Front end “clunking” sound

[curlesw]

I have a strange clunking sound coming from the front right wheel area of my car and it seems to be getting worse. It use to occur only when there was a dramatic change in height (e.g. going over a speed bump or a driveway with a steep entrance). However, now the noise occurs more often and when turning greater than a 90 degree angle. Furthermore, when I bounce on the right front the car does not make any noise.

Does anyone have any idea what I should check first? Shock? Bushing? Car is stock and I do not know the age of the shocks or any other components. I guess I should start that suspension update sooner than later.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

V/r
Wayne C.
83 SC
Coming soon…pictures of the Ruby Red Duck!

[surflvr911sc]

first guess would be shocks, jack the front up and push up on the wheel hard. Second guess would be ball joint. Both are probably ready for replacement as are all of the rubber bushings.

[curlesw]

Thanks Ryan...how can I tell if the ball joint and/or bushing needs replacement? Are there any visual indications or is it just an "age thing".

V/r
Wayne C.
83 SC
Coming soon…pictures of the Ruby Red Duck!

[FrdzRed]

You might want to check the retainer and bushing on the passenger side of the steering rack. Rotate the wheel hard to the left and grab the tie rod as far in as possible to see if there is any play.

[Thunderbolt]

I had the same clunking noise on my 79. It ended up being the tension pin holding the Bilstein insert in the strut housing was broken..

[surflvr911sc]

Rubber bushings are an age thing, 21 years and counting on your car.

Ball joints are a little different, they will wear due to dirt and friction. If the rubber boots on them look like new then they might be fine.

After 21 years they are probably ready though, it a bad place to have any play. I did mine when I rebuilt my suspension just be sure they were good and would stay that way.

[surflvr911sc]

Good point on the tie rods too. Like I said, after 21 years the whole suspension is tired, and any part that moves is probably ready to be replaced.

[Jon Hile]

sure sounds like a seized strut. had the exact same thing about a year ago on my '84 911. total charge for the new struts, four-wheel alignment and corner balancing (Seattle) was around $1,100.00

[catuck]

I had this problem a few years ago. My front strut upper housing broke free and was clunking with every bump.

[Superman]

Upper strut bearing (aka Tower Bearing) is my guess.

[dd74]

Originally posted by Superman
Upper strut bearing (aka Tower Bearing) is my guess.

Yep. Tyson told me he got one these in Vegas last weekend. This sounds like his description.

[curlesw]

Thanks for the feedback, still have a couple of questions:

1. Is Upper strut bearing (aka Tower Bearing) the same thing as upper thrust bearing?

2. If the strut bearing is bad, do I have to replace the entire strut?

thanks much!

v/r
Wayne C.
83 SC

[Kevin G]

Not sure of the name of the part, however I had the same clunk you described on my 79sc. The nut that that is screwed into the the top of the lower portion of the strut was rusted and broke at the theads. This caused the two pieces two bang together causing the clunking sound you decribed.

[Superman]

Wayne, it could be a number of things, so the next step is to lift that corner of the car can wiggle suspension parts until you find some play. There should be none. If you find play, you find the problem.

If it turns out to be the upper strut bearing, that's a pretty easy fix. The strut can stay on the control arm. You might need to back off the torsion bar adjuster, and perhaps disconnect some sway bar brackets, but the control arm should swing down far enough to pull the top part of the strut out of the wheel well. The strut bearing is between the strut and the hump in your trunk. DO NOT remove the big nut in the center of the top of the tower. Open the trunk. Look at the top of the towers. You'll see a big nut in the center, and perhaps three smaller nuts on the perimeter. You can do what you want with your small nuts, but leave the big one alone.

Spherical bearings are available to replace the rubber-mounted ones, if you want to hear and feel every bump and crack in the road surface.

[curlesw]

Originally posted by Superman
DO NOT remove the big nut in the center of the top of the tower.

(note to self...DO NOT remove the big nut, DO NOT remove the bug nut, DO NOT remove the bug nut)...I'll probably remove the damn big nut!

Thanks for all the help...I now have a head start on the problem. The car is going up on jacks for a week for a couple of fun projects so I will go ahead and tackle this problem as well.

No doubt I'll be back if (when ) I get stuck.

V/r
Wayne C.
83 SC
Coming soon…pictures of the Ruby Red Duck!

[AirCooledExcellence]

Good luck with this Wayne and let us know how you get on. Mine has just started clunking as well!!


Cheers,

Tim.

[alf]

I had a clunking sound on the driver side and went over the suspension with a fine tooth comb and even repacked the wheel bearings. Happens only on hard cornering.

Turns out the door stop got disconnected to the mounting plate. It was swinging around when the door was closed, but when the door was opened it was snug againse the door. You might want to check that too. There should be 2 screws holding it to the door.

alf

[ZCAT3]

Does it clunk when you kneel on the front bumper and bounce the car up and down? If so, it may be the front torsion bar mount. Those tend the pop loose and make a clunking noise. There is an easy fix where they can weld some extra material on to the end cap (I think). I had this problem with a 87 911.

[jyl]

That's funny, I had the same problem. It was pretty clear that the clunk is coming from the door, not the front end.

Originally posted by alf
I had a clunking sound on the driver side and went over the suspension with a fine tooth comb and even repacked the wheel bearings. Happens only on hard cornering.

Turns out the door stop got disconnected to the mounting plate. It was swinging around when the door was closed, but when the door was opened it was snug againse the door. You might want to check that too. There should be 2 screws holding it to the door.

alf

[curlesw]

Originally posted by AirCooledExcellence
Good luck with this Wayne and let us know how you get on.

Will do...in the words of my Governor, "I'll be back".

Originally posted by alf
Turns out the door stop got disconnected to the mounting plate. It was swinging around when the door was closed, but when the door was opened it was snug againse the door. You might want to check that too.

Thanks alf, I'll add this to my check list.

Originally posted by ZCAT3
Does it clunk when you kneel on the front bumper and bounce the car up and down? If so, it may be the front torsion bar mount.

No it doesn't...but I'll try it again and check the torsion bar mount anyway.

Bad news is I know less (if that's possible ) about suspensions than engines...guess it's time to learn, better order one of those books on suspensions

V/r
Wayne C.
83 SC
Coming soon…pictures of the Ruby Red Duck!