Weird suspension failure

[Renrut]

I've had a rattle from the drivers side front end of the jag for about a week now. One of those rattles that only appears when you go over a speed bump or pot hole. Sounded like a nut bouncing around in a recess somewhere. Several times I got out of the car to try and work out where it was coming from. Good look under the car showed no suspension bolts trying to escape so I carried on. Last night I'd had enough though so I jacked the car up and pulled off the drivers front wheel just to make sure nothing was amiss.

Sure enough everything was still all bolted up fast. So I thought I'd see if it was something to do with the shock absorber so I lifted the rubber collar that stops the dirt getting in. It rattled. The rubber collar rattled.

After prising it away to get a better look I discovered a big metal disc with a curved lip sitting around the shock piston on top of the bump stop

It had 3 tiny rust marks on top of it. Those 3 rust spots perfectly matched 3 on the underside of the strut top mount Looks like the spot welds have failed. I don't think I've ever encountered spot welds failing before the rest of the parent metal.

So my options are:
A) leave it be - I haven't died in a fireball after a week of commuting like that.
B) take the strut off and put a new top mount on @ £40.
C) take the strut off, remove the offending disc and put it all back together. PS there is still a big solid metal plate (4mm) for the bump stop to hit.
D) Cut if off with some very skillful grinding between the spring coils.
E) Buy a new car because I'm at that point where every silly little thing is failing on it (e.g. rear door locks but I never use the rear doors).
F) Ignore it and get the midget fixed up ASAP and use that instead.

[mjslonergan]

F

[Renrut]

I've ignored it most of the week and I'm not dead yet.

I've stripped more underseal off the underside of the Midget so I no longer have a Midget in goo

[mjslonergan]

[Renrut]

After finding several new rust patches on the midget after an hour of scraping off underseal I realised it might not be on the road any time soon. So I went for G in the end - take it off and fix it









Longest bit was waitin for the paint to dry.

[mjslonergan]

It was probably one of those noises that would have gotten progressively more annoying anyway, so probably for the best...

[Renrut]

It was already too annoying and I'm 'vengabus' this week taking some rookies down to a show at Milbrook.

There would have been a certain coolness turning up in a car that clonks over every bump and parking it next to some company directors £100K porsche but it just doesn't look broken enough to pull it off

[Smiler]

Wow, that was a bit of an odd failure.

[Renrut]

I can only put it down to the large number of speed bumps in my area (4 just to the end of the road) and poor quality spot welds in the first place.

They were original jag parts as they still had the labels on them when I fitted the lowering springs and dampers. Dunno if they were original to this car though as it is nearly 12 years old now.

Anyone else had anything like that happen? I've heard of springs snapping and dampers seizing though.

[mjslonergan]

poor quality spot welds

Probably the child doing the welding was only just trained

[Renrut]

poor quality spot welds

Probably the child doing the welding was only just trained

Made in US stamp on it, so probably the jailbird had been spending too long in the showers

[mjslonergan]

the jailbird had been spending too long in the showers

Whether he wanted to or not...