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MG MGF Technical - rear suspension?

I fear I might have a rather serious rear suspension problem...

Each time the rear of the car bumps over a bump in the road or a pothole, I hear a rather loud and heavy noise, as if some heavy object in the boot is thrown up and falls onto the boot floor again. The noise clearly only occurs a split second after the noise of the wheels banging over a bump in the road. When both wheels go over a bump simultaneously, the nois is more distinct. The car however handles as normal...

Is there something wrong with my rear suspension? The car is a 1999 mpi with 80.000 miles on the clock. Is it dangerous to keep on driving?

Thanks for your assistance,

Dirk
dirk

Make sure there is nothing in the boot...sorry! Have you tried checking the dampers, bounce car up and down in each corner and see if settles quickly or not??? Also if you get the wheels off it should be apparent if the bump stops have been working over time!
R Baker

Have a look to see if the shock absorber bushes are shot - if they are get poly bushes from Mike Satur (or such) as MGR will only sell you complete absorbers at about a hundred quid each whilst a complete set of bushes for all four dampers is about thirty five quid.

Ted
Ted Newman

Is the exhaust still on its mountings ?
D Jamieson

It could be a broken exhaust. It could also be dampers that have departed their bushes. May even be a problem with the bump-stops (what height is your car's suspension?)

Certainly requires further investigation.
Rob Bell

thanks for the replies.

It definitively isn't the exhaust that's broken (IMO, that is, based on the fact that it doesn't move if I shake it from the end of the pipes and that the sound is absolutely normal).

After removiong the right rear weel, I noticed that the bump stop has apparently been working (only the right rear one, not the left one), as there is no dust of other filthyness (?) visible...

Would this then be the result of the shock absorber bushes that are shot?

If so, is it possible to replace them myself as I can imagine the dealer not being impressed by having to install bushes/absorbers he didn't sell himself...

Dirk
dirk

If the bump stop is clean - indicating it has been in action - then it could be the Hydragas unit itself that is at fault.

The shock absorber bushes are normally very obvious if they need changing and yes it is a simple job to do - the bottom ones take just a couple of minutes but the top ones can be a little difficult to get at, having said that I did all four units, top and bottom in about 2 hours.

Ted
Ted Newman

Is it easier to compress the rhs rear of the vehicle than the left?
Might be shot damper valving come apart and providing no resistance?
Not sure even if the shock bushes are shot that it would lead to over worked bump stops... unless they are completely knackered and as Tom says it would be obvious

R Baker

A check with the dealer solved the mistery: it are indeed the dampers that have more or less departed from the bushes, as Rob suggested.

Will most probably have them replaced by Mike Saturs bushes. Thanks for the advice.

Dirk
dirk

This thread was discussed between 13/12/2002 and 26/12/2002

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