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Front suspension clunk....


MTGunner
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Just had the struts and half shaftsreplaced within 200 miles by a reputable shop. The front end was aligned and I believe they would have found a bad LBJ, thanks for clarifying the acronym, or perhaps damaging the strut during installation. But, will go back to shop to discuss noise. MTG

 

 

 

 

 

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Has anyone experienced a front end suspension clunk associated with the sway bar bushings and sway bar link ends? Was replacement of bushings and link ends the solution? MTG

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6 hours ago, MTGunner said:

Has anyone experienced a front end suspension clunk associated with the sway bar bushings and sway bar link ends? Was replacement of bushings and link ends the solution? MTG

 

I've had both solve a front end clunk.  For the bushings it'll probably be visually pretty obvious that they're shot, and in either case you should be able to grab it and shake to determine if the parts are worn; every time I've heard my parts making noise there has been noticable play.

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Check and make sure the nut on the strut piston is torqued under the full weight of the truck on a level surface. If this step is missed and the strut piston nut is only tightened while there is no weight on the suspension it can cause clunking when the strut cycles to full extension. The nut and washer on the piston hit the strut tower after a brief moment of being lifted above the strut mount from the compression of the suspension.

 

Open your hood, push down on the vehicle watch for movement on the nut and strut piston. There should be none. 

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Checked the strut nut for movement to find none. Will have to wait for warmer weather to jack up, put on jack stands and inspect link ends and sway arm bushings. Those I changed on my 2000 Xterra front and rear. Guessing that this may be the culprit. Will keep this forum informed. MTG

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I replaced the entire suspension on my 97 QX4 front and back. After I got it back together of course an alignment was in the near future I had a bad clunk when going over bumps. The culprit was sway bar links not tightened to factory specs. Make sure like I said. Go by the manual and tighten to factory tourqe. Good luck! #r50pathyqx4terrano #Terrano #nissannorthamaerica

Mr Cox 96R50-97JR50

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  • 1 month later...

New sway bar links, bushings, and a homemade missing link have completely eliminated the clunking I was having while cornering on freeway ramps or pulling up into my elevated driveway. I think I spent 30 bucks total on all parts and the handling is much improved 

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13 minutes ago, colinnwn said:

How hard were putting in the sway bar links and bushings? Do you need a shop press or torch?

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Sway bar links is technically a very easy job. Remove wheel. Remove two link nuts, replace. However....one nut on each side was seized and rounded off on me. I just cut them off with a sawzall since my new link came with new hardware. Didn’t take me too long. The sway bar bushings are easy as well. No press required. They are split so you just slip them over the bar and replace the mounts. 20 minutes job. Just make sure and soak everything in pb blaster a couple times a day or two in advance to get them off easier 

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I had a similar noise to what you were talking about and thought it was the sway bar links. Those weren't the issue and made no difference. Turns out the strut mounts or top hats or whatever you want to call them (made of two pieces pressed into each other) had completely come separated and were making a lot of noise. You could try pulling your struts at real quick and seeing if they the two pieces can move independently from on another, which they shouldn't. If that isn't it you can also check your camber bolts. If those aren't tightened down properly they can slide around a bit and make noise too. I made that mistake once.

 

Also, where in Montana are you from? Good to see some other representation from real America on here!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Another thing to check when trying to track down a front end clunk is the front differential mount bushings. I went through this recently having replaced just about everything in the front suspension and still getting an occasional clunk. I finally checked the diff mounts and found the bushings were worn out and allowing significant play. I could move the whole diff up/down and side to side with just a screwdriver as a pry bar. The diff bumping around in its’ mounts was the clunk I was feeling. This isn’t a great pic, but the circled area shows where one of the bushings is on the drivers side. Try prying in this spot to check for the excessive movement.42420989e1d8cf20b357dd932c5f0701.jpg


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