Questioni HAVE A CLUNKING NOISE IN THE LEFT FRONT WHEN I TURN THE WHEEL OR GO OVER BUMPS. I CAN FEEL THE SPRING VIBRATE WITH MY HAND WHEN THE WHEEL IS TURNED BACK & FORTH. I SUSPECT THE MOUNT FOR THE STRUT IS DEFECTIVE. I WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE THE STRUT MOUNT ONLY. I KNOW YOU WOULD RECOMMEND CHANGING THE STRUTS (BOTH) WITH 116,000 MILES. I HAVE THE PERFORMANCE MODEL (MAGNECTIC SUSPENSION). I ASSUME IT IS HARDER TO WORK ON. CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME ADVICE ON THIS PROJECT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ROGER
AnswerHello,
I apologize for the delay in my answer, but I had to think o this a bit. First, I cannot tell you the problem over the Internet without being at he vehicle. There are just too many possibilities as to what this problem could be. You did not state the year make or model either.
Bad ball joints could give you the same indications. I hated diagnosing noises because sound travels and unlike some problems in which you can recreate many times in which the vehicle does not ave to move, suspension issues can be challenging.
I am not a parts changer like some dealer techs until eventually, the problem is found.
I wrote about eliminating potential problems first. Here you need to check the upper and lower ball joints as being severely worn first. Once eliminated, you check the steering rack, the tie rods for looseness. If everything is tight there, you need to load the lower control arms with with either jacks or jack stands. Try to recreate the noise you have by using a 2x4 or a pipe between the the tire and the ground, lifting on the wheel. Keep in mind, you might want someone in the car that has heard the sound in order to determine if they hear it, because the sound you hear will be different than inside the cabin with the doors closed.
In fact, on many vehicles you would be doing two operations at once, checking the lower ball joints for looseness and checking for your noise. If there is any type of upward play when using leverage up and down between the tire and ground, you need to replace the lower ball joints and that most likely was your noise.
Your suspicions about the struts might be correct, but this way you are not guessing and just changing parts.
Replacing suspension parts in a pair is not just for the parts house to get more money. The parts wear equally. If one ball joint has failed, chances are the other side is prepared for imminent failure. The same goes for struts. In theory, if only one strut is replaced, alignment will be thrown off and tire wear will develop. I am just stating theory here.
I have seen where guys replaced one strut and a couple hundred miles later the other side had burned off a tire.
You need to know exactly what is going on though. You can go onto the Internet and find videos for just about every suspension problem.
http://www.autotheftexpert.com
