So recently I have developed a clunking noise up front. At first it wasn't all that bad but it has gotten worse. It went from a noise I would only hear over small road cracks, which to me meant a possible suspension issue. Took it to get checked during an oil change and suspension looked fine. NOW, I have a shaky steering wheel and it feels like my tire is gonna take off. It is coming from the same side (front driver). I have taken the wheels off and have pulled, pushed, hammer tested, and found nothing loose or bad with any bushings. The car shakes and pulls hard to the right at any speed and Its become a headache. Just got to this point the last 2 days. Will be taking it to the shop soon. Any one had this kind of problem? I will supply a recording to try and provide some sound. Thanks guys!

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1sY8Gps1uMw

If you paste that and go to the link it will play the sound. (sorry, did not know how to upload a sound clip).

 

Start with sway bar end links. That's most likely what it is. Could also be your compression rod or steering knuckle ball joint too.

 

Would any of those make the car shake and it pull right that much?

 

Sure. Any busted ball joint or bushing can make it feel weird in all kinds of ways. The sway bar end links are actually called stabilizer links tho, so yeah for sure. The end links are the cheapest and most common thing tho. Nissans links are cheap crap, so they bust all the time.

 

Good deal, Ill look into checking that out tomorrow. Cheap is always good when it comes to repairs lol.

 

If you can do the work yourself you can replace the end links, compression rods and knuckle ball joints for about $250 and that'll solve all yer problems.

 

Well just returned from the shop aftee failed attempts to find the problem myself. Was told the strut was going bad and my end link has movement. Quoted me at $749 for both stut assembly and end link replacements. I still dont quite think i have a bad strut due to no visible leakes or tears in the rubber or anything other strut relatable issues. I have been ripped off before with getting them replaced and it not fixing the issue. Im leaning toward the sound being only the end link. Any other opinions?

 

how old are your struts, how many miles on them?
I just replaced mine after 70k and there were no leaks, but suspension was bouncy and noisy with them on.

Check compression rod bushings as well. They will give you vibration if gone bad.

 

Bought the car at 101k miles. Now at 108k. Not sure if and when they were previously replaced.

 

if not sure, I bet they are not.

 

Not bouncy or anything. Just a clunking noise over small bumps and cracks.

 

Going to buy some end links since they are cheap and replacing them wont hurt anyways. Are the rwd and awd links the same? The part number listed on their estimate is different than what places specify for the AWD verison. The part number they listed comes back for the RWD version. They look much different too.