This entry mainly serves as google bait because the problem was so bloody hard to track down.

The Saab has been making an odd noise for some time now, which nobody has really been able to solve. Taking it in to my tame mechanic and saying "It's broken, but I don't know why" didn't help. The problem manifested itself usually when under hard braking (think stoppie) or doing hard turns (steering wheel on the stops) - there'd be a clunking or occasional banging sound from the left passenger well. Also noticable was that the steering wheel was aligned slightly off middle (approximately + 10 deg). The wheels themselves are straight, weighted properly and the tracking is good.

So, what's the issue? I took the car to have a new pair of boots put on it recently and the tyre guy said "Hm, I think one of your bushes is knackered" and demonstrated his thinking: The wheel would move a significant amount (about 10 degrees) whilst the handbrake was on. Not good.

Over to my tame mechanic where this was shown. Lots of poking and prodding later, he decides that the stanchion arm was in need of replacing, including the bush on the end of it.

Now here's the thing. The stanchion arm (known as a radius arm to other manufacturers, part of the suspension system and also previously known as a bottom arm or lower arm) on the right hand (drivers side) on my car had been replaced - very recently. Possibly just before I bought the car. Theoretically, these things should be replaced in pairs, or there'll be more work for one side to do. It's entirely possible that replacing one side (instead of both) has caused a faster attrition of the side that's now knackered.

Anyway. Saab dealers quote about £131 + delivery + VAT for this piece of kit - part number for which is 4647004 for the left, and 4647012 for the right. There's a few places which I found after hours (literally) of googling in the UK which will do these parts for significantly less if you're prepared to go second hand. These places will guarantee them for between three and six months. Neo Brothers (01992 719280), Salvo Group (0115 9445644) and Saab Parts ASAP (0117 9406151) all had the part in available for immediate shipping for less than 50 quid all in. I opted for a new part from Neo Brothers for a mere £140 delivered - a saving of about 30 quid over the dealer prices.

Unfortunately I need the part now since I'm heading off to Europe in a few days - otherwise I'd have used one of the American parts dealers, such as EEuroparts who do this part at a significantly lower price.

In some cases, it may be applicable to simply replace the bush on the stanchion arm, which is far cheaper - probably about 10 or 15 quid. However, since the problem had been around for some time, it was felt that the entire arm had probably taken significant strain, and so it was sensible to replace the entire thing.