I know I know...suspension clunk. (feels like something's MOVING.)

[ohlumos]

2006 Ion. Just passed 30K miles yesterday.
I've got the dreaded front end suspension clunk. (AGAIN. )

Clunking noise on driver's side when going straight over bumps. You can actually feel something shifting around under your feet! It's scary!

It's NOT:
-Sway bar bushings (that sounds just like your rock guard scraping pavement. This noise is different.) These were replaced last November. We've checked them, and they're fine.
-Strut mount. Just replaced this one, it's only 3 weeks old. Certainly it has a lifetime of more than three weeks. But I wouldn't be surprised.
-Control arm bushing. Just replaced this too, it's only 2 weeks old.


Sway bar links appear to be fine, but who knows. These haven't been changed yet.
In your experience, if they fail, can you actually feel things moving around when they clunk?

I also saw somewhere that the control arm itself could be bent. It looks okay when we had it off the car two weeks ago, but changing the bushing never took the noise away.

Sway bar links? Bent control arm? Bad hub assembly? Could I have a bad strut at only 30K miles? Other less than common problems?
It just scares me that you can feel something under your feet moving and shifting around.

[jeepinwi]

I had the same problem. I first replaced sway bar bushings. Problem still there. I then replaced control arm bushings. Problem/clunk still there. Just tonight, I replaced the sway bar links, and the clunking is now fixed!

I could feel the clunking in the floorboards as well. Get a buddy to rock the car side to side as you look at the sway bar links at the rear of the front tires. I could actually see the movement at the top bolt of the link.

[ohlumos]

We'll have to try that. We bounced the car like mad last night, up and down, front and back, but it wouldn't make the noise. Grabbing the links and pulling on them doesn't do anything out of the ordinary, but we don't really know what we're looking for.

We'll have to try your suggestion. Thanks!

[chilipepper1327]

Originally Posted by ohlumos

2006 Ion. Just passed 30K miles yesterday.
I've got the dreaded front end suspension clunk. (AGAIN. )

Clunking noise on driver's side when going straight over bumps. You can actually feel something shifting around under your feet! It's scary!

It's NOT:
-Sway bar bushings (that sounds just like your rock guard scraping pavement. This noise is different.) These were replaced last November. We've checked them, and they're fine.
-Strut mount. Just replaced this one, it's only 3 weeks old. Certainly it has a lifetime of more than three weeks. But I wouldn't be surprised.
-Control arm bushing. Just replaced this too, it's only 2 weeks old.


Sway bar links appear to be fine, but who knows. These haven't been changed yet.
In your experience, if they fail, can you actually feel things moving around when they clunk?

I also saw somewhere that the control arm itself could be bent. It looks okay when we had it off the car two weeks ago, but changing the bushing never took the noise away.

Sway bar links? Bent control arm? Bad hub assembly? Could I have a bad strut at only 30K miles? Other less than common problems?
It just scares me that you can feel something under your feet moving and shifting around.

check out your ball joints. Who knows?