Front suspension clunking

[GirchyGirchy]

Guys, I was wondering if you could help me out. My wife has an '01 Galant (61k miles) which has been, for the past couple of years, been clunking in the front. It occurs when going over bumps, and I believe it's coming from the driver's side, although it might be present a bit on the right side as well.

I'm guessing shocks since they've never been changed. She had a mechanic look at the car and he couldn't find anything loose, and thought the shocks seemed ok. I did the old fashioned shock test (bounce car up and down, see if it keeps oscillating or not) and they seemed to dampen ok still.

Are there any other common things which would cause the clunk, such as bad bushings, tie rods, sway bar, etc? I know on certain Altimas (what I drive) that the cowl can become loose and clunk around.

I apologize if this is common, but I searched and didn't come up with anything.

Thanks for any help!

Brian

[Isaurio]

Hi Brian, YES it could be a few things. Go under the car and check the control arms bushing. Also check the stabilizer link bushing. Also check your shocks mounts. If you notice the steering wheel vibrating more than it has too after 65 to 80 it could be the control arms. When you change the control arms also change the stabilizer links. Change them both driver and passenger side. Let us know.

PS. Do a wheel alignment after changing any type of suspension part specially control arms, and shocks.

[tamim13]

Yes, I had the same thing, it would be rare for your shocks/struts to go out on the 01 Galant in 60K miles. Our control arms have a lot shorter life though. The ball joints on the control arms get worn out, and you will need to replace the control arms (cheaper and easier to do whole). Also the clunking would be worst when you are going over a bad road slowly (pot holes), rumble strips etc.

Change both arms when you are doing them, as the other one would be going too.

[GirchyGirchy]

Yes, I had the same thing, it would be rare for your shocks/struts to go out on the 01 Galant in 60K miles. Our control arms have a lot shorter life though. The ball joints on the control arms get worn out, and you will need to replace the control arms (cheaper and easier to do whole). Also the clunking would be worst when you are going over a bad road slowly (pot holes), rumble strips etc.

Change both arms when you are doing them, as the other one would be going too.

This sounds about right, ie the going over a craptastic road slowly. That is definitely where it is most noticeable. The steering seems fine at higher speeds. I'll check out the ball joints for wear and look at the sway bar links, too.

Looking in the Haynes manual neither replacement seem like too bad of a job. The control arms are about $73 each on RockAuto. Should I assume that the new ball joints come with boots?

[tamim13]

The control arms will come with the ball joints installed, it should just be a swap out, you won't need a press to get the ball joints out. $73 at Rockauto for which brand? You can get it from the dealer for $101. oemmitsubishiparts.com

[Isaurio]

Yes the control arm comes with everything.

[GirchyGirchy]

The control arms will come with the ball joints installed, it should just be a swap out, you won't need a press to get the ball joints out. $73 at Rockauto for which brand? You can get it from the dealer for $101. oemmitsubishiparts.com

They have a couple of different brands, Dorman and Mevotech. The latter is $98 each. The Dorman brand has two styles, one for pre Jan '01 build and one for after that date. It's a slight difference in the rear mounting type.

Thanks for the tip on the OEM site!

[GirchyGirchy]

I took a look at it today (after changing out the trashed valve cover gasket) and think it's the driver's side stabilizer bar link. The control arms seem very solid, but I can get the stabilizer link to clunk around when I grab it and yank on it. The passenger side link has been replaced with a nice Moog part that has grease Zerks (which I greased up), so I'll probably buy a similar non-sealed unit for the driver's side.

I might go ahead and replace the rear stabilizer links as well, one of them was clunky. I checked them out while diagnosing the rear brake squeak (inside the right drum somewhere).

I hate "sealed" joints.