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Mysterious front end clunk

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Ford-a-Tude 
#1 ·
From the limited research I’ve done it seems this is a fairly common problem for 05-10 mustangs and I’m hoping someone here know what it may be. I have a front suspension clunk (or at least I believe it’s coming from the front it could be some where in the cross member area) and for the life of me I can’t figure out where it’s coming from. I’ve replaced my control arms, sway bar, and end links with all BMR in the past month trying to figure it out. In the past 20k miles I have replaced my strut mounts with GT500 ones and gotten steeda outer tire rod ends. The clunk is loud, happens over little bumps, big bumps, or when I turn the wheel and the weight of the car shift to one side or the other. The road can be smooth but in even and it will still clunk away... and what ever it is I can feel it in my feet when it clunks.
 
#3 ·
I also have some clunks in my front end that I haven't figured out yet. There are lots of posts on here about various clunks, some searches might be fruitful. I think you have already addressed most of the likely suspects.

I saw on recently where it turned out to be the rubber isolators on the springs, apparently they had cracked or fallen apart and the spring was clunking in the strut, he replaced the rubber and the clunk went away.
 
#4 ·
I have heard about the rubber on the spring sliding or coming off then causing a clunk. I have but lowering springs on in the past year so I don’t think the rubber would have deteriorated but maybe slidden to where I have metal on metal contact.
 
#5 ·
Everytime I get a clunk or rattle in the front suspension, a new strut mount has fixed it. This has held true on my 06 and 12 Mustangs. And the dealer just replaced the left front strut mount on my 19 Charger.

Little more on new parts and the Dodge. The dealer replaced the strut and strut mount and the noise continued. They replaced the upper and lower control arms and the noise continued. They replaced the tension strut and the noise continued. After each part was replaced they test drove the car with digital ears attached. Each time it pointed to the strut. After multiple calls with Dodge engineers they decided to replace the strut mount again. Noise was gone. 35,000 miles on the car and the Dodge literaly rebuilt the left front suspension including 2 strut mounts. New parts can be bad.


One question OP. What was the camber after installing the GT500 strut mounts? What struts did you install? I installed GT500 strut mounts on my 2012 when I rebuilt the front suspension and I was not able to dial in camber. I ended up buying a camber bolt kit. It might be a non issue on your car but thought I would toss it out there.
 
#6 ·
Here's my 3yr + story chasing front end suspension "clunk":


In my case, the clunk first appeared after installing the first set of FRPP lower arms in 2015 due to worn factory originals. I bought the parts and the dealership provided the labor. As soon as I pulled out the parking lot it made a "popping" noise from the passenger side when making right turns. I immediately took it back. The tech confirmed what I was hearing and put it back on the lift and said he made some adjustments and it was quieter but not perfect. I went ahead drove it for a few weeks and it became progressively more noticeable. I took it back a few more times and finally gave up for a few months.



It finally got bad enough that it would "pop" while turning the wheel lock to lock while parked. I finally took it to different dealership and that tech said it was the sway bar links and bushings. So I had those replaced. Seemed "ok" for a few weeks and then started "popping" again. Took it back to him and he crawled under and had me turn the wheel lock to lock. He said I must have gotten a defective FRPP arm in the box cause he could feel the "popping" coming from the ball joint. So I ordered another FRPP set and only replaced the passenger side and I made sure to keep the old/newish arm. Again all was seemed good for a few weeks then it came back. At this point I just gave up again cause I was tired of spending money and had used enough unpaid time off. In November of 2015, now having access to a friend's garage I decided to replace everything short of what had already been replaced (LCA's, sway bar bushings, and links) on the front suspension. I replaced inner & outer tie rods, struts and strut mounts (FRPP). I even made sure that the K-member nuts were torqued down.That damn popping was still there. I then just gave up for well over a year.



Then earlier this year I decided to go ahead replace the sway bar bushings with poly and went ahead and replaced the links with MOOGs instead of the FoMoCo parts. No bueno. Then just a few weeks ago I took it in to get the alignment checked at Pep Boys. The tech came back and told me that the forward (small)bushing was worn out on the passenger LCA. He had me come out in to bay and told me to watch as he took a pry bar to the bushing and the arm moved a good 1/2" back and forth on the pivot. I then gave him a brief history of what I had been dealing with for the past few years. So, on a hunch, I put that first FRPP arm back on and as I stated previously, I also decided to get new bolts while I was at it. Popping is now gone! Suspension is totally quiet! :grin: I have taken it down some of the bumpiest roads around and over speed bumps and not a even a creek.



Also, see my pics of the worn lower control arm bolts in the same thread: https://www.allfordmustangs.com/for...853217-front-end-clunk-driving-me-nuts-7.html


So far I still have zero clunks since this past Christmas. :laugh2:
 
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#7 ·
Man, I feel your pain as I have had my fair share of clunking. Don’t believe the nay-sayers, you can most definitely replace OEM suspension components with stiffer performance gear and still maintain excellent drive quality. First off, get your wrenches and ratchets out and re-torque everything. I mean everything, every bolt you can see. I thought I had everything snug only to find months later that I missed an upper rear sway bar link. Ugh! After that I had a very persistent front end clunk and much like you, everything was replaced with new. Roush stage 3 suspension, new bushings, new links, ball joints. It ended up being the front swaybar shifting laterally. Check out this post I made some time ago regarding the fix. https://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/9083770-post15.html
 
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