I have an '03 SXT - approaching 90k miles. Has a lot of clanking going on in the front suspension.

Could anyone direct me to a troubleshooting guide, or instructions on how to check front suspension components? What should be checked and how to tell what's ok, what's not. What parts would be typically wearing at this point?

Thanks,
Steve

 

90k miles is approaching the point at which suspension starts to fail on our cars. Has any of it been replaced that you are aware of? Start by taking a peak under the front of the car while its on the ground. Look behind and towards the center of the car where the control arm connects to the K-frame, the bolt will be going up into the frame. In the center of that is a rubber bushing, if it is cracked/popping out of the hole it needs to be replaced. When mine went the clanking became really annoying, nothing bad will happen it just makes for a rougher and annoying ride.

If your getting clanking noises while taking turns its probably the sway bar end-linkage. Right behind the tire you will see a thick metal rod connecting to the control arm and runs up underneath the car. Where it meets the control arm you will see a long bolt (about 8 or so inches long) with bushings on it. IT could be completely snapped off, causing the clunking. I just had that happen. If not it could be worn and sliding around, make sure its a tight fit and nothings broken on it.

Jack up the car and put on jack stands. Sit facing one wheel (pick one, you'll do the same for both), put your legs under the car and grasp the wheel at about 4 and 8 oclock and pull towards you and push from you. You shouldn't be able to move the tire, unless your he-man. IF it moves (a lot) you could have a bad ball joint and/or outter tie rod end. If you hardly budge it while using all your strength its probably in good shape.

 

-Also if you get clunking sounds while going over speed bumps or in and out of parking lots, that is usually the control arm bushings. I replaced mine with Prothane bushings because the stock rubber ones tend to dry rot.

L8R,
Matt

 

Thanks - that's exactly the kind of info I was hoping to get.

I'd like to do as much myself as I can, and don't want to take a shotgun approach and just start changing things out.

It has had zero front end work done, so it probably is just normal wear issues. We bought it new and it's had no need for anything beyond general maintenance - with the exception of a recent overheating problem that I think we have licked.

Also - what kind of life do the front struts generally have? How are they typically tested?

Thanks again - and if anyone else has any tips or tricks, please share...

 

When you go over bumps as well it could be Sway bar links or bad strut/mounts. can be difficult to narrow down without checking. Struts don't generally have a typical life..it depends on driving conditions such as bumpy roads or excessive holes and stuff. Maybe 65k on really bad roads. The strut mounts can rust out and cause clanking/popping noise especially while taking a turn.

Yeah you never want to just start replacing stuff unless your going to keep the car forever and if you can afford it, haha. Your best approach is to inspect it as I said earlier, if your unsure of how something looks post a picture and we can try to figure it out. It's always difficult to assess an issue with only a picture and no touchy feely. Definitely check the End links, its easy to note if they are wearing out/broken/loose. plus they are $13 each for MOOG if you just decide to replace. The control arm bushings aren't to expensive, 20-30 each?, but you gotta press them out and that's after removing the control arm. I just bought the whole control arm with bushings and ball joint but that was $100 each last year. You should be able to tell if its popping out of the arm/cracked/completely gone (as mine had).

Let's see, easy strut test would be to park the car on level ground and pop the hood. Push down on the front cross member where the hood latch is (I say pop the hood so you have solid frame to grasp rather than pushing hard on thin metal and possibly denting it...ask me how i know). Once you get a feel for how hard to push push again and then take note on how many times the car bounces. It should go down, then straight up and stop. It shouldn't be all wobbly. That test shows that the strut itself is gone and needs to be replaced. Struts are $20-40 but you have to pull them apart which requires a coil compressor and ***** of steel.

Here is a quick video on checking for a bad strut bearing/mount. You can see how the coil is slipping causing the noise. You can see him using a coil compressor to pull it apart - that is a loaded bomb at that point so you gotta be careful. If a strut or mount is bad you gotta pull it apart. Monroe sells the whole assembly for $175 I think (order at advance with codes and get it to 125) so then its a matter of unbolt the two from the knuckle and the three on top, pull out, put new in and done.

Run through all the diagnostics and let us know what you come up with. Hopefully its something cheap and simple. If you live in winter conditions as I do the suspension has taken a huge beating and will not be pretty.

what exactly are the conditions for the noise? Is it when your just driving and you hear a constant clatter or popping or is it when you take turns/bumps? I think I've listed everything to check for though.