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Recently I have noticed a clunk coming from the right front wheel. I only hear it when im going over speed bumps or bumps in the road. No noise when im turning left or right. Its strictly when in a straight line over bumps. Ball joints ? Bad struts ? Tie rods ? Any clues ? Been so long that I have had suspension noises I forgot where to start

cptnsolo77 wrote:Recently I have noticed a clunk coming from the right front wheel. I only hear it when im going over speed bumps or bumps in the road. No noise when im turning left or right. Its strictly when in a straight line over bumps. Ball joints ? Bad struts ? Tie rods ? Any clues ? Been so long that I have had suspension noises I forgot where to start

Ball joint, tie rod, strut, strut mount, wheel bearing, brake caliper, sway bar link and bushings, control arm bushings, coil spring.

First thing to do is get the affected wheel up on jack stands. Push and pull firmly on the bottom of the tire. If the ball joint is bad, the entire steering knuckle and wheel should move slightly when you do this.

While it's up, check the wheel bearing for wobble by gripping the top and bottom of the tire and trying to wiggle it in and out. If it's a bad wheel bearing, the wheel will wobble a little bit about the middle.

Also check the tie rod by gripping the sides and trying to rotate the wheel as if turning the wheel.

Check the strut mounting bolts in the engine compartment area to make sure they're tightened to spec. If one of those is loose it could cause the problem.

Take the wheel off and make sure the caliper bolts and tie rod end bolts are tight.

Examine the sway bar link and sway bar bushings as well. The sway bar is held to the frame by a bushing on either side just inside the wheel well, and attached to the control arms with a link. If a bushing has ripped or a link loosened or broken that could cause it.

Also check the control arm where it attaches to the frame. The rubber bushings, two per side (one vertical one horizontal), can rip or degrade leading to the control arm banging on the frame while going over bumps. This tends to make steering pretty wonky though, so it's probably not that.

Take a good look at the coil spring on that side too.

If it's none of those it's probably the strut or strut mount, which are more difficult to check out.

kumquat wrote:If it's none of those it's probably the strut or strut mount, which are more difficult to check out.

Can't you check the mount by having someone turn the steering wheel left and right while you watch the strut assembly from the side? I've heard that if the mount is bad, it will turn less smoothly and grab a lot at the top. I've never seen it happen outside of a video, though.

You may also check my favorite part...the sway bar link! Grab it and try to shake it around; it shouldn't budge. It seems like the sway bar links went out after 5-6 years for me, and one began making a really horrible racket over bumps and dips, sounded like the end of the world.

One last thing you may check is the inside of the crossmember. My instructor found a beer bottle lodged up inside of the crossmember on a GM truck once, and it made a loud clunking noise. (The best part is it came from the factory like that.)

Sounds like a blown strut

lannvouivre wrote:

kumquat wrote:If it's none of those it's probably the strut or strut mount, which are more difficult to check out.

Can't you check the mount by having someone turn the steering wheel left and right while you watch the strut assembly from the side? I've heard that if the mount is bad, it will turn less smoothly and grab a lot at the top. I've never seen it happen outside of a video, though.

You may also check my favorite part...the sway bar link! Grab it and try to shake it around; it shouldn't budge. It seems like the sway bar links went out after 5-6 years for me, and one began making a really horrible racket over bumps and dips, sounded like the end of the world.

One last thing you may check is the inside of the crossmember. My instructor found a beer bottle lodged up inside of the crossmember on a GM truck once, and it made a loud clunking noise. (The best part is it came from the factory like that.)

Yeah good call. You can also watch the strut mount bolt from the engine compartment.

He did say it only happens when hitting bumps straight on and not when turning the wheel though.

Thanks guys. I will pull off the wheel & start inspecting.

This is why this site is indispensable. Had this start to occur and came here for advice after only a short bout of head scratching and before rolling out the floor jack blindly.

Thanks all.