Did the complete ES suspension kit. What a difference.

Went and got it lined up. And continued to drive it.


Started noticing a "clunking" in the front left wheel. Checked it out - one of the two lower strut bolts had come very loose, or was never tightened.


Seemed it just needed tightened up. Did that - torqued it and continued to drive it.


Now I am getting a slightly different noise from the strut. It mainly only happens when the tire is turned left/hard left, and in a turn where the suspension loads and unloads(ie a good bump)... I get a jarring bang from that side.

A local suspension shop went over the whole front end. Cradle, control arms, sway bar, you name it . Everything is tight. I took them for a ride as we could not recreate the sound in the garage. And it did it. They suggested I may have damaged the upper strut mount when that bolt was lose. Any ideas from anyone would be appreciated? 99.99999% of the time it only makes it on turns and pretty much only left handed turns. If you drive like an old lady - it almost never makes it. And ON OCCASION - it makes it a like 1 mph when I am pulling off the side of my street(gravel) up on to the street. Again -- only when making left turns...

 

Spoke to robert fuller - aka - robispec.

He said that the lower ball joint is the failure. Because of the strut being loose - it damaged the pinch part of the ball joint allowing it to flop all around and now hold the wheel steady.


He seemed completely confident in his answer. He knows what hes doing. Looks like I am pulling the lower control arm back off to check out the ball joint.

 

Also check to make sure the top center nut under the rubber cap on the shock isn't over-torqued. The noise you're hearing may be the top hat bearings binding as you turn the wheel.

 

I checked it with just a simple 3/8 ratchet to make sure it wasnt lose etc.

The nut did not move when ample force was applied. You could hear the spring begin to twist. SO the mount was moving just smoothly.