FYI - 996 Rattle in the font end
 

Ok, I feel like a fool so I wanted to put this out there in case anyone else has this issue. There was a knocking in the front end of my 1999 996. The mechanic removed the sway bar links and the rattle went away. So I replaced the links, and yes, the rattle went away....BUT...it came back a few months later. I checked my work and everything was tight...

As I was calling it quits for the night, I was putting things back in the trunk and i bumped the spare tire...WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?! it sounded like the 'rattle'. I sat in the car, and had my girlfriend jiggle the tire...guess what? That was the noise! I tightened it down and no noise!

I figure that while my mechanic was searching for the noise, he probably took the tool kit out or something and it just so happened that the tire was seated the same time he removed the links...the power of deduction.

Anyway, long story short...if you have a rattle, check that the tire is seated tightly...BTW..my new sway bar links kick butt!!

Good to remove everything from the car that is not actual car when troubleshooting rattles. ( coins,CD's, golfclubs, bowling balls ) To amplify the rattle add 10 PSI to tires.