Clunks when going over bumps - everything new

[Lux]

So last week i replaced my front suspension - (upper and lower control arms, swaybar links, all the strut rod bushings replaced with OEM) the tie rod ends were good, so i replaced the boots with polyurethane and greased them.

I drove it to the ford dealership this morning to get it aligned (first time since the install) and i hear a clunking sound in the front end when going over bumps.

Both sides do it.

I told the service rep this and to recheck all my work (laying on my back with a torque wrench sucks)

Well after sitting 4 hours they aligned my car (which was surprisingly very close when i took it there except for toe) and told me they hit everything with an impact gun and it was all tight as hell. The service rep knew these cars in/out so and we talked for awhile, his friend had one, he's done the work on them, his friend owned one and he thought it was the "aftermarket swaybar links" till i explained to him they are moog and they arent the crappy thin design, the beefy ones like stock. Then he was puzzled.

It sounds as a car with bad shocks/ shock mounts almost. Theres 69,000 miles on the OEM bags which i didnt replace but they look brand new. Rubber is soft, no cracks whatsoever.

Also, my steering wheel STILL has a shimmy or shake in it sometimes, not as bad as it was but still there WTF causes this...everything is new, within spec, greased, torqued. ARGH!


So what do you think could be causing the clunk and why is the steering wheel shaking sometimes? Thanks for all the help...at least the car stays straight now and doesnt dive off the road when I hit the brakes.

 

[taylor414ce2003]

any noise or clicking if you turn the steering wheel back and forth?

 

[Lux]

any noise or clicking if you turn the steering wheel back and forth?

No.

Its mainly downward but sometimes upward travel depending on the speed and size of the bump which causes the noise.

 

[NoLimit95]

Do you have any play when you have the front wheel jacked up on either side? Grab the tire from side to side and see if it has any play. Mine did on both sides and after changing out the steering rack, it's all tight again.

 

[LaserSVT]

IDK, I get a clunk in my front end when I go into a driveway (with a 1"or more lip) that onlyhappens as it compresses. Its done it since I owned it and everything is new and tight so I stopped paying attention to it.

The one that really bugs me is the squeak in the rear with the new sway bar. I know its the frame mount bushings but been too lazy to take off the bar and lube them. Car hasnt had but a couple hundred miles on it since I did that mod so I figured it would wear in eventually.

BTW, every shimmy I had in this car was due to tires. If they are close to the wear bars, they shimmy. If pressure is too low, they shimmy. If you were driving around on bad suspension parts the tires are now worn messed up and they shimmy.

So check the tires, look for excessive wear on the inside or any cupping of the tread. If they are 5+ years old then they should go anyway.

 

[Lux]

Do you have any play when you have the front wheel jacked up on either side? Grab the tire from side to side and see if it has any play. Mine did on both sides and after changing out the steering rack, it's all tight again.

No, everything is stupid tight. I suspected the tie rod ends at first since i didnt change them, but this is upward/downward movement and its a louder more solid sound clunk, like a bad shock mount sounds like, the tie rods are good and still tight, just greased.

 

[Lux]

IDK, I get a clunk in my front end when I go into a driveway (with a 1"or more lip) that onlyhappens as it compresses. Its done it since I owned it and everything is new and tight so I stopped paying attention to it.

The one that really bugs me is the squeak in the rear with the new sway bar. I know its the frame mount bushings but been too lazy to take off the bar and lube them. Car hasnt had but a couple hundred miles on it since I did that mod so I figured it would wear in eventually.

Its funny you say that. Pulling into my friends garage a minute ago (1" lip of concrete) causes it to do it. I wouldnt mind that so much if it didnt do it while driving down crappy roads. Unacceptable.

 

[LaserSVT]

Its funny you say that. Pulling into my friends garage a minute ago (1" lip of concrete) causes it to do it. I wouldnt mind that so much if it didnt do it while driving down crappy roads. Unacceptable.

Read the rest of that post (I was editing when you posted).

And I am an idiot! I forgot that my clunk goes away if I ride the breaks cause bumpy roads do it too. I know the bearings and hubs are fine and the brakes are all new too including calipers so I am unsure of why I have the clunk but I am fairly sure its somewhere on my spindle. Gotta pull it apart again but it made it before the brakes and bearings were replaced so IDK.

 

[Lux]

Read the rest of that post (I was editing when you posted).

And I am an idiot! I forgot that my clunk goes away if I ride the breaks cause bumpy roads do it too. I know the bearings and hubs are fine and the brakes are all new too including calipers so I am unsure of why I have the clunk but I am fairly sure its somewhere on my spindle. Gotta pull it apart again but it made it before the brakes and bearings were replaced so IDK.

I re read your post.

The tires are like new. I do need to check the pressure and rotate them. I'll do that this weekend.

I'm not happy to hear you have the same problem....everything else looked and seems fine (brakes/hubs, etc) but the thing that gets me is it DIDNT do it before everything was new.

