Mine turned out to be the adjustable anti-roll bar end links. One ended up separating at the threaded collar. Replaced them with the OEM ones (will upgrade to a stouter OEM style later) and the clunking was gone. Like the really sharp response you get with adjustable end links but the noise IMO isn't worth it.

 

^^I had a similar issue with SPL endlinks I bought years ago. The effect on the suspension was awesome but the creaking, popping and knocking they produced made them unbearable. I lived in Austin at the time and went by the SPL headquarters a few times to see if they could offer any help, but nothing they suggested worked. SO it was bye-bye SPL and hello OEM style replacements.

 

On RockAuto, am I buying the inner or outer end links?

 

Has no one really pin pointed this yet ? Ive had it for years now and I'm gonna get my car up on an alignment rack and do some shaking and watching closely. I'll be back

 

Is your clunk happening during turning or suspension travel?

 

Checking back in on this thread. It's been awhile.
As I said in my previous posts. Everything is new in the front. Since my original post, I have even done the Struts, strut mounts and upper a arms and front brake pads. That means EVERYTHING in the front end is new. Still have the noise. I have been driving it for years. But I am at my wits end. I even tore the front end out of the car again yesterday and went over everything. It is all still tight and in spec... The only thing I think this may possibly be is something in the steering rack or possibly a wheel bearing, but the wheel coasts fine with no noise and I cannot move it back and forth as one would expect a bad bearing to exhibit.

 

I AM HERE WITH THE ANSWERS. I TOO REPLACED COMP RODS, BUSHINGS, LCAs, etc.

THE ANSWER IS: GREASE. GREASE THE BUSHINGS UP. NO MORE CREAKS OR CLUNKS. YOURE WELCOME.

 

Just did a bunch of replacement too, struts and upper control arm..still have clunking front drivers side...like a loose bracket but more solid. Quiet at highway speed but low speed vibration. The latest diagnostics from my mech is he says it's the steering rack and needs to be swapped. I am rather skeptical about this because with a sound so distinct, you would feel it in the wheel and you don't.

Which parts did you grease exactly? I'll try anything at this point

 

I've dealt with a number of suspension clunks during my ownership of the G, which was slammed by its original owner and has been used as a daily racer combo since. Starting at 110k miles: first were the blown rear shocks, that was an easy fix which really improved the ride.

The quiet shocks revealed another rear clunk, the rear endlinks were original so I replaced them, all was well.
5k miles later I had another front end clunk, which was resolved by throwing new Moog end links at the problem.

At this point I went ahead and replaced the front shocks, lower control arm bushings, inner/outer tie rods, front ball joints, and the compression rod bushings with Whitelines as well as the steering rack bushings. Crucially, I left the original compression rods figuring "if they're not bad, why replace?".

5k miles later I had a small clunk/click when turning the steering wheel at low speeds. I tightened up the adjustment screw on the steering rack very slightly and all was/is well.

10k miles later, one of my aftermarket (PO replaced at some point) compression rods started clunking at the ball joint. I couldn't find the problem with a pry bar, and neither could my mechanics. Since everything was new but the compression rod balljoint I went ahead and replaced one of them, which fixed the problem. Turns out the ball joint was only loose in a tiny part of its range, so when the car was in the air it was tight. This means it's impossible to diagnose without taking things apart - if you've got an elusive clunk this would be my recommendation.

At this point I also replaced the upper control arms with $20 worth of used parts because the ball joint boot was torn, so I figured it was only a matter of time.

A Mevotech compression rod (had to swap over the poly bushing too :/) fixed that clunk, but I soon after I had another one coming from the same general area only when I went over big bumps or potholes. New engine mounts fixed this problem, the mount was completely torn on that side at 125k miles and 14 years old.

After my last autocross on bumpy overgrown tarmac I started getting a driver's side clunk on dirt roads. I'm confident it's the driver side compression rod balljoint, but I'm ignoring it until it starts happening on normal roads.

What I learned: Next time an old suspension starts clunking, stop trying to find what's broken and just replace that one thing. Start with end links, replace the shocks/struts if they're due, and if that doesn't fix it just take it all apart and replace all the wear points. LCA bushings, compression rods, ball joints

And it's worth it, I don't worry about my front suspension at all knowing it's all brand new, and I can beat on it without worrying about breaking something else and having my weekend plans rearranged unexpectedly.

I've had no abnormal issues from the rear suspension despite the fact it's all original and I know for a fact one of the shock mount bushings is pretty much blown out, and I'm at 130k now. When I have a major issue, I'll tear that whole thing apart and replace everything at once too, including wheel bearings.

 

Put the car in the air to relieve tension and get grease on all the bushings and make sure everything's torqued to the correct specs. All of my creaks disappeared. I believe The majority of creaks are from dry bushings rubbing and making popping type noises when they rub up on the metal arms, rods, etc.

 

thanks for the advice, ill try that this weekend. any specific grease you recommend?

also side note, my daily/winter beast 04 lexus rx330 also had some clunking noise coming from the front.. i lifted the car up and found a bad sway bar link, bought 2 at autozone and swapped them out in 45 mins, car is quiet as new. That dam Mcpherson strut is so much simpler than our double wishbone set up.

 

Greasing your bushings might be a bandaid fix for squeaks/creaks but rubber bushings shouldn't be making those noises and its an indicator they're getting too soft/worn out. I'd recommend silicone grease (that white stuff) since this stuff needs to penetrate into the bushing to have any effect, and it won't gunk up your bushing so you can't tell when it finally does crack.

 

i definitely agree its a band aid fix but its quick, cheap and ill use it to find the crappy components to swap them out. If some of the noise goes away after greasing ill know which part to replace instead of throwing new suspension and steering parts at it blindly. As i mentioned, i dont agree with my mechanics diagnosis of the steering rack being bad, but this will at least prove or disprove it hopefully.

 

Fixed that for ya! LOL

 

To be fair, when in working condition that front suspension is one of the best parts about the FM platform cars. I know it's tempting just to find what's broken in the suspension and fix it, but putting in new parts transfers the stress to other parts you didn't replace, and two weeks later you have to pull the suspension apart again to replace that.

If you've got squeaking bushings and you want to keep the car, plan to bite the bullet rebuild the whole front suspension at once. That way you'll also feel the (significant) difference going from an old worn out setup to all brand new parts, and you'll save yourself a ton of headaches, time, and money doing taking off that damned front K member and compression rod nuts over and over again.