… and the rattling noise stopped. I was on my way to town thinking I’d better stop by the mechanic since that rattle sounded worse. We’ve looked under the car for it, nothing initially seemed amiss, it really sounded like something rattling around in the trunk but it wasn’t. Anyway driving slowly along there’s an almighty clunk and something fell off. I stopped along with the car behind me. The driver said something fell onto the road, a rubber thing, a brick like thing … we searched the hard shoulder and found nothing. Helpful driver shrugs and drives off. The police pull up and suggest it was possibly a stone, so I drive off and hey the rattling has stopped.
Further up the road I’m flagged down by the helpful driver, she points back along the road and says that object just fell off her car. It’s a heavy metal cylinder with the remains of a bit of rubber on each end, about six inches long and two wide. My mechanic wasn’t home, so I took it to a couple of parts shops. Nobody knows what the hell it is or why it’s hitchhiking its way to town.
I’m confused too. She saw an object fall off my car and described it as “brick like” - so not small, but we couldn’t find it, then down the road this cylinder shaped metal thing, solid and heavy fell off her car. Did it fall off mine and then bounce up and get lodged in hers?
I’ll try to upload a picture - don’t know where to though so it may take some time …
I’m interested to see the picture. I’m trying to think of things that you could lose, that are that big and wouldn’t affect your ability to drive the car. I’m thinking it’s got to be part of the frame or a mount for something. Was it shiny? Rusty? Greasy? Dry? Hot? Any holes in it (like for bolts)? Did it look broken or in tact?
The cylinder part of a strut sort of fits what you’re saying, but I’m pretty sure if the shock/strut assembly fell apart to that extent, there’d be a noticeably difference in it’s handling.
Handling remained the same, just the lack of clattering noise, it was not hot, or even warm, imagine a toilet roll tube only solid metal - no holes, nothing to attach with, traces of rubber on both ends, not greasy, not rusty, intact, a few shiny marks, maybe where it hit the road. I’m driving a Suzuki Samurai jeep.
Hmmmm, I’m thinking it’s not a car part. Just a random thing that bounced off the road and hit your car and in the process stopped the rattling which may have just been a loose heat shield. If you’re bored (and don’t want to wait for Rick or Gary to chime in ) you could go take a look under your car along the exhaust system and check for any loose/missing/damaged/rusted heat shields that could have been making the rattling sound. They’ll just be thin pieces of metal around hot parts that are designed to keep you from burning yourself by getting to close the exhaust pipe.
A chunk of metal like that would probably have left a dent in a heat shield if it hit it that hard.
Thanks Joey P, so far no one has recognized it as a car part, it’s too dark now to go ferreting around under there, but I’ll act on your advice in the morning.
Well, bugger me - it IS off the car. There’s a sort of toilet roll holder thing bolted onto the top of the drive shaft (?) at the back before the back axle (?) sorry I’m no mechanic … I can’t for the life of me see what its purpose might be. Sorry, the only camera I have right now is the computer.
