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Annoying loud clunk (knock) at front suspension 200 1989

posted by  greg_mustang on  Mon Feb 24 05:11 CST 2003
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last visit: Sat May 10 07:26 CST 2014
[RELATED]

240 DL sedan 1989 150K miles.

I've been noticing various clunking from my front steering suspension in the past 6 months. 6 months ago I replaced the bottom ball joint. This took away most of the major knocking.

Recently I noticed play in my steering. I took a look by shacking the two wheels (jacked up car) and found the both tie rod ends had a bit of play. I replaced them both and that took away some of the knocking and stiffened the steering feel nicely.

Now I have isolated one loud knock at the drivers side. Seems like it wasn;t that apparent before the tie rod end replacement, maybe the various playing dampened the looseness... I believe it is suspension related, not steering. I jacked up the car again and felt the steering for stiffeness. It is rock solid on both side, no play with the steering wheel at all. I verified the bottom ball joints and they have no play. I shake the top end of the shock (via holding and shacking the spring) and I find no play. All this with car jacked up and suspension hanging.

Sway bar links? I am not sure how to check them for sure but visually the rubber gromets look very much intact...

Not sure where else to look. The clunking is very apparent on slow speeds i.e 10 MPH on bumpy roads. Quiets down a lot as the car goes faster. Amost goes away completely when braking and going over bumps.

Advice?

Thanks,
Greg







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    Annoying loud clunk (knock) at front suspension 200 1989

    posted by  DougC on  Wed Feb 26 17:45 CST 2003
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    last visit: Sun Aug 10 08:30 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    I had a similar clunking on my 81 related to up and down movement of the left front wheel that I could not find after thoroughly inspecting the front end and tightening everything as recommended in the IPD catalog. Finally I paid a good mechanic $30 to track it with an electronic stethoscope. It is coming from inside the left strut assembly. The original installer of the struts is going to fix it. It's either a faulty strut or faulty strut installation. Good luck on yours.
    --
    Thanks to everyone for the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick On Blocks, stock; 86 240, 129K








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    Annoying loud clunk (knock) at front suspension 200 1989

    posted by  JetDriver on  Mon Feb 24 05:54 CST 2003
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    last visit: Mon Jul 25 08:59 CST 2011
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    Previous posters are correct that it is the rear bushing on the front control arm. You'll find that with that kind of mileage it is beneficial to replace all bushings, joints, ends, struts/shocks, springs, brake lines, pads, and upper bearings "while you're there". You can go cheap on the bushings but don't save on the critical steering components as failure would be catastrophic.
    --
    92 244 lowered, Bilsteins, IPD sways, Unitek cam/header, TSW Revo 18x8's - 94 965 Niiice MONEY PIT! - 76 Datsun 280Z lowered, modified head, cam, headers, intake








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    Annoying loud clunk (knock) at front suspension 200 1989

    posted by  Bob Wennerstrom on  Mon Feb 24 05:20 CST 2003
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    last visit: Fri Jul 15 12:01 CST 2011
    [RELATED]

    You didn't mention looking at the control arm bushings. The rear ones (on the front control arms)are pretty famous for going bad clunking like you describe. I couldn't figure out where my clunk was coming from until I removed the 3 bolts that hold the rear of the control arm and actually looked in there from the rear. The rubber was obviously torn. Good news is, aftermarket parts are cheap. Bad news is, it would have been easier to do the bushings while you had the ball joint out. It's still not too hard though exept you'll have to have the bushings pressed in by someone with a press. Might as well do all 4, both sides "while your in there"

    --
    Bob W.
    '91 744T 173K
    '82 245Ti 238K
    '67 122 wagon








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      Annoying loud clunk (knock) at front suspension 200 1989

      uid 27's pic
      posted by  Art Benstein on  Mon Feb 24 05:33 CST 2003
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      last visit: Fri Oct 17 20:10 CST 2014
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      My guess too. Rear control arm bushing.

      Did you find the front control arm bushings were worn? Sort of a survey, as I hear they are much harder to press in and out, yet also hear they are usually ordered before inspecting and replaced "cuz you're in there". As you can see, I've never replaced them, and the one control arm I have pulled seemed to be good up front.
      --
      Art Benstein near Baltimore








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        Annoying loud clunk (knock) at front suspension 200 1989

        posted by  Smitty on  Mon Feb 24 11:14 CST 2003
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        last visit: Sat Aug 9 22:44 CST 2014
        [RELATED]

        The "tribal knowledge" from my former Volvo mechanic was the the front A-arm bushings "never" need replacing. I couldn't monkey that end of the A-arm into the shop press when I did the rears, so the originals are still in there.








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        Annoying loud clunk (knock) at front suspension 200 1989

        posted by  Bob Wennerstrom on  Mon Feb 24 09:59 CST 2003
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        last visit: Fri Jul 15 12:01 CST 2011
        [RELATED]

        Front bushings looked fine. The guy with the $2500 air controlled press had no problems getting them out. I actually replaced a whole bunch of "not-worn-out" parts in the front end, just because I didn't know what was clunking and I had to order parts from clear across the country. Looking back, I probably could have solved my clunk for $25 parts and labor and driven happily on that front end for another 50K miles. Ah... the benefits of hindsight. At least I know the front end is fresh now.
        --
        Bob W.
        '91 744T 173K
        '82 245Ti 238K
        '67 122 wagon







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