i have a rattle seems like in the front end on the drivers side. took it into a mechanic and he said a sway bar link was just starting to be loose, and the struts has had indication of a leak no liquid but where dust had collected on it to where it has had moisture. so I took it to a different mechanic for a second opinion. he had it up checking the sway bar link. he said the passengers was a a tab looser, but really not much play in it. the drivers side was tight. I went ahead and replaced the passengers side sway bar link. the rattle is still there. the rattle is on a bumpy road, or where new road meets a bridge man hole covers. etc. but when driving at 40 to 50 miles an hr you don't hear the rattle till you come across something in the road. anyway, the vehicle was still jacked up and he pride on different things underderneath and he couldn't find any thing loose. he also put it on all 4 tires and crawled under the vehicle and pride and pulled and pushed and still could not find anything loose. he had his other mechanic crawl under it and he did the same thing. nothing. he said when struts go bad they sound like they are going to come threw the hood. but there isn't a loud sound. just rattle. so what pointers can you give me for someone to look at?
can you look under it and look at the stabilizer link (rod) front lower control arm bushings and see if they are bad or loose, or do you have to take them apart from where located to check them? on top of the struts (under the hood) what is that called, and how can you check them, (there isn't really a bumper like older cars had to push up and down on that to see if the top of the struts mount?? is loose or broken how do you check that. (I think we did that but no loose play?) so any info you can provide is greatly appreciated.

 

Sounds do telegraph through a vehicle and sometimes can put you on a wild goose chase looking for something that isn't there. If the stabilizer links are questionable, they should be replaced before looking for something else. That way you know they can no longer be the problem.

Many times something simple is just loose or dangling and lets you know when the vehicle hits certain bumps. A thorough visual check can accomplish a lot especially if one looks in unsuspecting areas.

 

I had the sway bar links replaced..