Freelander 1 Freelander Knocking

Hi all,

I'm having some interesting noises coming from the underside of my Freelander (3 dr '03 TD4)...
If any of you who have a Freelander and have had the exhaust come of its hanger and start knocking the underside then it's similar to that, but coming from passenger side, can feel the knock a bit in the passenger foot well but not sure if that's where it originates.
Seems to be worse at lower speed, but not sure if that's because i can't hear it over the engine/tyre noise...
Have checked the exhaust and that's attached all the way down and wheel nuts are tight. Not sure if this may be something to do with a damaged spring?
If anyone has any suggestions that'd be a great help

Phoebe

I think you'll need to get underneath and have a good poke about. Just a thought - could it be one of the prop support bearings moving on its mounting? Or a UJ?

rob_bell said:

I think you'll need to get underneath and have a good poke about. Just a thought - could it be one of the prop support bearings moving on its mounting? Or a UJ?

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Could it be the front mount on the rear diff? Or the subframe. I'm new to all this but that's what I'm checking on mine right now.

I thought the exhaust had come off a mount on mine once, a knocking rattle developed, about a mile down the road the IRD went BANG!

Check tyres & pressures and do a OWUT just to make sure the same isn't going to happen to you!

GrumpyGel said:

I thought the exhaust had come off a mount on mine once, a knocking rattle developed, about a mile down the road the IRD went BANG!

Check tyres & pressures and do a OWUT just to make sure the same isn't going to happen to you!

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Well it's been knocking for a little while now and there dont seem to be any other issues - hoping this isnt the case

Mine is knocking from the offside. I think it's the strut or top mount. It only knocks on small sharp bumps. Like those bumps were the top layer of tarmac has come away. It doesn't knock on gentle speed humps, but does on those plastic speed humps.
I'm sure it's the strut causing it. I can feel it through the floor too.
I had a similar knock on my MG ZS180. That did turn out to be the strut. When I pulled it apart for investigation. I found the valve assembly was loose and knocking on the shaft. The struts on the FL1 and MG are made by the same manufacturer.

Nodge68 said:

Mine is knocking from the offside. I think it's the strut or top mount. It only knocks on small sharp bumps. Like those bumps were the top layer of tarmac has come away. It doesn't knock on gentle speed humps, but does on those plastic speed humps.
I'm sure it's the strut causing it. I can feel it through the floor too.
I had a similar knock on my MG ZS180. That did turn out to be the strut. When I pulled it apart for investigation. I found the valve assembly was loose and knocking on the shaft. The struts on the FL1 and MG are made by the same manufacturer.

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Mine is worse on bumpier roads, and quietens down on the smoother parts, knocks in or out of gear so dont think its transmission related, so may have a look at some of those areas a bit more closely

Mine knocks too - from the right front. Pretty sure it'll be the lower ball joint, which I hope I can solve once I've replaced both lower arms.

rob_bell said:

Mine knocks too - from the right front. Pretty sure it'll be the lower ball joint, which I hope I can solve once I've replaced both lower arms.

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Keep us updated when you change the lower arms.
I've had mine on a two poster and four poster to find the cause. I've pushed, pulled, levered and hit everything that could make the noise and still it remains illusive.

Will do!

One thing - a suspicion - that I can't throw off: the knock only appeared after I'd replaced the old drop links with the replacement Bearmach ones. If the lower arm replacement doesn't effect a cure (they need doing anyway - they were an MoT advisory), then I'll swap over the drop links and see whether this moves the noise one side to the other!

mine turned out to be a wishbone that was slightly bent.

I've had mine on a two poster and four poster to find the cause. I've pushed, pulled, levered and hit everything that could make the noise and still it remains illusive.[/QUOTE]
How old are the shockers? Likely it could be your shock tops

Nodge68 said:

Keep us updated when you change the lower arms.
I've had mine on a two poster and four poster to find the cause. I've pushed, pulled, levered and hit everything that could make the noise and still it remains illusive.

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"when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes. Shocks or their tops, I am doing mine for these symptoms as I have done everything else

Causes I've found for knocking so far:-
CV Joint - very obvious knocking you can feel on rough ground and when reversing on full lock. Grab the drive shaft and push it about, pretty much any movement is bad.
Drop link - Obvious knocking when on uneven ground, check with the car on it's wheels as if jacked up they are under strain so you won't feel anything.
Lower arm and tie rod - Similar to drop link but found by pushing and pulling at the wheel with it jacked up.
Strut - Metallic rattle not really felt, I found worst when the wheel dropped into a pot hole, intermittent issue with no obvious way to find it except ruling out everything else.

Took it to the local land rover specialists and had some news back........

• Both ARB drop links have perished (replaced them not too long ago so not overly pleased with the quality - the ones that are on there are bearmach, wont be getting those again...)
• Propshaft bearing rubber split
• and diffmounting rubber has split too

Will get a quote from them for parts, I'm happy doing the drop links myself but the propshaft and diff mountings I'm not sure about, so we'll see how much this sets me back...

that doesn't instil confidence: the knocking on mine only started AFTER I fitted the Bearmach drop link on that side...

rob_bell said:

that doesn't instil confidence: the knocking on mine only started AFTER I fitted the Bearmach drop link on that side...

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I had replaced mine in late october/early november and the knocking started late december and got steadily worse, so it shws they dont last at all - not like i was hooning it around too much either, light green laning and the commute to work

The ARB drop links on the 2001 onwards FL1 don't last as long as the earlier cars. This is due to increased loadings imposed by the thicker ARB fitted to the later cars. However they should still last a good time, definitely more than months.

Mine started knocking straight away - so if confirmed, there will be words to be had with Bearmach...

I have Bearmach drop links on mine. Annoyingly I have a knock that I can't trace.