every time I go over a bump, I hear a rattle in my driver's side front suspension. It sounds like a loose brake pad, and goes away when I brake. The caliper seems properly in place. Are there supposed to be shims behind the pads? Something else that would rattle loosely except under braking?

 

yea theres supposed to be a shim between the the capiler and the brake.

 

you can always check to make sure your pad clips are installed on the caliper bracket. for s/g, check your tension rod bushings, as they help to control the front end under braking and check your sway bar end links.

 

It could also be the strut rattling I think. I had a first gen once where they forgot to put the spacer/washer thingy in the strut tube. Everytime I would go over a speed bump or up a driveway it would rattle.

 

deffinatly check the tention rod bushings i have the same problem it sounds like the front of the car is going to fall out from under neath it but i found it was the bushings they will also make the car pull to one side if they get too bad think you can get them for about 20 bucks or so also the tension rod is on the passenger side of the car and is attached to the body

 

But, if you hit the bump with the brakes pressed slightly, does it still make the noise? The rest of your suspension doesn't care if the brakes are on slightly, unless it's enough to throw all the weight forward. I once had the bolt that you remove to make the caliper swing up come off and the brakes were just being held in by the inside of the wheel. Same thing, when the brakes are pressed, rattle goies away. Have you ever noticed that when you are looking for bumps to help you find a rattle, all of the roads are perfectly smooth?

 

Is the nut on the top of your strut tight? I'm trying to remember if you recently did your front struts or not...

 

i have this same problem, its annoying as hell.

 

it's the brake pad missing a shim. It's to the point now where I can hear the pad click into place during braking, and click loose again when I release the pedal.

 

Not much to fix. I fixed this problem on the 83 with shims. Shims were about 16$ form napa i think.

Guess what? Same problem with the 84 as well passanger side. guess I could remove them from the GS and put them on the GSL.

Off to remove the targa band on the GS.

 

thanks for this info, ill have to get it fixed this weekend.

 

to test for the drive really slow.. say about 1 to 3 mph and stop the break. if you get a clank then it could be your breaks. also try it at around 5 to 10 and just press on them you should get the same clank sound. You may also expreance a rattle going down the road .. this is your pad catching the rotor and friction causing the pad to clank against the calibrator.

 

yep, that's what I already did.

 

have you checked the swaybar frame mount bushings yet my car used ot rattle really bad over bumps it started out as one side then the next till it was all over i thought it was the struts but furter inspection showed it was those bushings problem solved for the longest time i couldnt figure out what it was lol

 

After replacing entire front end (bushings, tie rods etc) new brake system, new springs and struts I still had a rattle. Turned out to be the rubber exhaust hangers.

 

It could be the spring clips at the end of the pads in the caliper too.

 

i think this might be a problem on my car also, i checked my brakes today and only one shim is missing, but i definatley know that the noise i hear is from that, only hear it going slow on shitty roads (roads here suck) and if i tap the breaks the noise stops and then continues right when i release the brakes. but when im driving faster and hit bumps on the highway i hear another noise. it seems like a hell of alot of racket for one missing shim, which leads me to believe it could be something else. thanks for that info, hopefully i can stop this cause its annoying as hell.