Wierd noise coming from front suspension? HELP

[Conrad17]

my front end makes this wierd clunk noise whenever i take off, or when im on a rough road. when its on a rough road it sounds like the front end is just going to fall off, its freaky
any ideas? the strut mounts look ok.

[wytbishop]

broken spring, broken strut bearing, broken sway bar end link, sway bar to chassis bushing, loose/damaged ball joint, loose/damaged outer tie rod end, wheel bearing...

It could be almost any front end component, but a broken spring or strut bearing (between the upper spring perch and the strut mount) are the most common.

[Conrad17]

ill check it out
thanks

[PATDIESEL]

You need to do what is commonly known as a suspension shakdown.
Jack the car up- put it on jack stands with a wheel chaulk under the rear wheels and the Ebrake on.
Start with checking the lugs are tight
Check the wheel bearings by trying to move the tire top to bottom - there are better descriptions I've written on here = search if you need more info on it.
Look for cracks or grease on the outer CV joints. Clean if necessary and look for cracks- Tiny cracks still mean it needs to be replaced.
Look for broken seal on the lower ball joint.
Look for same on outer tie rod end.
Make sure the bolts and nuts on the strut/spindle are tight and in good order.
Visually inspect the bushings on the lower control arms. If they look rotten they are bad, if you can move the arm at the mounting point they are bad or loose.
Make sure the nuts are tight on the upper strut perch.
Make sure the upper strut perch is not cracked or rotten.

You might find more than one issue- these cars are old and depending on maintenance you can have several issues making noise.

[Conrad17]

allright
so i thought i had fixed it just by getting new tires put on and had them balanced good, but after a 3 hour road trip, its gotten way worse. i plan on tearing it apart today and inspecting it some more. i cant go over 30 MPH now before it shakes the whole car and sounds like something is rattling and about to explode
i wiggled the wheel yesterday, it makes the noise when i move the wheel side to side
the cv joints are good, and the tie rods look tight as well
strut mount bearing? it almost sounds like thats where its rattling at

[Ryan]

I'm bored, so, here you go, here comes the spoon...


-While the car is on the ground, check the lug nuts to see if they are tight. Between shitty mechanics and aluminum wheels, they do come loose.

-Jack the car up so the tires are just off the ground.
- Visually inspect the spring to see if it is broken. This is straightforward.
-Sit with your legs under the car, straddling the tire.
-Grab the wheel at the top and the bottom, and alternate push/pull with opposing arms.(pull top/push bottom, reverse, over and over) If the wheel moves AT ALL you have a ball joint problem. A tiny little bit of play, even a little click noise that you can feel.
-Grab the wheel at the front and back and do the same push/pull thing. If it moves at all or makes any noise, you have either a toast outer or inner tie rod.
-To determine inner or outer, grab the tie rod near the outer end and lift it up and down as hard and as quick as you can. If you can feel it move, its the outer. Next grab it way inside and tug it in all directions. If you feel it move at all, its the inner.

Check all booties, ball joint, cv, outer tie rod end. A torn boot is a sign that its either toast, or will be shortly.

Upper strut mounts usually make noise when you switch between acceleration and braking, ie, changing the direction of the load on the strut. (front lifts under accel and sinks when braking) Also they might click/grind when turning the steering wheel. You can't visually inspect these. The rubber isolator is probably what you were looking at.

To diagnose CV joints find parking lot and drive in tight circles. Poke your head out the window and listen for a clicking/crunching/popping nasty sounding noise.

[mikeinaus]

you can check strut mount bearings by putting your hand over the bearing cap and having someone turn the wheel back and forth. it should feel smooth as it turns, if its clunky or jerky there bad. you can thank solo_ryder for that tip.

[Conrad17]

Thanks for the beating lol
but alas it was none of these
its a damn wheel bearing! now i get to change that in 30 degree weather
WOO!

[BrandonM]

My wheel beaing was doing the same thing for about a month. Then it started to make a horrable "road noise" sound. I took my CV shaft out, spun the beaing and that was it. it puzzled me forever.

[Ryan]

Ah, I forgot wheel bearing. Wheel moves in all directions and makes a lot of noise with speed.... Grating/grinding... just sounds like a bad bearing.

[Mooneggs]

as a side note I had an issue similar to this recently and it was due to the top threads of my strut shaft being stripped! This was because I had not initially tightened it down far enough (or somehow it came loose).

[Conrad17]

as a side note I had an issue similar to this recently and it was due to the top threads of my strut shaft being stripped! This was because I had not initially tightened it down far enough (or somehow it came loose).

i had this happen on my rear struts when i replaced the mounts
guess its a pretty common occurance.


other than that, i found out my wheel bearing was bad, but its still not fixed, in fact its gotten worse, at least in terms of driveability. the noise is pretty much gone besides the clunking.
i checked it out and it looks like a lower ball joint is bad, the strut seems to move independent of that lower control arm with ball joint attached.
think thats it?

[nolig2278]

I tried to replace my driver side lower ball joint but apparently the pin/head of the ball joint is much thinner than the replacement ones that autozone, pepboys and advance auto sell. I did manage to wedge it open a little but not enough to fit the fatter replacement lower ball joint. When can i do?

Thanks

[Ryan]

You go and get the proper ball joint. there are two different diameters. Changover year was 1994, IIRC.

[Conrad17]

i just finished dropping some money on it
i got 2 new rear tires and replaced a trailing arm that had broke in half.
it helped a ton i can actually go down the high way now.
but.
heres the problem that i cant seem to fix
only when im going over 60 this occurs

the steering is jacked, if i turn the wheel to go around a turn, at first itll be smooth, then it will jerk reall hard, like i turned the wheel hard, but i dont, allso if i hit any bumps the steering acts like its hopped a tooth on the rack, but i wiggle it and it goes back to normal, the final symptom is when im going about 70 and all that occurs, especially when going around turns i get a really bad "thumping Rattling" noise, i compare it to gargaling water lol. ive checked the cv's tie rods and ball joint, all seem tight, i cant seem to figure it out.
ill try to get some pics and possibly some audio up soon.