chriskjohnson202

My 996 has a front end rattle; sounds like a small clunk at very low speeds over even small bumps and cracks in the road. Not noticeable at higher speeds. Replaced front struts. Rattle is gone when just starting out but after it's been driven a while it comes back, again at very low speeds. Tightened the spare, made sure nothing else loose up front. No luck.

Drop links, control arms, anti roll bar bushes... lots of old threads where it could be any of these.

Anyone else have this?

steam_mill

Exact same thing on mine. Wish I could find root cause.

Gregster

Often overlooked are the tension rods up front. It's the arm that goes into the lower control arm at a 45. Looks like a fork.

Based on my experience though if your 996 has mileage on it it's a good idea to replace the control arms and links etc up front

jumper5836

control arms are pretty tuff they are not likely the problem, the toe/bump link would be best bet but if you have the extra dough then doing them both wouldn't hurt,

Mike K.

A lot of 20 year old rubber in that front end suspension that should probably all be replaced.

9964runner

Did your replace the strut bearings and bump stops with the struts?

triggz82

Most common culprits could be front coffin arm (ball joint), endlinks or strut top mounts. I had clunks and squeaks that were the lower control arms, then top hats, then later on end links... all wear and tear.

chriskjohnson202

Yep. Bearings and bump stops were replaced. The old bump stops were definitely trashed.

steam_mill

This thread promoted me to change the end links. Moog $80 delivered. Took me 90 minutes to change them. In the garage at over 30 degrees yesterday. Front end much quieter. 90% improvement.

chriskjohnson202

Good idea. Thanks

ArcainuM

I have the same issue, replaced all the front end hardware still have the clunk. Narrowed it down to the top strut mounts. But what is it with the cost of top strut mounts? Why do they cost more than the struts themselves? Or am i shopping in the wrong place?