Front End Clunk

[chris]

So my front end clunks going over bumps. Ive already done upper control arms amd lower ball joints. Problem is I cant find the clunk in the garage. If you rock the car side to side it clunks. But when I jack it up and take the tire off it stops and I cant manually rattle anything. This would lead me to believe its the wheel bearings but when you jack it up and pry on the wheel it doesnt perceptibly move or make noise. I'm stumped, anyone have any pointers? I am more concerned than I ordinarily would be because I just moved to phoenix and we only have the one car. And at this point it isnt in the cards to buy another. Thank you all in advance and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[marked8]

Could be the sway bar end links, mine did the same thing with new control arms installed.

 

[chris]

Thanks for the reply. Is there a specific procedure to check those? When I grab them and try to move them around there doesnt seem to be any play.... I'm stumped.

 

[BlackOnBlack]

take the pressure off of the suspension before checking them. if the suspension is just haginging there, they will be tight (at least that's how my bad ones were). once i also jacked up the suspension, they were loose as a goose...

 

[wildrage]

I did my complete front end last month - the end links were the easiest part. Do they look worn? I beleive you can get them for approx $15/each on RockAuto.

 

[chris]

You guys were right. It seems that replacing the links quieted things right down. Thank you for the help.

 

[my95mark8]

The front suspensions on these cars pretty much disintergrate somewhere around 90-100k miles.

 

[BLACK SUNSHINE 95LSC]

The front suspensions on these cars pretty much disintergrate somewhere around 90-100k miles.

your right on that one, AND IT GETS MAGNIFIED 10 TIMES WHEN YOU LOWER THE CAR TOO MUCH, IT KILLS THE WHEEL BEARINGS AND PUTS A TON OF STRESS ON SWAYBAR AND BALL JOINTS AND AIRBAGS. Unfortunately thats par for the corse when lowering.

I did the rear, have not done my front yet, different looking endlink system then I am use to. Good luck in Pheonix, here in vegas with the heat I suggest MOBILE 1 and check your radiator hoses, summer can leave you stranded here in the Sonoran Desert.

 

[chris]

My car actually rolled 67,000 on the way out here from RI. I have only lowered it with Ray's kit a dozen times since last spring and 6 of those were when I was installing it. Other than that it is at normal stock height. I was actually only trying to remove one end link so I could drive it around the block to see if it stopped clunking but it was so friggin hard to get the bottom out that I tore up the boot. Then I just replaced them and got lucky.

Thanks for the tips for living out here, I already use Mobil1 but I guess youre right I should look at all the hoses and whatnot.