1xsculler

Only when I’m on a rough roadway, sometimes very slightly rough, will I hear the rattle!

1xsculler

Drove me crazy!
I isolated the rattle to the rt front by placing several 2x6s a couple of feet long in line about a foot apart and driving over them with each wheel. It became obvious that the rattle was coming only from the right front wheel. I disconnected the sway bar links and the rattle persisted so I went to my dealer and requested that a mechanic accompany me on a test drive using my 2x6, bumpy road experiment. He said he couldn’t be sure but he suspected a rattling strut. All four struts were replaced with Arnotts by the previous owner 80k ago. I took a gamble, ordered an Arnott AS 3005 and installed it today and PROBLEM TOTALLY SOLVED…I feel like a new man and I can resume my hobby of trying to get this rig to 300k

eric_in_sd

Good for you.

80k would be at the upper end of the life range for the shock absorber inside the strut anyway. I'd replace the other side too.

DennisG01

Interesting. That's the exact thing I mentioned above in regards to what I suspect my rattle is, as well. I have yet to dive into it to see if something can be tightened up, though. And chance you have an idea what exactly was loose in there?

vesiadog

I truly understand the frustration of chasing noises. If you follow many youtube videos there sure are a lot of causes and fixes. I had quite a few on my 2008 and hopefully will be a little more prepared on the 2011.
Don’t forget about checking out the inner and outer tie rod ends … the inners got me.

DennisG01

Yup, no doubt!

I know it's not the tie rod end links - those have a different sound to them. Plus, I did the same thing Sculler did - disconnect them to remove them as a variable.

1xsculler

No idea what might be rattling in that strut. Arnott says the 3005 is their best strut and it’s not rebuildable and might be impossible, or difficult, to dismantle.
Over and done with this issue and I sincerely appreciate all of the chiming in you guys did!

BTW, I can’t overlook all of the help some of you offered when my problematic suspension was giving me fits. After replacing the compressor the entire problem was finally solved by installing Arnott’s best valve block and **** canning the elcheapo Amazon no-name one that a previous owned had installed.
Working from 170k towards 300k with no dealer intervention, one of my hobbies to keep me busy for my 80s!

eric_in_sd

But was the old strut a 3005?

Again, you really ought to change the other side as well. The damping components wear out, so even if the other side is not rattling, it almost certainly has less damping than the new one you installed.

DennisG01

Thanks, Scull. One of these days I'll get around to popping it off and checking it out. It's not an Arnott or Bilstein - it's some other, cheapie brand (much less than the others). But it's been on there for the 8 years I've owned it - rattling started about a year or so ago.

Shhhh.... don't tell it I said it's been on there that long!

1xsculler

Since the ride of this truck is very good I won’t be replacing any more suspension parts until that changes.
The rears are also Arnotts so I’m assuming all four were replaced by the previous owner during the first 80k.

eric_in_sd

Just keep an eye out for uneven tire wear. Old shocks manifest first as cupping in the tread.

Max Blast

Am I late to the party here and confessing that my Arnott replacement ADS shocks, that I self installed new airbags on rattle every chance they get?

I found that if you grokked down on the nut that holds the bag onto the strut, the rattle goes away temporarily.

1xsculler

I’d better try to check that before I throw mine in the dumpster!
What’s an ADS shock?
The rattle goes away only temporarily???

Max Blast

my car has Advamced Damping System - ADS, well, soft and firm and in between - and those are a little bit more expensive than the basic arnott rebuild. So since they weren’t leaking but my bags were, I put new airsprings around them. And didn’t tighten the nut holding it well enough, resulting in a rattle. Tighten the nuts some more and the rattle went away for a couple weeks and it’s back again.

1xsculler

Arnott says the 3005s are not serviceable and no core charge so just throw a faulty one away.