Very loud supsension noise on rough/old pavement only - car has 66K on it.

[JoeNCUSA]

Any help would be appreciated.. this noise is driving me nuts as I cannot figure it out. Base A6 with 66k on it. Fwd not a Quattro.

Car makes zero noise on smooth roads. Zero noise going over speed bump no matter how fast or slow you go over them. But on really, really old rough pavement (like an old parking lot) it is loud. Also on a smooth road, but the pavement has some cracks, it is loud. It is more of a loud rattle. Sometimes it almost sounds like an old truck that is missing a bushing on the shock. Car drives super tight. So basically it is when the suspension moves very rapidly in a small amount. Such a small amount you cannot feel it in the car.

I have looked over all of the suspension. All bushings look great, rod ends look great, ball joint have no movement. I have done fair amount of suspension work over the years (but not on Audi, VW some) so I feel pretty confident that it is not any control arm bushing, tie rod, ball joint, sway bar end links or sway bar bushing. With suspension loaded there is not any play/movement in anything, very hard to diagnose.

Bouncing front end produces no noise. I even removed skid plates to see if any heat shields etc were loose... tapped on suspension components with hammer to see if I could get any rattle - nothing, quiet.

The only thing I can think of is strut mounts. I cannot see them, so no way of really checking them. If anyone has any ideas please let me know, I would appreciate it.

[JoeNCUSA]

Oddly noise disappears when braking... so I tried dragging brakes slightly and noise is gone..

[MyDimeIsUp]

Any help would be appreciated.. this noise is driving me nuts as I cannot figure it out. Base A6 with 66k on it. Fwd not a Quattro.

Car makes zero noise on smooth roads. Zero noise going over speed bump no matter how fast or slow you go over them. But on really, really old rough pavement (like an old parking lot) it is loud. Also on a smooth road, but the pavement has some cracks, it is loud. It is more of a loud rattle. Sometimes it almost sounds like an old truck that is missing a bushing on the shock. Car drives super tight. So basically it is when the suspension moves very rapidly in a small amount. Such a small amount you cannot feel it in the car.

I have looked over all of the suspension. All bushings look great, rod ends look great, ball joint have no movement. I have done fair amount of suspension work over the years (but not on Audi, VW some) so I feel pretty confident that it is not any control arm bushing, tie rod, ball joint, sway bar end links or sway bar bushing. With suspension loaded there is not any play/movement in anything, very hard to diagnose.

Bouncing front end produces no noise. I even removed skid plates to see if any heat shields etc were loose... tapped on suspension components with hammer to see if I could get any rattle - nothing, quiet.

The only thing I can think of is strut mounts. I cannot see them, so no way of really checking them. If anyone has any ideas please let me know, I would appreciate it.

I had the same noise on my A6 as well as my previous B8 allroad when driving on cobblestone road where I live. I also suspected strut mount bushings but never had the time to verify before I sold the car. On any other type of road, I had no noise like that.

Heres a video from my B8 A4, but the sound was identical to my C7 A6. Does your sound like this?