After doing some minor work on my new nova, a buddy of mine and myself went out for a cruise to see how everything was working. Close to the end of the trip, a loud thunking sound began coming from the front right of my car. As I speed up, so does the sound, but no matter what speed i am at, if I hit the brake the sound quickly goes away. Thanks for any help

what year of car is this ??? is it discs or drums on the front. take a look underneath and visually check all suspension parts... might give 'em a good wiggle too (steering linkage) i'm assuming it drives and stops straight or i'd think you'd have mentioned it so it's more than likely not in the suspension, but it's still worth checking out... maybe a pad or shoe is loose or maybe a wheel bearing is going bad (maybe ???)


check it out and get back to us... hopefully we can help ya ;)

Does it make the noise in park, if you just rev it up?

Are the lug nuts tight? Like Johnny said jack it up and shake it down.

Aftering jacking it up. I found the front passenger tie-rod,l connecting sleeve, to be bent slightly and deformed. After inspecting the lug nuts/studs, i found one stud to be mostly stripped and one that was 3/4 length. Both the tie rod and both studs were replaced. The thumping sound continued. I then took the brake off again and indsected it further. Considering Im new to the game, ill use the term inspect loosely :) But everything seemed in place. I bent the tabs on the outer brake pad, as was suggested in the repair manual, to secure the pad in place. The pad does move, but no more that 1/16 inch max, and does take a good amount of energy to move. The inside brake's spring does seem not to hold it in place too well. Too much moving around, and the pad wants to move out of its place. After looking at the brake, I went out for a short run to see how everything was working. The sound persists. Seems to even be a little more pronounced. I could feel the thump through the wheel, and my buddy could feel it through the floor boards. Steering isnt affect, nor does the car want to pull to a direction. When i brake the sound does go away 99% of the time. Also, turning left or right also has no affect, the sound persists through either turn.

-as for giving it a good wiggle. The wheel does give a slight rock-roll, if i pushed-pulled the top and bottom of the tire (horizontal axis of movement). But nothing significant, just a little more than im used to.

the car is a 74 nova custom.

Thank you all very much for your help

Well it doesn't take much to check your wheel bearings so you could look at that. You said you were doing some minor work to the car before this started occurring, what did you do? Did you recently change wheels or tires? Do you possibly have too much backspacing and may be getting some wheel rub on the inside? or possibly something rubbing against the wheel? Take a look at your brake rotors and make sure nothing has gotten lodged inside the cooling fins. Maybe you picked up a rock and when you hit the brakes it pulls the caliper out of the way just enough to make it stop?????? Recently hit any LARGE POTHOLES that may have bent a rim??????? Sounds like it could be something dangerous though so hopefully you'll find it soon enough.

Does it make the noise in park when you rev the engine up?

When i brake the sound does go away 99% of the time.

I heard rod knocks that you couldnt hear at idle " when i brake it goes away" because your rpms are going down.

I'm thinking you have something wrong with your brakes can you determine if the noise is coming from a wheel? have your buddy stand out side the car while you drive by just fast enough to make the noise.

Find the noisy wheel then inspect/repair that brake:yes::thumbsup:

The noise is coming from the wheel. I drove by my buddy a couple times, and he comfirmed it. I looked at the rotors, ill double check, to make sure the fans are clean. But neither the brakepads nor the rotor show any sign of impacts. The pads are basically new and the there are no marks on the rotors surface.

The sound only occurs when the car is moving. I have yet to get it to a hill see if it does it in neutral.

Broken shock, wrong springs. Are the spindles tight at the ball joints? Are the control arms tight where they bolt to the frame?

Problem seems to be solved. 20 min ride and no sound or feel of the problem. I bought a new brake hardware kit to get a better spring for the interior brake. When I reseated the rotor after the first check, it looks as though it was left a little loose. There as a little play in the rotor. Not sure if that is the culprit of the increase sound. The hardware kit contained two rubber bushings that i did not have on the current brake setup. After seating everything back, i put the new retaining spring on the interior brake pad, and put the bushing on. (located between the exterior spring and the caliper). All sound and vibration seems to be gone.

Thank you all for all your help. I appreciate it greatly. Now i can work to improve something else.

Ok the problem is back. Im starting to think there is a mass conspiracy against me driving it. For about 2 days worth of driving, the sound was quiet, almost like a metal skipping off metal sound. Today, after about a 2week sit in the parking lot, the sound is loud. It sounds like two pieces of metal 2x4 being slapped together. Sound goes away again, when the brakes are applied and if i turn right or left the sound seems to go away. The sound is heard in neutral, or any time the car is either going forward or reverse. Im waiting for the next paycheck to take it out on town, but does anyone have an idea what it may be?

Remove the drive shaft from the car and inspect the u joints. Proper inspection can not be performed with it installed.

That's exactly what I was thinking too, was if he's already checked his brakes and wheel bearings out from the last inspection then it could be U-Joints. Maybe it sounds like it's coming from the front but it's actually coming from up under the car clanging like U-Joints. That's where I'd look next too.

How would me applying the brakes lessen the sound of the u joint knocking? could it have to do with the deceleration of the vehicle, rather than the brake pads, that is stopping the noise?

The pinion angle changes when you accelerate and hit the brakes. that would make the noise go away when you hit the brakes.

As stated above the pinion angle changes and it would put a bind on the drive shaft which could cause the u joint to feel the force in one direction only which could stop the clanking IF it is in fact a u joint. It's just something you should check out if you've already checked out your brakes and you can't find anything.

I would also reccomend you check your wheel bearings !!!!

Found the problem for sure this time. I took the car out for a long trip to see if I could get any wear or noticable markings that could tell me as to what the problem was. A buddy helped me looked at the U-joint and it looked good. The rim for the wheel was moving. Probably no more than an 1/8 inch, circular pattern. No real markings showed since I maybe drive it 5 miles a week, prior to this. But during the trip, the sound got worse and I actually sheared off a lug. The rims I have on it now are Cragers. They have an oval hole in the rim which got warped worse as the sound got louder. A quick switch to a junker rims stopped the problem. Ive driven it considerable more this week, and no sound can be heard. Thank you for all the help.