Annoying noise/rattle in 2001 TT

[Nico911]

Hi guys.

So it's been about 3 months since I sold my 1985 Carrera and bought my 2001 TT. I've had the occasion of fixing what needed to be done on the car, like brakes, slave + accumulator, a new battery, and some others small issues and the car is very nice, I like it a lot. 

But there's one thing I still haven't been able to fix : 

When I run over bumps, I hear a very annoying rattle in the front (or center, not sure yet) that sounds like two metal parts hitting each other, it goes like ''BRRRRR''. It sounds to me like a worn suspension strut, or even a broken strut, if this is possible... What I have a hard time figuring is why the rattle only occurs when the car has been running for about 15 minutes after a cold start. It seems like heat is involved in the equation. 

Some facts : 
1- Car is bone stock, with original suspension components, 129 000 km, 2001, 6 speed manual.
2- I did run oven an uneven asphalt patch about two months ago (about 3 inches vertical slope) driving at about 35 mph. The result was a bubble pupping out on the sidewall of the right front tire a few days later. The rattle I'm talking about didn't occur before I hit this patch, for what I can remember. 
3- The car slightly leans toward right side, but nothing abnormal, to me at least. 
4- When I checked the struts, everything looked ok, but I didn't remove them from the car. All the bushings were looking good as well around the front end. 

I had the car checked by a professional mechanic in an indy shop but he didn't find anything. He thought it was the coolant pipes being loose but he was wrong. 

Then, I had the pleasure of working on my car with a very good mechanic at his own house but again, despite hours of searching and test driving, we didn't find the problem. We think it might be about the front diff or drive shaft mounts but we're not sure about that. 

So I'm asking you if there's somewhere else I should look at. I'm pretty desperate to solve this issue, it's the only one I have left on my ''to do'' list for this summer so I can fully enjoy the TT !!!

[white out]

Anyway you can get video the noise?

[Richard Hamilton]

Is the front right strut spring OK?  They sometimes break off a piece at one end, and it might be the cause of your noise and leaning.