schlag

Tonight I was coming around a circle rather brisky, because it was 2AM and empty. A circle, for those not from NJ, is a funny circular shaped piece of road that is used to connect various other roads.

As I was coming around the thing (leftways) I noticed a rather loud suspension clunk. Odd. Perhaps I hit another rabbit?

A few minutes later I am making a sharp left onto my street and notice the same loud clunk. What the hell?

Same thing as I pull into my driveway..

It was way too dark to look under there tonight. However before I dig in tomorrow afternoon, I'de like to take some guesses as to what it may be, for the sake of my own diagnosis as well as amusement.

Here is some preliminary info/hints:
* Almost everything in the suspension is less than 2 years old. (good)
* Almost everything in the suspension was replaced by my own hands. (bad)
* The shocks were replaced with Koni inserts.
* The link from the swaybar bushing to the frame is a little loose on that one clunking side, but the bushings are newish.
* In spite of all the new componentry, said car has been a little 'wandery' lately. For example, when I get on a road with an unevenly paved surface it wants to go off in all directions. I chalked it up to alignment but now I think it could possibly be something worse?

Any ideas?

Hans

I would search in following order
Wheel bearings (play)???
Ball joints???
A-arm bushings and strut top??
Alignment???
Also take a look at the heat shields and cooling air shields for the brakes.
If one is a bit flimsy, it can touch something and cause weird sounds.
TakeCare

MacWolffe

cv joint? not really a clunk sound but worth a look

Yabo

It's ball joint. I'm telling you, I just had it. Left turn clunk, in the left wheel.. i did wheel bearings, tightened everyrhting, tightened strut mount, but it was ball joint. It takes like an hour to pull your control arm. If you got the time, do it and feel the ball joint. If you can movie it with your hands it's in need of rebuilding. But, once you ahve it out you might want to have the rebuild kit from rennbay handy, as youw on't want to take it all apart again.

2+2

Like Devon, I had a clunk/clank upon significan weight transfer to the front or the front left of the car. Checked my ball joint and had about 1mm of play. Rebuilt the ball joint using Rennbay this past weekend. Clunk is gone. Funny thing is, the original ball joint LOOKED NEW as in NO visible wear. I would allocate more than an hour to get your arm out. Getting the arm out and back on was the hardest part about the rebuild. I also suggest you have a 27mm or bigger deep socket, a rubber mallet, a C-clamp and a 3/8 inch torque wrench. Good luck.

Mouthpiece

Sounds like the CV joint to me. Good luck.

hacker-pschorr

CV Joint, mine did the exact same thing.

Chris_924s

Sway bar bushing may have slipped out of the hanger.
Quick and easy check. Mine clunked in turns when that happened.

tifosiman

I've got $5 on the sway bar bushing.

schlag

I won't be able to get a really close look at it til' tonight however,

Brief inspection shows nothing hanging off the car. Hand test doesn't show much play in tie rods, etc.

I took it for a quick drive and noticed that the clunk seems to occur at the same exact point in the turning radus each time. When I move the wheel back to center position after the left turn, it makes a second (but much less audible) noise.

And also, the sound is actually more halfway between a pop and a clunk.

We'll see...

pete944

I'll go with ball joints.

Swagger93

I went over some railroad tracks after I did my front suspension and heard a clunk and the car pulled to the right. I later pulled off the left wheel expecting the worst (ball joint) to find that yes, my swaybar link had seated further into the A-arm and there was now a clunk as a result.

Take that into consideration and tighten up your swaybar before you do anything.

schlag

OK -- Father and I inspected the front end and nothing looks suspect!

Everything is tight. Most everything under there has been replaced within the past two years, so that is expected.

I think I'm just going to take it to the dreaded mechanic and hope it's not too expensive :'(

Thanks anyway everyone for the info.

RJP 951

Try lubing your sway bar bushings and see if that helps. I'm having the same or similar problem... clunk under weight transfer while turning in either direction. I'm almost positive it has something to do with the sway bar bushings, even though they seem tight and solid (maybe too tight?) In preparation for my DE this past weekend I lubed the bushings with a silicone spray and snugged up the nuts on the sway bar links at the A-arms. I thought that fixed the problem, but after my Saturday DE runs I was clunking again. At this point I think I'll just order some new bushings and reinstall the sway bar.

Hope that helps.

Ron

Yabo

its hard to see or feel ball joint problems ( i know.. i tried)....

I still bet it's that...