then the suspension has been a bit quieter - no more clunks and knocks.

Its not the brake pads moving in the caliper is it? A friend had similar, turned out to be the brake pads loose in the caliper, and only happened intermittent. Caliper housings do wear

A tiny knocking noise..



you can't hear yourself think in mine..

I'll check the brake pads tomorrow i suppose it could be something like that yes thanks for the post!

I think I'll also look at replacing those trailing arm bushes. Anyone know what poly bushes are like? I've never used them only heard of them is it worth getting some? Or sticking with normal rubber

Sambora8080 said:

I'll check the brake pads tomorrow i suppose it could be something like that yes thanks for the post!

I think I'll also look at replacing those trailing arm bushes. Anyone know what poly bushes are like? I've never used them only heard of them is it worth getting some? Or sticking with normal rubber

Click to expand...

If you use it normally get genuine bushes. LR don't spend millions on R and D for nothing, could it be something catching on the brake protection plates ,don't know the proper name for them.

May be a silly suggestion but worth mentioning..
I had a really annoying intermittent tap/knock on the back of my TD5 90 and after months of looking at bushes, brakes, spare wheel carrier it turned out to be the rear door latch arm (the bit that's supposed to hold the door open at the bottom corner). Stuck a bungee on and hey presto, the noise has never been heard since.

Sambora8080 said:

I'll check the brake pads tomorrow i suppose it could be something like that yes thanks for the post!

I think I'll also look at replacing those trailing arm bushes. Anyone know what poly bushes are like? I've never used them only heard of them is it worth getting some? Or sticking with normal rubber

Click to expand...

I put Superpros on mine just over a year ago and they've been fine since. Equally, there are a lot of people on here who swear by OEM rubber. I think the key thing is that whatever you have, it's reasonably fresh and new and tight rather than perished or sloppy. The most difficult bit was getting the big nuts undone at the end of the trailing arms, as the arms tend to flex, rather than the nuts unscrewing. Fortunately, an impact wrench sorted me out.

Damn this sounds familiar to me. Years back in a much older Landie I had such an annoying tapping from the rear quarter. I know this is probably no help to you what soever, but, after the then wife complained about it enough, I tried for weeks to source it. A previous owner had replaced the battery leads with new and simply cut off the braided earth strap where he could reach, leaving about 9" or so dangling. At Series 2a supersonic warp speed this strap would bang against the chassis which acted as a sort of resonator making the sound amplified. By dislocating my arm I managed to undo the retention bolt and remove the offending item cutting my hands on the splayed out braids in the bargain...... Job's a goodun'