Spent all day changing the wheel bearings (well meaning like 4 hours. it was the first wheel bearing job i had ever done on any car so i took it slow)

and the damn car still clunks!

sorry i'm a little ticked right now, i was sure this was the problem..

Ok. what do i do now? i have figured out a couple more things.

the play all the way around is gone, thankfully. there still seems to be a little play left to right.. but i'ts hard to tell. with the car down off the jacks, if i kick the side of teh tire towards teh back (causing the tire to be shaken horizontally) i think i hear the clunk. it takes a pretty good kick though.

Also something probably important... As i was jacking up the car from the driver side jack point.. about 3 quarters of the way that it would take to get the tire to go off the ground, i heard a loud clunk. Stopped, let it back down, jacked again, aroudn teh same point, did it again. lifted it all the way once, shook the tire around didnt feel anythign differnet, put it down, lifted, no clunk. ( i think it didnt clunk because when the tire came off teh ground it probably changed the angle that it sits at after driving on it. )

What do you guys think this could be? it's making me dislike driving the car, because the handling is what we have these cars for, and it makes me dread left turns because i hate that clunk.

The scenario again, light left hand turns, as i turn the wheel it will clunk, once or twice as you turn sharper and sharper. if going straigth at about 30, and if you jerk the wheel left and back to center. youll hear the clunk as well, followed by kind of a "settling clunk" as if whatever moved, moved back. You have to jerk the wheel at least like a 45 to 90 degrees of a steering wheel rotation .

Someone help me.. i gotta figure this out before i flip.

Out to calm myself by installing ice shark kit that just arrived...

 

Upper Strut mount no good. Lift car off the ground and put pressure under the wheel.
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Pressure under wheel as in, another jack? or just as in arm strength?

 

my car clunks as im coming to a complete stop. i can be braking from any speed but once i get down to like 5 mph i hear a clunk.

 

" Also something probably important... As i was jacking up the car from the driver side jack point.. about 3 quarters of the way that it would take to get the tire to go off the ground, i heard a loud clunk. Stopped, let it back down, jacked again, aroudn teh same point, did it again. "

Could also be balljoints? Test that by raising that wheel. Then grab the tire with both hands, one in front and one on the rear of the tire and push it straight in and out. Loose ball-joints will typically show up here. Loose wheel-bearings will show up if you grab the wheel vertically and rock it in and out.

 

wow...thats tough..with all that heating and stuff.

I must be really lucky..my hatch doesnt rattle..there are no weird noises.
but then again my dad just laid down a couple 4 digit figures on the car...ouch.

 

i agree.. could be ball joints. aslo, just checking.. is it a clicking (sounds like you are going up hill on a roller coaster kinda clicking noise)? if so it could be cv joints.

 

nope. just a clunk as you turn. it's only horizontal movemnt that seems to get the clunk. i just jacked it and lifted on teh tire wiht a board,m and it doesnt seem to be shock mount. i dont know whats next. i guess teh only two choices left are, ball joing, or tie rod end. what's you guys bet?

 

Do you have a rubber center clutch? When they fail they will clunk.

 

tie rods would be my guess. My tie rod assemblies are shot, and i get quite a bit of clunking.

 

no the clunking is definately from teh right front.. i can hear it. i don't know what clutch i have. it clunks when i hit bumps now too. not short quick bumps, but the larger slower bumps it gives a clunk over. could that still be tie rod? or ball joint? should i try tie rod just since its only like 15 bucks? and then do ball joint if it's not that?

 

I had a similar problem. It was the balljoint. Definitely check that out!

 

You should test to see if its the ball joint before you start buying parts...

Undo the main mount and the caster mount at the rear, disconnect the swaybar, and see if you have any play in the ball joint. With this method, although time consuming, you can be completely sure.

 

main mount? caster mount? not quite up wiht the lingo.. not sure what your talkin about.

 

he means...take off the wheels AGAIN!! lol..then take off the spindle and everything thats hooked to the balljoint...then the sway bar( why?)
and see it wigles by hand..the joint that is.


( i think)