“Clunk” when turning - revisited
03-12-2002, 10:25 AM
#1
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“Clunk” when turning - revisited
There was a thread a week or so ago about a car that was making a clunking sound when turning. The collective wisdom of the list surmised it was either a lose wheel bearing or a bad ball joint.
During the course of the thread my car started doing something similar and it became progressively worse. It was so bad yesterday that I feared I was going to loose a ball joint before I was able to make it home.
The culprit? One of the OEM drop links to my front sway bar broke. The cylindrical part of the drop link that attaches to the sway bar broke at the weld and became deformed to the point of not being able to support the sway bar.
Two new ones are on order from Paragon.
During the course of the thread my car started doing something similar and it became progressively worse. It was so bad yesterday that I feared I was going to loose a ball joint before I was able to make it home.
The culprit? One of the OEM drop links to my front sway bar broke. The cylindrical part of the drop link that attaches to the sway bar broke at the weld and became deformed to the point of not being able to support the sway bar.
Two new ones are on order from Paragon.
03-12-2002, 11:06 AM
#2
Three Wheelin'
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Congratulations... wouldn't it be nice if all our "mystery" noises were that easy to diagnose & fix?
Jim, then there's the broken cup holder on this computer....
Jim, then there's the broken cup holder on this computer....
03-12-2002, 12:46 PM
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Michael,
Which part exactly? I have been experiencing the same noise. Any help would be apprecitated. I am doing major maintenance on my car this weekend and would like to do it all at once.
TIA,
Max
Which part exactly? I have been experiencing the same noise. Any help would be apprecitated. I am doing major maintenance on my car this weekend and would like to do it all at once.
TIA,
Max
03-12-2002, 01:25 PM
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Lately I have been concerned my car needs ball joints. Hopefully not. I bought my car 2 years ago. It had 28k miles on it. Its an 86 951. Since then I put 20k miles on it did 6 autox and my first 3 drivers ed last year. Its my daily driver. right after i got it it started banging in the left front. I crawled under and saw the sway bar to frame oem bracket was loose. easy fix. then last year turning into my driveway on the way home from an autox, bang bang. crawled under and saw right side sway bar bushing shredded. Its common because of the leaky power steering that destroys the bushing. I replaced with polyureathane ones. over the last few monts there have been bangs on the right front side when turning left and going about 20mph. I have had this fear of ball joints. I jacked up the front end and there does not appear to be any exessive play in the wheels. So I don't think I have a ball joint or bearing issue. i have also had a squeaky right front. i crwaled under and grabbed the sway bar and started bench pressing it up and down. The squeak was coming from the new sway bar bushing. i slapped some grease all around it. No squeak. I also put some inside the end link. I had heard that the poly ones tend to pop and bang some times. Some people even insert a grease fitting into them. Bang seems to have dissapeared. <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />
I cleaned everthing out of my car now so I can hear if anything is banging.
I cleaned everthing out of my car now so I can hear if anything is banging.
03-12-2002, 02:14 PM
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The drop link on my car that broke is the piece that connects the sway bar to the A-arm. It is directly behind the tire.
If you are experiencing this type of noise when turning, I would check the play in the wheel bearings, the play in the ball joints, and all of the sway bar connectors (there are four – one at each A-arm and two on the front of the bar. The connections to the body of the car on one of the front connectors were very loose when I checked them several months ago).
I have not done the testing for play in the ball joints, so I am not the one to give advice on the procedure – however this link gives some information: <a href="http://www.connact.com/~kgross/FAQ/944faqca.html" target="_blank">A-arm testing & replacement</a>
I think the testing procedure described in this write-up is for when the car is jacked up and the wheel is off. If the car is on the ground I think that you try to pry instead of compress.
If you are experiencing this type of noise when turning, I would check the play in the wheel bearings, the play in the ball joints, and all of the sway bar connectors (there are four – one at each A-arm and two on the front of the bar. The connections to the body of the car on one of the front connectors were very loose when I checked them several months ago).
I have not done the testing for play in the ball joints, so I am not the one to give advice on the procedure – however this link gives some information: <a href="http://www.connact.com/~kgross/FAQ/944faqca.html" target="_blank">A-arm testing & replacement</a>
I think the testing procedure described in this write-up is for when the car is jacked up and the wheel is off. If the car is on the ground I think that you try to pry instead of compress.
