clunking sound when stopping??

[809king]

i can here a loud clunk when im coming to a stop every time.
i hear it on the driver front side. what can it be?

[gloryaccordy]

Lower ball joint to start

Need more details on the clunk

[809king]

Lower ball joint to start

Need more details on the clunk

ive notice when i jack up the car and i wiggle the driver front wheel it has alot of play so im guessing the bearing is fukd and also the upper balljoint rubber is gone

[deevergote]

If the wheel has play, the bearing is done.

If the ball joint boot is gone, I wouldn't even risk driving the car. If that fails, you will lose control of your car.
If the upper ball joint boot is done, the chances are good that the lower is done as well... and may very well be the cause of the clunk.

Honestly, there are many rubber parts in your suspension that have most likely failed. Any one of them could be causing a clunk.

[Gemini]

Check if your lugs are tight...had a similar problem years ago where i thought it was bearing or ball joint but turned out to be loose lug nuts.

[Cb_JoeyG]

i got the same deal but ive replaced all my supension stuff i almost think it could be the lateral arm or whatevs that controls caster.. i cant think of anything else it could be..

[Fleetw00d]

You need to do some methodical trouble shooting. Jack the car up. When you wiggle the wheel, does it move relative to the hub (this would result from loose lug nuts). If the wheel and hub move together relative to the spindle, then the bearing is shot. Take off the wheel. Can you move the spindle relative to the lower arm (lower ball joint). Does the upper end of the spindle move relative to the upper arm (upper ball joint). Is there play in the upper arm other than the direction it is supposed to move (upper arm bushings). Is the outer bushing in the lower arm (where the strut fork attaches) torn? Can you move the lower arm forward/backward (radius arm bushings).

Take a little initiative, doing some troubleshooting before asking questions cna get you better help quicker.

[batever]

Take the simple approach. Your upper ball joint boot is gone, so that joint is likely shot. Replace it by getting a new upper control arm (like, immediately, tomorrow, don't-drive-the-car immediately), then see what changes and troubleshoot from there.

When you are wiggling the wheel, see if the upper ball joint/upper control arm is moving along with you. that would give you a 2nd clue in that it's the upper control arm/ball joint. Also, pay attention to fleetw00d's post right above. Paying close attention to detail and observing closely is the name of the GAME when it comes to diagnostics. Be willing to sit and stare at the parts for a while and "feel out" what's happening. they have a story to tell if you are willing to listen.

[809king]

all the ball joints been messed up for the longest time already like 3+ years and the clunk sound barley just started about 3 weeks.

but pretty soon i will be doing a complete bushing/balljoints replacement

[gloryaccordy]

all the ball joints been messed up for the longest time already like 3+ years and the clunk sound barley just started about 3 weeks.

but pretty soon i will be doing a complete bushing/balljoints replacement

I hope by pretty soon you mean like 1st thing tomorrow. I hope you're not the kind of guy who would get a lip, fogs, lowering springs and wheels before doing life saving maintenance.

[Losiracer2]

if your car has over 200k miles then I would do the wheel bearings if they're original. Mine didn't move at all when I held them at the 12 and 6o'clock and 3 and 9 oclock, but when i investigated further, mine had quite a bit of play with the spindle off and axle out, I could move the hub about 1/4". I had 209k miles on them.

I also discovered that my upper balljoint had tons of play after 75k miles only....but thats being lowered for 75k miles so there's a lot more stress caused.

Uppers with control arms cost me 56 a piece (autozone, lifetime warranty) and lowers were about 21 a piece (NAPA Made in Japan ones). I also did the tierods since they were under warranty b/c of boot cracking and they cost about 25 a piece (Some german company Karland? makes them)

Wheel bearings cost about 55 a piece (Timken @ autozone)

[809king]

if your car has over 200k miles then I would do the wheel bearings if they're original. Mine didn't move at all when I held them at the 12 and 6o'clock and 3 and 9 oclock, but when i investigated further, mine had quite a bit of play with the spindle off and axle out, I could move the hub about 1/4". I had 209k miles on them.

I also discovered that my upper balljoint had tons of play after 75k miles only....but thats being lowered for 75k miles so there's a lot more stress caused.

Uppers with control arms cost me 56 a piece (autozone, lifetime warranty) and lowers were about 21 a piece (NAPA Made in Japan ones). I also did the tierods since they were under warranty b/c of boot cracking and they cost about 25 a piece (Some german company Karland? makes them)

Wheel bearings cost about 55 a piece (Timken @ autozone)

i got my wheel bearings for $18 brand new but haven't had time to installed them yet.. im basically waiting until i finish school this week then i will have enough time to fix my cb and buy anything else i need (balljoints,bushing etc etc)

[GeoffM]

Don't wheel bearings have to be pressed in?
When mine went bad it sounded like the muffler was rubbing whenever I turned to the left. It made a rubbing/roaring sound.

Hope it helps

[Ratty]

I bought a kit from E-Bay that had the upper arms, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods and sway bar links for $90 shipped. The quality seems to be about as good as you'd get from Autozone and the like.

But yeah, like everyone else said, don't drive it until it's fixed!

[Ratty]

Don't wheel bearings have to be pressed in?
When mine went bad it sounded like the muffler was rubbing whenever I turned to the left. It made a rubbing/roaring sound.

Hope it helps

Nah, these are unit bearings. Take out the axle and there are four bolts on the backside that hold the bearing in. You just pop the old one out and put the new one in.

I've always just used a brass drift to change out pressed in bearings. You just have to be careful not to get the race crooked as you seat it.