The Shop > Suspension, Steering, Brakes, Wheels & Tires

Klunking...but from /WHERE/??

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MIPS:
That I am aware of, I have now rebuilt or refurbished the entire front-end of my wagon.

-Upper ball joints
-Lower ball joints ($$$)
-Upper control arm bushings
-Lower control arm bushings
-Tie rods (inner, outer and the clamp)
-Sway bar links
-Sway bar bushings
-Steering damper
-Pitman arm
-Strut rod bushings
-Front shocks (both sides)
-Spring perch bushings ($$$)
-Springs (cleaned and repainted. Passenger side replaced with salvaged passenger spring)
-Wheel bearings (both sides)
-CV axles (both sides)
-Brake discs, pads and hardware (both sides)

You hit a bump or go down a dirt road and there's a distinct "klunk" like something travelling up/down has enough play that it to bounce. You can feel it in the floor. It's not just audible but you swear it's from the front.
The back is the same

-Wheel bearings
-Rear shocks
-Spring bushings
-Spring carriage bushings
-The springs don't look objectively sagged or broken

Engine mounts were inspected during the rebuild last year and doomed to still be good. I believe the transmission mount was replaced when that was rebuilt in 2018.

I'm at a loss. I cannot think of anything I've missed that could be causing that but it makes me nervous before considering a 4000km trip. What could it be?

vangremlin:
I had a similar clunking in my Gremlin.  The shop diagnosed it as being the bushings were too small in the front of the leaf springs ( or the eye was too large), allowing the leaf spring to move.  They did something to squeeze the eye to make it smaller.

Not saying this is what you are experiencing but maybe take a look at it.  Good luck!!

MIPS:
But that would be the back, no? A rear suspension failure is something on a road trip you can kinda recover from with a hunk of wood but a failure in the front would almost always mean it's tow time.
It bothers me. Even when I had the knuckles apart last month I wasn't finding play. Everything seemed to be pretty well seated.

Illeagle1984:
Sorry I can't help much from 3000km away, it could be literally a million things.  If your road trip takes you to the Great Lakes, I could fix you up, but from here, I can only run through a thought experiment on what I'd do if you showed up to my shop.  Let's start with the test drive I'd give a hard to find noise.  With your foot lightly on the brake over these bumps, does it still make the noise?  How about swerving left-right like when they warm up the tires in NASCAR, does it make noise then?  In & out of driveways?  How about a hard braking or acceleration event?  Can a strong guy (or two people combined) make the noise by pushing down or pulling up on the bumper?  A yes to any of these could narrow it down.

Next comes the visual inspection.  Start by double checking that front end resting on the ground and hanging in the air (with upper arm supported as I'm sure you know).  Different parts become loose at different times.  Use a big prybar in between every bushing and joint.  Go up and down, AND side to side on all of it.  Look for fresh, bright red rust (or scrubbed paint, if she's that clean) coming from anywhere where two things can touch.  Control arm to frame, drivetrain to body.  Look over every inch for evidence.  Double check the tightness of every single bolt and nut.  If you had the knuckles off, you been pretty far already, I know.  But this is the time to second guess everything.

Still making noise?  Take out the shocks.  STILL making noise?  Completely remove the sway bar.  Sometimes those shocks and bushings can be bad without any way of being able to detect it.  I've had dozens of brand new shocks clunk out of the box (thanks Monroe).  And I've had cracked sway bars that make noise at odd times, check it over especially at the welds.

It can be tough to find.  One time I chased down a nasty sounding gremlin on my own Eagle.  After I did the first round of parts and alignment, I got a new banging that I felt in the floor.  The clamps for the tie rod sleeves were pointed down so I could tighten them easy, but in that position they hit on the crossmember on driveways or on bumpy corners.  Took me a bit to find that one, I drove it until I saw the marks that appeared on the subframe and the clamps.

Also one time I had an Accord with a weird clunk over bumps and I found a whole walnut fruit wedged between the transmission and subframe was the cause.  Like I said, it could be a million things.  Good luck!  ;D

KIV_6051:
From personal experience: the transmission mount would be my first guess, and you should be able to tell if it is good by comparing it to a new one (or photo of a new one).

After I installed the Clifford header, I had to grind some of the unibody frame (minus the spot-welds of course) to make room for the tailpipe flange, as it would knock against it.

Good luck!

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