Clunking up front over bumps...

[J11]

1967

Was told it was the sway bar down link bushings... replaced them (they didn't look as bad as I thought they would), and clunking still there.

It's loud... like if I go over a bump, it CLUNKS from under the hood somewhere it sounds like. Sway bar still? There's other bushings there, correct?

[cgarr]

Could be A arm bushings shot, sway bar bushings thru the body, or struts? are they loose? Hows the rust?

[slodave]

I had a similar noise from the right front side. Bilstein strut was bad.

[J11]

Rust seems surface & light... I bet it's strut related, now that you say that... needs all 4. Maybe sway bar bushings through the body though... what's the easiest way to check those?

Thanks!

Oh-- when I did the drop link bushings a few days ago, after putting the car back down & test driving it, the noise was still there, but much much quieter. 2 days later, and it's back full volume.

In case that tips anyone off...

[carson911s]

Had the same thing recently. It was the struts.

[911s55]

Low speed or high?

Could be your steering rack.

[J11]

ALL speeds. Going very slow produces same noise... I have the green struts-- which inserts do I need?

Thanks

[mca]

Originally Posted by slodave

I had a similar noise from the right front side. Bilstein strut was bad.

+1

Open hood, grab inside somewhere sturdy and give a quick, hard lift up towards the sky. That is how I was able to replicate the sound. Was coming from passenger's side front strut.

Green are usually Bilsteins.

[cgarr]

Bilstein struts is what you have, Its not the inserts its the bushings in the struts and they can be replaced if bad, take the weight off the car and grab the housing and see if there is a lot of play in it.

[riparian]

I have BOGE front struts on my '86.

I also have clunking I can hear when going slow over uneven surfaces. I thought this might be sway bar bushings, but they are good.

I have the car in the air, with front wheels off. I have pushed/pulled all suspension components, including the struts. Nothing feels loose.

However, when I push up from below the left rotor, the strut compresses fairly easily and drops with a slight clunk when I let go.

When I do the same for the right side, I cannot manually compress the strut into the dust sleeve at all without risk of pushing the car off the lift.

Can someone help me understand which behavior is not desirable and what might be the problem? Thanks.

The one in the photo below is the one I can push up fairly easily, at least enough for the aluminum bit to push up into the dust sleeve above. I cannot do so on the other side.

(Note: the top strut mounts on both sides appear to be new, and I'd assume someone worked in this area in the recent past. I have only owned this car for a couple months. There's nothing in the history about work on struts.)

[kltarga72]

Originally Posted by J11

1967

Was told it was the sway bar down link bushings... replaced them (they didn't look as bad as I thought they would), and clunking still there.

It's loud... like if I go over a bump, it CLUNKS from under the hood somewhere it sounds like. Sway bar still? There's other bushings there, correct?

I had a similar problem when I would drive over the speed bumps in my neighborhood. it was not a squeaking noise but more of a clunking noise. Talking to our resident Porsche mechanic he said to look at the rubber bushings on the front control arms. I did not see where metal was against metal but the rubber bushings were original and worn out. I have a lift in my garage and was able to do the work myself. Replacing the bushings eliminated the noise.

Check out the Elephant bushing replacement video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85-Enx4bKUE

[stlrj]

My 87 Carrera made the same noise. Found the left sway bar mount broke off the pan and had to be welded back on.

Cheers,

Joe

[Joe Bob]

Strut housing is loose or it's Jimmy Hoffa's Timex.

[ian c2]

A quick disconnect of the anti roll bars linkages before a road test will eliminate them from your enquiries .
Don’t try this with the shock absorbers though , as you might need them .

[smadsen]

My "clunk" was a loose cruise control aluminum box, accessed from the frunk, but behind the steering wheel. It's up in there with all the blower motors & hoses. Anything in there could be your problem if it's loose.

[Richard930]

I've had a couple of similar clunk noises. First was wear on the bottom of the right front strut at the retainer pin that holds it in place - just enough wear to allow a bit of movement and the strut to make the noise. Second was from the AC evaporator box - one of the four corners of the fan mount platform broke which allowed enough movement to generate a pretty significant clunk over any kind of road imperfection at low speed.

Amazing how clunks transmit through the car making them tough to diagnose...

[BK911]

My clunk was a loose strut insert.

[Gianni at Pelican Parts]

Front end clunk especially low speed over bumps, I always check sway bar bushings and endlinks first.

If it does end up being the strut we are offering ALL Koni shocks for 20% OFF for a limited time

[wjdunham]

My clunk on an '85 Carrera was bad Bilstein strut inserts. Replaced both, but the one making the noise had fluid leaking out, wasn't obvious until I pulled the insert out of the housing.

[riparian]

Originally Posted by kltarga72

I had a similar problem when I would drive over the speed bumps in my neighborhood. it was not a squeaking noise but more of a clunking noise. Talking to our resident Porsche mechanic he said to look at the rubber bushings on the front control arms. I did not see where metal was against metal but the rubber bushings were original and worn out. I have a lift in my garage and was able to do the work myself. Replacing the bushings eliminated the noise.

Check out the Elephant bushing replacement video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85-Enx4bKUE

@kltarga72, I wanted to follow-up on this. You were spot on about the control arm bushings. In my case, a PO had replaced the OEM rubber bushings with the hard poly-graphite type. When I pulled them off, they were out of round and larger diameter than the a-arm ends. I bought the excellent kit from Elephant Racing to install the rubber OEM bushings. My struts were also shot. I ended up doing a complete front/rear suspension restoration, including brakes. Handles like new now. Thanks for the help.