Ka-thunk...ka-thunk, ka-thunk...ka-thunk. What is this noise?!?
 

I have a noise (ka-thunk) coming from the front passenger wheel area...typically only happens when coasting or deceleration and upon hitting a bump in the road.

I thought at first it was worn sway-bar bushings. Those have been replaced and the "ka-thunk" continues. Then I thought it was the horizontal cross-brace between the shock towers. I inserted some plastic washers between the mounts and the heim joints...nope.

The only thing left I can imagine is the strut. It's either worn out or bottoming out (rubber stop missing?). How to check for a worn strut? The car handles fine and doesn't nose-dive upon hard braking.

Anything else in that area that "ka-thunks" :confused:

What year? I had this in my 73.5....Front sway bar was sliding back and forth....Was hitting he dust cover of the strut....PO had put in new bushings and had not pushing the linkage into the fender, allowing the bar to "float" back and forth....YMMV

Check the gland nut on the strut.

oh no.....not the dreaded ka-thunk ka-thunk ka-thunk noise......nothing worse than that....
except maybe the thhp...thhhp....thhhp....hssss noise

Check to see if your wheel bearings are tight. You'd be surprised how they can loosen over time and then kathunk over bumps.

This would be my guess.

Agree. Had it happen to me a few thousand miles after replacing the struts. Guess I didn't torque it down enough. If it is loose you can get a pipe wrench in there and tighten it down while in place.

This is also the classic noise made by a loose/failing ball joint or tie rod end, particularly the description of hearing it when going over a bump. Check those for sure.

Does the frequency of "ka-thunk - ka-thunk" change with the speed your car travel? Is it proportional say 10 "ka-thunk - ka-thunk" at 10 MPH and 20 "ka-thunk - ka-thunk" at 20 MPH?

What I am getting at is it a wheel rotation noise that repeats or not...

I had a similar issue with my SC due to some crud in the wheel. The noise went away after pulling the wheel and blowing some compressed air between the pads and calipers.


RBL>

That's the sound of loose lug nuts as well. Doubt that's the case, so I'd guess loose calipers or bearings.

'79 SC. I installed the sway-bar and bushings myself. It is installed correctly. Ka'thunk was there before and after I replaced the bushings.

Gland nut is which nut? Does the strut need to be removed to reach it?

I gave the wheel the "wobble" test when it was on the lift. No play up/down or front/back.

I just installed new turbo tie-rods. Sound was there with the old tie-rods too. Balls joints appear fine.

No, the "ka-thunk" is the same, regardless of speed. It's only change in frequency of ka-thunks is how many bumps I'm running over at the time.

I just re-built the wheels and mounted new tires. Lugs are torqued to spec.

Loose caliper? I'll check that.

I have the same issue which I had thought might be the ball joint...After new BJs , tierods , bushings(sway and A arm) and replacing upper strut mounts, strut pins, rotors, bearings...noise is still there. Next is to disassemble the strut , even though the shocks are very firm.
Let me know what you find , as I won't get around to looking at mine this weekend!

It's always better to check the wheels/ bearings with the car on the ground. Steering might need to be checked on the lift.

how about a bad CV joint?

New CV joints. Sound is definitely coming from R/F.

Have you put the car on a lift so that the right front wheel is hanging free and then try to move it to reproduce the sound? Violently moving the wheel up and down to simulate a bump may help you localize the noise. Also there is that plate that covers the steering rack and brake master cylinder. Is that bolted on tight?

You will have to remove the top nut ( in the trunk) and push the strut down. You might be able to just push it out of the mount and then raise the top shock cover to get at the gland nut without having to tilt the strut out of the wheel well.
My car had a thump when i bought it and tightening the gland nut fixed it.

Yes, car has been on the lift for the past year. Haven't tried too violently to shake it as I'm concerned about knocking it off the lift, but I did closely visually inspect everything in that area with nothing obvious revealing itself.

Yes, the bash-plate is bolted down securely. I removed/replaced it when I swapped out the tie-rods.

Well...that's the only thing I haven't inspected. Will give it a go and see what happens.

+1 on wheel bearings that someone mentioned near the top

If the car was rolled around without the transmission the wheel bearings will need to be replaced. Cost me roughly 300 bucks. Problem solved :)

Does it have Bilstein struts? IN addition to the top gland nut (my first thought) there is a strut tube locating bushing inside Bilstein struts that can wear out.

Rolling around a car without the trans will destroy the front wheel bearings? :confused:

Regardless, tranny hasn't been out of the car since it was new.

Umm...don't remember. I think they're green so that's makes them....Bilstein?

right, green=bilsteins.

In a different car, it made the same noise when the bushings in the strut top were wore out.

this happened to me on my '88, and thankfully it was the 2 nuts tightening the front belly pan were loose - after a bit of driving...i know it sounds too simple, but we cannot be above everything...worth a try, anyway...

Car has only been on the ground one week. Before putting the wheels on, I replaced the tie-rods and installed the Elephant Racing anti-bump stop "kit". Trust me, the belly pan is tightened to factory specs. "Ka-thunk" was there before all this work and remains the same.

Trying to get to the "gland nut" now...

Take the cat out of the dryer.

Have you checked for worn down or damaged strut spindle.

Fixed it! As some recommended here...check the simple things first. I couldn't lower the strut out of the top mount as my car is slammed. When I put the strut top nut back where it was, I noticed, compared to the driver's side, there was much less thread sticking out (1/2" vs. 3/4").

I cranked down on the nut until it matched the other side, then took it for a spin. No more "ka-thunk"! Nut was loose this entire time... http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs28/f/20...y_death_au.gif

Sweet, and congrats bro