lots of clunking.. feeling every bump

Pablodragon · Post by **Pablodragon** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:58 am

I know its (the end of) Winter and we gots a lot of pot holes and bad roads

.. this is also my first winter season on new wheels and tires (16" 205/50's)

but I am getting alot of banging over every little joint and bump in the road

I have had my LCA bushings replaced, had a local shop do them, but when he did them, he only had the control arm bushings, and not the other ones.. was in a hurry and thought I could do the others when it gets warmer, so he did cut the price down too...would that be the stabalizer bar?..or what other bushings are there in front?

anyway, that was about 1 1/2 months ago, still clunking pretty bad

example, can be going >10 in our parking lot at work and over the bumps I here a clunk-clunk.. all from the front

the back is slightly noisy, but doesn't sound major...

could it be just these "other" bushings that he didn't have makin the noise?... and since the main LCA bushings are replaced, according to most posts here -the "big" PITA... seems like the other ones would be easy to replace...

kevin25 · Post by **kevin25** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:04 pm

More than likely your strut mounts are bad. You need to take out your struts and inspect your srut mounts. The rubber inside of them is probably worn out!

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:47 pm

Top hat/strut bearings could be shot depending on how many miles they have on them.

latief · Post by **latief** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:49 pm

He seems to have a newer neon, i would think that strut mounts would be fine ,,,,,

I think you should look at the stabilizer bushings first as they are some of the first to go...

then you should look at the ball joints and make sure they are good, and the boots intact (make sure they are also bolted-up tight to the knuckle since the control arms have been removed), also inspect the tie-rods and make sure they don't show signs of damage or wear. if that does not fix the problem them propably strut mounts as mentioned above would be my next guess, or even something with the struts and springs.

if that does not fix it, then you need a new car

more info about your car would be helpful. for example millage, modifications, types of roads you drive on,,,,etc.......

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:25 pm

latief wrote:more info about your car would be helpful. for example millage, modifications, types of roads you drive on,,,,etc.......

Always helpful in determining Suspension problems.

Pablodragon · Post by **Pablodragon** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:34 pm

thanx fo the info...

sorry for the missing...

the car is a 2004 SE, about 65k miles... no suspension mods ..only the wheels and tires

driving here in Michigan... salted roads all winter and pot-hole city.. seems like every surface street has those joints that heave up due to the temperature swings.... not much freeway driving

as soon as the waether gets a little warmer, will be getting the wheels off looking at stuff..hoping it's something simple

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:55 pm

With new LCA bushings and having a shop do the work it seems unlikely that your Ball Joints are bad... Unlikely, but it could have been overlooked. did the noises occur shortly after the work was done? Maybe something wasn't tightened down right.

If your confident in your repair tech's work then my thoughts are with your struts. 65k miles on hard roads is more likely to be strut related whether it be your top hat and strut bearings or the strut themselves.

Pablodragon · Post by **Pablodragon** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:49 pm

just an update on this...

no, as far as the sounds, they were bad and I knew it had to have somthing to do with th LCA bushings... guys even said they were really bad... being "pushed out" of the hole... and after the reapir, it helped a little....

it's almost getting warm enough out to dive into this, but here's one more thing...

seems as it is getting warmer out, not getting as much clunking....

does this tell me anything?.. maybe point to something more specific?

Pablodragon · Post by **Pablodragon** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 1:09 pm

bumpin up, just to ask one more time...

about the warming up...

does it point to anything more specific that the clunking is less as the weather warms up?...or still could be anything mentioned above...?

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:47 pm

Pablodragon wrote:bumpin up, just to ask one more time...

about the warming up...

does it point to anything more specific that the clunking is less as the weather warms up?...or still could be anything mentioned above...?

Still could be anything mentioned above.....

- Nick