suspension rattle?

[PlanZero]

Okay, I have this thunking rattle on the.front drivers side whenever I hit heavy potholes, manholes, etc. I replaced struts and springs, upper arms and lateral arms and the sound still persists. I was thinking it might be the ball joint on the compression arm or tie rod ends, but whenI took the car in for alignment after I replaced struts my mechanic said they looked okay (only problem is my inner tie rod is going bad). Anyway, before everyone tells me to check other ball joints, I noticed this: the same sound is made when I accelerate from a COMPLETE stop. The same exact light clunk sound from the same place. Only from a complete stop. If I'm going 2mph and hit the.gas it.doesn't make the sound. Any ideas?

 

[Insane20]

Sway bar links! They are noisy little things when they go bad. One way to confirm is too lay on the ground and grab the sway bar link while someone is rocking the car, feel the link for any play.

 

[PlanZero]

you mean the stabilizer bar links, right? I Hate the nuts on the back of those little bastards. Had to loosen the one on the other side to replace the wheel hub. I'll check it this weekend. Would they be making that sound from a dead stop as well?
Just to clarify, there should be zero play, correct? And if the ball joints/ bushings on it look okay, is it just a matter of tightening it?

 

[fisher83]

I think that sounds like a winning bet......how do your bushings look on the top of your struts...the ones between the top of the body and struts....those could be a good place to look.....and make sure all the nutts are tight on the strut brackets that bolt to the body...

 

[dsmvenge]

You checked your end links yet. They are ###### worn down to nothing. Or is that what your referring to as the stabilizer links. I have that noise too it was those, along with the rear shocks they have a rubber pad between the shock top and the hat, that degrades down to nothing. Shock tower rust at all?

 

[PlanZero]

Links are good. Just replaced the shocks in my coilovers w all new bushings. The only thing that I can tell is my lower control arm is slightly loose ( the curved one) but when I jack the knuckle up to simulate weight it's good and stiff.