new struts clonking?

[Uberoo]

I just installed 4 new monroe struts for my 93 legacy L (FWD ). Anyway, right after I installed them I got this clonking from the front of the car. Its like the whole strut moves or something because the car will then pull either left or right depending on which ever strut made noises. it only seems to happen when I turn or a wheel goes over a bump or dip in the road,more or less anything that would cause the suspension to cycle.Its really bad when turning from a stop or pulling out onto the road from a curb.

 

Anybody have an idea of what it may be?Ive checked that the strut tops and the nut in the center are tight,they are. I know the lower nuts/bolts are tight.I dont know what it is.Before the struts made noise but didnt effect the alignment any.

 

Could the ball joints or A arm bushing be bad?could the struts have been so far gone I never would have noticed?I don't know...It kinda sounds like the suspension mounts are rusted out,but there isnt any rust on the car.

[bheinen74]

could be a few different things.

 

maybe the top nut holding the tophat is not tight.

maybe the tophat was rotated before it was installed, there is a dot or arrow to point the top part out.

maybe the stabilizer bar if so equipped got turned and mounted with it up, not down (this can happen, but when you turn it would scrape the inner wheel)

maybe the brake line hose is tangled somehow

thats about all i can think of

[Uberoo]

there are two dots on top of the struts. Which way should they point? front-rear or side-side?

Edited August 10, 2009 by Uberoo

[idosubaru]

My top bearings were recently shot and caused thumping/knocking noises as well as pulling. Your issue sounds exactly the same as what i experienced.

 

Where did the top mounts/bearings come from? Were they sitting, in use, used, new?

[Uberoo]

top mounts were in use on the car. Sounds like I need to go get new strut tops...

[idosubaru]

Well, if they were fine right before hand they should be fine on the new car. Not sure why they would all of a sudden be bad?

 

Mine were actually "new" but sat in a parts car long enough to start rusting.

 

Maybe you can do what I did to verify it's those bearings in the top mount. I pulled the cap and squirted PB Blaster lightly on the bearings since they had so much rust on them. Then I used a needle fitting on my grease gun and lubed up those bearings really well. Grease, rotate strut around, grease, rotate strut around, grease, you get the idea. I did it all while still on the car.

 

This worked VERY well. All of the pulling went away and it now tracks straight. The thunking is now very light and hardly noticeable. It's still there and I haven't fixed it yet but I will at some point. It's so minor that I'll probably just wait until I have to do something else. The pulling was the most annoying part since that's a safety issue but it went away immediately with the grease treatment after I drove about 30 miles.

 

Might be worth a try. If yours gets much better (like mine did) then you'd know it was the hats rather than just guess. Those needle fittings are only like $3 at a parts store and quite handy.

[kd7dej]

Don't know if you ever solved this problem or not. I had the same thing, everything was tight, out of frustration I replaced the top mount strut bearings, noise still continued. After a while a checked everything very thoroughly. Turned out the boots were loose above the bump stop and were moving up and down. Did some playing around with them, got them tight, and no more noise.