soopsoop Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 every time i go over a speed bump in my 2006 impreza the front end has a clunk to it. i haven't got underneath the car to find the problem until everything is settled with the dealer i think it is a upper bearing on the strut or the sway bushings. it does fine down the road just going over speed bumps. i have an appointment with the subaru dealer later this month for some recall issues like a lower control arm,maybe they will find it then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstevens76 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Could very likely be a ball joint. That would be my first place to look and the most likely first part to fail on the front end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Ball joint or strut mount I would think. Strut mounts are expensive. Make a point of the clunk with the dealer and get it fixed with the rest of the stuff that's wrong. Can't pass state safety inspection with worn ball joints or strut mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB's93LegacyL Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 It would be very easy to look under the car to see if you have a broken stabilizer link. That would cause a clunk when the suspension compresses and the loose end of the sway bar hits something. It's an easy and inexpensive DIY repair if that's all it is. If it is the link, I'd think you would hear the clunk more than just on speed bumps, unless it takes that much suspension travel to cause interference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airflow Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Soopsoop.... there is a HUGE amount of back history about the now-famous Suby front-end clunk. In the late 90s, it was supposed to be solved by a damped u-joint kit for the steering, then in 2000 the Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 04-09-01 was changed to reflect it being a problem with differential hydraulic pressure in the steering lines resulting in clunk when a road impact forced the wheels slightly to one side or the other against that pressure. I have a 2000 Outback and had the relevant update done which replaced the steering lines with a new factory crossover type, however, this never stopped the clunk. One thing to check... if you are traveling very slowly, and turning, and make contact with a road bump or a driveway threshold, such that one tire hits the bump before the other, listen for that clunk. You could always have some other problem... bearing, strut cap, loose rack, loose sway bar links, etc. But changes are, you have just discovered one of the Subaru quirks, that annoying front-end clunk, and for all the info on the forums, I haven't heard about much success with getting rid of it. For anyone reading this who knows otherwise, please correct me and send the latest update, as I am tired of hearing it on my Suby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Airflow, You're talking about the steering wheel rattle? The clunk you hear if you quickly turn the steering wheel back and forth about 15°. That's in the steering rack. It's the small amount of backlash between the rack teeth and the pinion teeth. Only happens over certain bumps and usually on gravel or rough roads as small bumps cause the wheels to quickly rock back and forth. And no, there's no way to fix it. Even a replacement rack will still do it because of the rack design. Other car makers get around this somewhat with cushioned tie rod ends. The Germans fixed it by, well, being German. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soopsoop Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 thanks that gives my things to ponder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Remove the dust cover at the top of the strut under the hood. Try tightening the large strut nut, and other smaller mounting nuts. Could be something loose there. If all is tight, then take it to a shop, maybe an alignment shop, and ask to have the ball joints, and tie rods checked for looseness. Once the car is up in the air on a lift checking ball joints and tie rods for "play" is a 30 second job. An alignment shop likely will do this at no cost. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 There's lots of things as mentioned above that it could be. I had something similar on my '96 Legacy, which I thought it was a ball joint because it started shortly after I replaced the ball joint. It would do it randomly over bumps. It would always to it in reverse if going over a bump like backing into the driveway. It turned out to be one of the front stabilizer bar end links. It wasn't obvious at first, but it somehow like stretched up near the top and the bolt hole was all hogged out. I picked up some links for like $9 from rockauto and that took care of it. Though getting all the old rusty hardware off was trickiest and one of the bolts for the bushings snapped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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