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Clunk...Clunk...Is driving me nuts!!!

Silly question when you put the strut together with the spring did you use air on the nut or by hand? Did you use the old mounts? I would take a paint pen mark the nut on the strut, and the metal mount. Give it a few lights burps with the air gun and see if it moves.

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A couple things concerning clunks in the front of the car during braking, accelerating, turning, going over bumps that are over looked are: 1) the strut bars from core support to shock tower, 2) rack and pinion mounting bolts. I have had both of these be the results of clunks after exhaustive diagnosis of the front of the car searching for the noise. For the strut bars I loosened all the bolts and removed each bolt one at a time and cleaned the threads and lubed with anti-seize and then re-tightened. That solved my clunk shifting from forward to reverse that would make itself audible only sometimes. The next problem was a clunk when turning and driving over gutters along side paved roads and gas station ground fuel storage tank lids at gas stations.
 
Air was used on the nut. I installed a brand new mount. All parts used were OEM....Yeah, I know kinda of costly route...

chamberlain198437 said:
Silly question when you put the strut together with the spring did you use air on the nut or by hand? Did you use the old mounts? I would take a paint pen mark the nut on the strut, and the metal mount. Give it a few lights burps with the air gun and see if it moves.

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Click to expand...
 
Had not thought about Rack and Pinion mounting bolts. Are these bolts easily accessible?...I was thinking about sub frame bushings too?
 


axles tend to vibrate when bad. not so much a clunk.

drop the back sub frame, its quick and easy enough to check the frame bushings.
 
I looked at the bushings at the rear as I did drop sub-frame to install sway bar bushings. They looked kinda looked worn but then again I am not sure if they were shoddy! I did notice that they were greased but I am not sure if the mechanic had done this to eliminate clunk awhile back.
Scottydoggs said:
axles tend to vibrate when bad. not so much a clunk.

drop the back sub frame, its quick and easy enough to check the frame bushings.
Click to expand...
 
If they're greased make sure they didn't loosen themselves up. We grease them at work because next time they may not come out.
 


well if the nut wasn't loosened enough or taken off while removing and installing the strut, the CV may have overextended and one of the balls may have fallen out of the joint. Seen it happen twice in shops. Did the clunking happen shortly after the struts?
 
Yes...the clunking started after the struts were replaced. Initially, it was mild and I thought let the car settle and perhaps the noise will go away. It became more noticeable over time.

HighOctaneRacing said:
well if the nut wasn't loosened enough or taken off while removing and installing the strut, the CV may have overextended and one of the balls may have fallen out of the joint. Seen it happen twice in shops. Did the clunking happen shortly after the struts?
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Check out your strut mounts. Pop the hood and shake the car as hard as you can see if there is movement.
 
Update...

I replaced both CV axles which I bought from NAPA. Installed brand new control arms on both driver and passenger sides, installed new sway bar links and bushings. Definitely an improved ride, however the clunking noise is still there. Interestingly enough the clunking noise all but subsided when I drove it in the rain.
 


Ive been having similar issues. Only thing that hasnt been replaced it the subframe bushings but they look fine and the struts. Mounts were replaced with no effect.

Although check if your balljoints are the bolt in style if they are try tightening them to the controll arm cus ive had issues with that.
 
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Ball joints are bolted tight. My only other attempt is with subframe bushings...The struts looks fine...Shook them and they seemed intact.

Ginseng said:
Ive been having similar issues. Only thing that hasnt been replaced it the subframe bushings but they look fine and the struts. Mounts were replaced with no effect.

Although check if your balljoints are the bolt in style if they are try tightening them to the controll arm cus ive had issues with that.
Click to expand...
 
Hey Burgundyman - Have you thought about the brakes? My brother's Firebird had loose caliper mounting bracket bolts that was making similar noises on teh driver's side -drove him nuts for 3 months.

He brought it to me and I got lucky; I was actually checking for something else when I stumbles across the loose bolts. I hope this helps you.
 
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