One of the most annoying sounds is the constant knocking in the suspension. The complaint from the owner of this 2009 Toyota Hiace was that it had an annoying knocking sound that had started recently.

After a short road test, I would say that was a little understated. The Hiace had a very heavy thumping at every dip and rut in the road. With the state of the roads now, that meant that it was not at all quiet.

The good thing about such extreme noises, is that the source is normally easily found. The problem with this Hiace was no exception. The front nearside anti roll bar link was barely attached. The securing bolt was not only loose, but extremely worn from many potholes.

Because the links are small, and not at all costly, I recommended that both sides be changed, and the owner was quite happy with this. After fitting the new front links, the owner picked the Hiace up and drove off into the sunset, only to reappear again about fifteen minutes later.

His return journey was just to tell me how much quieter the Hiace now sounded, and he probably would not have to have the radio on quite so loudly now.

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