I've got the strangest knocking sound coming from my right front suspension. It sounds like a bad upper strut mount but I hardly believe it's that because it's got a pillow ball upper mount (JIC FLT-A2). What I'm wondering is if someone would let me put their strut (or a spare strut/spring if they have one sitting around) in the front right of my car and let me drive with it (not even a mile, just gotta hit a irregularity in the road) to see if it reproduces the sound.

I've tried EVERYTHING, nothing's loose (ball joints, tie rods, bearing) so my only culprit is the upper mount. If it's quiet with another strut in place I'll just order a new upper mount and be on my way.

PM me if anyone can lend a hand. Thanks in advance.

I'm located in Va Beach.

 

Nobody? Doesn't anyone know a guy who knows a guy that knows a female friend who's husband's fourth cousin twice removed can help?

 

It should be easy to see if the upper mount is sloppy enough to make noise. Have you checked out the swaybar droplinks, etc.?

 

I've checked eVeRYTHiNG, yanked on every bit of the suspension with my 4ft pry bar just to see if it has excessive play. I figured if it was the upper mount (considering it's a pillow ball type) I'd be able to physically see if it was damaged, but I'm having a very hard time figuring out where the trouble spot is. I've done the wheel shake-down and I've got nothing on ball joints or the tie rods. The noise happens whenever the right front suspension hits a sudden undulation in the road, and at high speed I can feel a vibration from that side as well (55mph+). Could this possibly be a wheel bearing problem that isn't audibly groaning? I've experienced something similar when I was working at Toytoa.