Front suspension clunking - 2006 Ion

[hopedor]

I have a 2006 Ion. I have recently changed the front drivers CV axle, control arm, sway bar, inner and outer tie rods, but the cluncking noise has continued on rough roads and bumps. Can some provide additional info. How do you know if the Stablizer Bar is gone? Thanks for any additional info, anyone can provide.

[2006 ion2]

umm, is there a reason you replaced the tie rods on a car they almost never go bad on? same question for the sway bar and cv axle? you seem to be replacing things first, asking questions later, when there are things that almost always cause the clunks on these cars. check the control arm you didn't replace, see if it's touching the subframe, or if it's significantly closer to it than the new one. if it is, replace it. put the car up on jack stands, then grab your sway bar end links, if there's play in them, replace them. if you stil have a clink, and everything else checks out, replace your sway bar bushings. if you still have a clunk, call an exorcist, because those few things (control arm, sway bar endlinks, and bushings), are the only usual culprits for clunks.

[hopedor]

I live in Canada and had to drive through the backlane when there ice and snow. As I was driving the car bottomed out from the rutts. The inner tie rod was broken, the CV axle was making noise during turns, the bushing were flat, so we changed the control arm, and we replaced the sway bar. The only thing left is the stablizer bar. We will jack it up and see if there is play and replace both sides. As per previous post - you have to replace both and not one.
The noise has been coming from the drivers side, even after we replaced the CV axle, control arm, inner and outer tie rods, and sway bar.

Thank you for your reply. Can't wait for spring and summer with no ice or snow.

[2006 ion2]

I think you are confused. sway bar= stabiliser bar.

[hopedor]

We change the sway bar. The bar was vertical close to the tire. I think the piece we need to change is the Anti-Sway Bar (Stabilizer Bar). Has anyone changed one before? Any information would be greatly appreciated, as there is limited info how to change one for 2006 Ion Thanks.

[2006 ion2]

that's not the sway bar. once again, SWAY BAR= STABILISER BAR=ANTI SWAY BAR you changed a sway bar end link, you need to replace those in pairs, so replace the other one. you most likely don't need a sway bar. the sway bar itself cannot cause a clunk.

[hopedor]

Thany for your reply. It was very helpful and clarified what we need to change. I will change the other side.

[saturnptsguy]

Instead of replacing the entire control arm, you can replace just the control arm bushings. These are a very, very common occurance with the Ions. I probably still sell at least 10 a day for Ions.

If the bushings don't fix the issue, check the stabilizer links. I sell a lot of these for Ions too.

[snakes]

I know its kind of off topic but since you work in the parts dept do you know which saturn has the black car emblems or if these can still be ordered. I want to replace the red emblems with black ones for my 05 Ion. I used to see them for sale years ago but I forgot which saturn they go to. maybe the vue? lol Thanks Dave

[ionman]

The sway bar linkage ends is whats probably clunking and I changed both on mine 60 bucks=no more noise at all.I live in Canada too , the roads here are pure garbage so I feel your pain.

[mikey309]

its the bushings on the subframe that the stabilizer attaches to.just did mine all quiet.factory ones looked fine,put moog in there youll see the difference.better steering and handling too

[Ion2814]

Thank goodness for you guys. I've been having this issue on my 2007 Ion2 for a while now, and it's been driving me nuts. It started on the passenger side... the occasional thump or clunk and now it's on both sides of the front end of the car. I've diagnosed things as best I could, and my father-in-law (a college auto tech instructor) clued me into this website.... going to try to replace the bushings this weekend!

[NYB77]

I just purchased a 2005 Ion base with 26K and it has the infamous clunk at low speeds.
The different terminology used is a bit confusing...are 'stabilizer links' the same thing as 'sway bar linkage ends'? Are 'sway bar bushings' the same thing?

Which should I try first...changing these (sway bar bushings, stabilizer links, sway bar linkage ends)

OR

changing the control arm bushings????

[NYB77]

Originally Posted by saturnptsguy

Instead of replacing the entire control arm, you can replace just the control arm bushings. These are a very, very common occurance with the Ions. I probably still sell at least 10 a day for Ions.

If the bushings don't fix the issue, check the stabilizer links. I sell a lot of these for Ions too.

Does anybody have a picture showing the 'stabilizer links'?
I know what the control arm bushings look like but a diagram or picture of the front end (with these parts shown) would help a lot...thanks..

[snakes]

If you find out let me know because I have the same problem with my 05 Ion and seems to get worse during these cold long island winters. did you also check the ion website?

[2006 ion2]

Did you try looking? They're ridiculously easy to see... They link the sway bar to the knuckle, not a hard thing to picture in your head...

[NYB77]

I agree it's not difficult to take a look but there are so many parts (and sizes) depending on model etc...
Does the actual sway bar need to be replaced or just the 'end links' and bushings? What size bushings does a 2005 base Ion 1 have? (I see they are available in 18mm, 19mm, 20mm, 21mm, 22mm and 23mm).

A 'how to' from a Saturn shop manual would be very helpful since this is a very common problem on our cars...

[rickystarshine]

Your best bet is to call a chevy dealer & give them your vin number. from that they can tell you the size that it came with.

[2006 ion2]

End links and bushings. Only one part we're taking about...

[rickystarshine]

I should clarify, I was talking about the front sway bar bushings.