clunk in front end

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so the new saturn has a clunk over sharp bumps. both wheels will do it but it only happens when one side hits a bump if both sides hit a bump at the same time is wont do it. i checked tie rods, strut mou8nts, stabilizer bar bushings, ball joints and control arms. i jacked up the whole front end and checked everything and jacked up one side at a time on control arm to checked ball joint i cannot find play anywhere. motor mounts are all good to and rack mounts are good. so what gives?
 
I guess you bought the wrong car.
The only American cars made for sharp bumps/rough roads are 1965 Lincoln Continental, 1968 Charger, or 1971 Ford Galaxie !
 
lol ill keep that in mind. i once had a chevy corsica that felt very solid and tight . most used cars dont have that feel. this saturn is pretty good except for the one clunk that id like to fix if i could only find the issue.
 
Sometimes when I do my frontend checks the hardest thing to find by raising the wheel off the ground is the swaybar end links. They make a sounds just as described but may be harder to shake down. Also the upper strut mounts.
 
I agree with the end links. Sometimes they can be a little sneaky. The smallest amount of play there can give you that "clunk" noise.
 
Check to see that the lower control arm is not sliding around where it mates to the cradle. I had a single clunk on my SL2 and it turned out to be the LCA sliding back and forth in the cradle perch. I clamped it shut so there was no gap and the sound was gone forever.
 
Originally Posted By: brelandt
Sometimes when I do my frontend checks the hardest thing to find by raising the wheel off the ground is the swaybar end links. They make a sounds just as described but may be harder to shake down. Also the upper strut mounts.


That would be my guess, they can be hard to check without a pry bar.
 
Sway bar links are #1 to check further.
They can clink and not be broken in two. There may be slop or hard bushings there.
Maybe even the bar mounting rubber.

My own car can do this, but I have stiff aftermarket stuff on it.
 
Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
so the new saturn has a clunk over sharp bumps. both wheels will do it but it only happens when one side hits a bump if both sides hit a bump at the same time is wont do it. i checked tie rods, strut mou8nts, stabilizer bar bushings, ball joints and control arms. i jacked up the whole front end and checked everything and jacked up one side at a time on control arm to checked ball joint i cannot find play anywhere. motor mounts are all good to and rack mounts are good. so what gives?


That's a swaybar problem 99% of the time. You won't be able to feel play in the offending parts with one side jacked up and might not be able to feel it with both sides jacked up, you'll be much better of with both sides up on ramps. Grab the bar itself near one end at a time and try to move it up and down. Hopefully the offending part will reveal itself. If you're lucky it could reveal itself to be as simple as a loose nut.
 
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