Since I got my car, there has been a rattle in the front suspension I think. When I imagine what it could be, I imagine a sway bar in its fixture banging around without the rubber insulator. It rattles when you hit bumps, sounds like the right front. I tried banging on things with dead blow hammers, looked over everything carefully when I replaced the right axle.

I'm completely baffled...

THanks,

M

 

Which year car? On my 2001 I experienced something similar when the aluminum/rubber bushing for the anti-sway bar broke. This bushing holds the anti-sway bar close to the front frame right where the bar goes up under the body. At first I couldn't tell anything was wrong as I did not know what it was supposed to look like since the bushing was completely missing. With the bushing gone, the car jacked up, and the wheel removed, the anti-sway bar lifts away from the frame and looks like nothing is wrong. Now if you raise the wheel hub with another jack you can watch the anti-sway bar lower until it contacts the frame. This is where the knocking noise comes from.

Another time I had a knocking from the strut mount. This noise is up high and sounded like it came from inside the dashboard. The anti-sway bar knock is down low, like in front of your feet.

 

Yes its a 2001. I'll try what you suggest, makes sense. Thanks! Its nice to know that these Volvos don't discriminate culturally. You have the same problems on the other side of the globe.

Thanks for helping,

Best,

Mark