knocking sound from under car

[typer272727]

I have a 97 LXI town & country,i hear a knocking sound everytime a hit any bumps,sounds like theirs something broken,i took it to the mechanic,they checked everywhere,everything is nice and tight,shocks are good,he saids theres nothing wrong but i keep hearing it. does any one knows what could be the problem,is driving me crazy
thanks

[yoji6365]

Try a better mechanic and have him check the suspension parts. Sounds like the struts or related components.

[typer272727]

Originally Posted by yoji6365

Try a better mechanic and have him check the suspension parts. Sounds like the struts or related components.

this is the second guy i went to,i think im gonna have to take it to the dealer,i know the dealers gonna charge an arm and a leg

[jgillis]

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be the sway bar broken inside the bushing where you couldn't see it.

[typer272727]

Originally Posted by jgillis

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be the sway bar broken inside the bushing where you couldn't see it.

u dont hear the sound anymore?
Ill tell them to check it real good thanks

[tysons]

sway bar link sound like the problem <--- common problem anyways.

[jawss]

Where do you hear the noise? Front or back, left or right side? The other suggestions are very possible, sway bars are known to break on these vans. Also, could be the front strut mounting boot; or at least, thats what I call it. Its the top of the strut that holds the strut and strut spring together and mounts it all to the strut tower in the van. Hard to test these to see if they're worn out. If you hear the noise in the back, check for broken leaf spring , leaf spring bushing. Or your exhaust could be hitting the bottom of the van. This happened to me once after I hit a racoon. Little bugger bent the pipe just enough so it would hit the floor. Hope you find your problem without too much cost. Good luck!

[typer272727]

thanks all u guys,im gonna check the bars and the bushings,is only the front that sounds,the back is fine(thank god) , if it happends to be the front shock can i get them anywhere or i have to get them from the dealer,the back they told me i have to get them from the dealer,i went to ask for the back they want almost $400 each cause the self adjust according to the weight,i really dont know much about this minivan,i had mostly honda's
and again thankx for all your help

[jawss]

Holy crap! $400 for the rear shocks!! I would be replacing them with regular shocks. As far as the front struts go, you can buy them anywhere. You dont get new mount boots though when you buy struts, they are a separate item... go figure! So you may not need to replace the struts, just these "boots" that are on the top of the strut. Also, you may want to check to see if the strut springs are broken. Good luck!