I have the same problem on the right side of my '86 Westy. I had it on
the lift this weekend and discovered that the bump stop on the lower
control arm had rusted off. This allows the spring to slide around (to a
point) on the arm. I plan to remove the spring, and rebuild the bump
stop.

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of John C...
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 9:25 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: knocking from rear springs?

Hi Dave,

One thing I've done before
is to remove the engine cover,
& have a helper (honey??? ;o)
drive the bus around
and listen to the area
to see if the sound can be localized
and indentified.
Might be worth a try ! :o)

best,
John

-------------- Original message --------------
From: David Clarkson <Dvdclarksn@AOL.COM>

> I have been trying to isolate a knocking noise that I hear from the
rear of
> my vehicle primarily at slower speeds going over bumps. It has
persisted
> through changing the CV joints, rear bearings, shocks and transmission
mount. I
> am
> thinking that the only wear item left has to be the upper and lower
spring
> pads. My vehicle has very high mileage (256,000 mi.) and as far as I
know
> these are the original parts. Anyone have any other ideas? I think
that I will
> use the chassis ears that we have at work to verify or nullify this
hunch
> unless someone on the list has some other idea or valuable experience.
Thanks
> list.
>
> David Clarkson
> 90 Westy
>
>
>
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