Odd noises, from front suspension Options

[lapuwali]

I can't pin this one down. My front suspension is making "popping" noises from time to time. Everything FEELS ok (steering, handling, etc), and I can't find anything loose. Could it be the strut inserts? Or the bushings? I have no idea what the inserts are (has KYBs on the back, no telling what's on the front), and the bushings look new-ish. I was told they had been replaced, but I don't know what with. Nothing snazzy like Mueller bearings, alas.

Does this over rough pavement, pretty much any time the suspension works. It could be something else up front, but there's nothing at all in the front trunk. Gas tank feels tight. It's been in and out a couple of times recently. Perhaps the pads aren't in the right place? The big rubber thingies are there...

Puzzled.

[Dr Evil]

I bet your inserts are not installed properly.

[r_towle]

I feel like the king of front end clunks...

Jack it up and relieve all suspension tension on both sides..sitting on jack stands.

wiggle the back of each torsion bar...if they wiggel up and down and make a clunk..you may need new felt washers around the end of the torsion bar...
I used rubber plumbing washers from the hardware store...did fine.

If you have a sway bar..it could be hitting the under side of the tank...
loosen the strap...wiggle the tank and rubber things up...so in the end you raise the tank up just a bit....reset strap.

Obviously wiggle the ball joints, and bearings..
grab the a-arm and make sure there is no side to side play...at the front it can come loose...retighten all those bolts.

grab the steering rack, make sure it sits tight, and those two bolts are tighteneted along with the bolts that hold the cross member in place.

Make sure there is nothing loose in the front trunk...an unbolted spare tire will make a nice clunk also.

Check the bolts on the calipers to make sure they are still tight...they do come loose over time and the caliper clunks...

I think I have had every clunk I could have...I have 23mm torsion bars and 22mm sway bar and the car keeps shaking itself loose...

So, my advise..get some sockets and start tightening everthing first before you look for a broken or worn out part...

Good luck
Rich

[lapuwali]

Car's up on the lift, and I checked the tightness of every fastener. All good. However, as you mentioned, the backs of the torsion bars wiggle freely with the suspension at full droop. I thought this was "normal", but it sounds like it isn't.

I'll try some of those rubber plumbing washers.

[r_towle]

if you look at the diagram in the haynes manual there is a felt washer that goes over the end of the bar, behing the adjsuter cap...

PP sells them, but I was to impatient to wait...so the rubber plumbing wahers worked...

I got four on each side (they are thin), outside diameter is like 1-2 inches, inside is just around the bar...your size may vary.
The stock thing is about 1/8 inch thick.

I got them and had to make them the right size with scissors...

Rich