 

[02LS8Lincoln]

thats happening to me right now....when I go over bumps it feels like something is loose...Im thinking is the endlinks....ill take a look at it this weekend.

 

[shiryu0]

i had a noise too, i put new OEM links, noise went away, they were just couple of bucks more than the moogs i had on........

 

[Roadboss]

Wheel shimmy-This could be caused by a bad wheel or tire, and also bad rotors. I get all my balance work done on Hunter Load Force Balance machines that will measure the wheel, tire run out as well as balance the tire under loaded conditions.

Clunk problem-Did you replace the cam bolts or washers in the lower control arms? I did one time and found that the replacement I had re-installed was just small enough to allow the end of the control arm to move around and cause some noises that shouldn't have been there.

 

[Lux]

thats happening to me right now....when I go over bumps it feels like something is loose...Im thinking is the endlinks....ill take a look at it this weekend.

as i was driving it tonight i noticed it feels smooth and CRISP on smooth roads. on rougher roads i get the rattle. I also noticed that sometimes it travels across the front. I'm also thinking it is swaybar related seeing how that connects the front wheels.

 

[Lux]

i had a noise too, i put new OEM links, noise went away, they were just couple of bucks more than the moogs i had on........

can you describe your noise? The guy at the dealership told me that. i might have to give that a try and take the moogs back to advance.

 

[Lux]

Wheel shimmy-This could be caused by a bad wheel or tire, and also bad rotors. I get all my balance work done on Hunter Load Force Balance machines that will measure the wheel, tire run out as well as balance the tire under loaded conditions.

Clunk problem-Did you replace the cam bolts or washers in the lower control arms? I did one time and found that the replacement I had re-installed was just small enough to allow the end of the control arm to move around and cause some noises that shouldn't have been there.

The cam bolts and washers were destroyed when i took them out. The previous alignment the car had someone torqued down on the bolts and held the nut causing the bolt to destroy the keyway in the washer. I went to the junkyard and found a nice low mileage and clean thunderbird and removed them from there. It was a sunday and noone had the aftermarket ones in stock. Probably was better off, the ones i removed were nice and true.

 

[LaserSVT]

Go down that rough road and apply the brakes while holding at spped and see if the sound goes away. I am being selfish cause if it does then we have the same problem (minus the shimmy) and hopefully you can find it.

 

[Lux]

Go down that rough road and apply the brakes while holding at spped and see if the sound goes away. I am being selfish cause if it does then we have the same problem (minus the shimmy) and hopefully you can find it.

I was on the brakes a few times when it did it.

 

[chicken]

lux, can you move the swaybar, ive seen on more and more ford vehicles the swaybar bushings wear out and it will rattle like hell.

and laser sounds like your brake pads are loose in the arbor, check your anti rattle clips

 

[billcu]

I had sway bar bushings cause clunking once. I replaced everything like you did but the clunking stopped when I replaced the sway bar bushings.

A good way to test this might be to remove the end links, tie the bar up so it doesn't hit anything and test drive it.

 

[98lincmk7lsc]

I've got the same thing going on in my 97 right now. I had just figured that it was my Arnott bags crapping out after a year and a half, since I drive on a crappy dirt road every day to work. I've checked and double-checked everything being tight and everything is new except the tie rods, I even had 2 different shops tell me that everything was super tight. Sway bar bushings sounds like a good thing to check to me.

 

[ford nut]

lux, can you move the swaybar, ive seen on more and more ford vehicles the swaybar bushings wear out and it will rattle like hell.

and laser sounds like your brake pads are loose in the arbor, check your anti rattle clips

+1 had a 89 cougar that had that problem.
Hard to trace but it would rattle like crazy.

 

[Lux]

+1 had a 89 cougar that had that problem.
Hard to trace but it would rattle like crazy.

should i check it on the ground or with the front in the air?

Im pretty sure its tight as hell either way. I'll give it a look when i go out there in a little bit.

 

[Lux]

i had a noise too, i put new OEM links, noise went away, they were just couple of bucks more than the moogs i had on........

its nice when the ford dealer knows me my name.

just ordered two new oem end links for 45 a piece

i talked to advance auto they are giving my money back on the moogs

we shall see what happens, the oem ones will be at ford for me to pickup in the morning.

 

[shiryu0]

its nice when the ford dealer knows me my name.

just ordered two new oem end links for 45 a piece

i talked to advance auto they are giving my money back on the moogs

we shall see what happens, the oem ones will be at ford for me to pickup in the morning.

thats cool, when i pulled the old moogs they were just worn out, u could see the part in the joint that was worn, they never stayed greased very long, i also changed the sway bar bushings and put some new poly bushings.

changing both at the same time made a huge difference.

 

[Lux]

thats cool, when i pulled the old moogs they were just worn out, u could see the part in the joint that was worn, they never stayed greased very long, i also changed the sway bar bushings and put some new poly bushings.

changing both at the same time made a huge difference.

i added more grease to both of these before i installed.

anyone know how it feels to drive without the swaybar attached? im thinking of disconnecting it, taking it down the road, and seeing if it still does it.