Front end suspension clunking

[Nugatti]

I just want to reiterate, did you check the strut top nut?

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[Burger2002]

I have in the past, many times, but this weekend was different.
I decided to take off both sway bar end links again to see if the noise changed. It did not. At this point I got really frustrated and tried to shake the front end by violently pushing back and forth on the strut tower brace. I was able to barely hear the clunking noise come from the passenger side corner. I tried shaking it again and just happened to have my hand on the top strut nut and I was able to actually feel it clicking up and down.
So I attempted to tighten the camber plate to strut nut again. I think it tightened a little bit before I snapped off the 10mm part of the factory PP strut that's used to keep it from spinning.
The noise is now reduced, but not gone. The camber plate must still be loose.

So I guess I should get new struts at this point if the noise gets worse again. Does anyone know if the Steeda Pro Actions (fixed) would pair well with BMR performance Springs? I'm also thinking of going back to PP spring retainers/strut mounts instead of the camber plates. Think it would be able to be aligned without them?

 

[z06psi]

It is probably not the entire strut. It is probably the top plate.

A little update on mine.


I installed an Airlift 3P system which replaces the entire strut and plate. Noise is gone. It was the plate. How do I know? Well that was the original top plate that came on the car and I first changed out the springs for Steedas and the noise was still there. Then I changed out to Konis and the noise was still there. The only thing that remained was the top plate. Well this weekend that got changed out and the noise is gone.

Top plates have a bearing inside of them that can go bad and they are cheap to buy.

 

[LarsenGrind]

It is probably not the entire strut. It is probably the top plate.
Top plates have a bearing inside of them that can go bad and they are cheap to buy.

Can You elaborate on this? Anyone have pictures?
I have the Pedders Coilovers on mine. At first it was fine. But then got increasingly worse and worse. Now it feels like the clunking is not as bad. But its still there.

 

[z06psi]

Can You elaborate on this? Anyone have pictures?
I have the Pedders Coilovers on mine. At first it was fine. But then got increasingly worse and worse. Now it feels like the clunking is not as bad. But its still there.

Here is the part number. It rests between the strut top plate and the spring.

5A306
Ford
Coil Spring Housing
RH/LH (Front)
$28.15

 

[wildcatgoal]

Alright, I'm feeling a little bad about somewhat hijacking this thread, but there is a chance that our problems are similar and I don't want to start another one for the same topic.

I used a super cheap Chinese knock off action cam to get some video of the front suspension working. The audio is not the best as the cam is in a waterproof housing duct taped to the K member. Even with that in mind you can get an idea of the noise that I am experiencing. It's even louder in the passenger compartment, but it sounds the same.

Anyone have any guesses?

I got clunking when I had that front BMR brace. Removed the brace and I had to replace one of the control arms to get it to stop after that. Ended up replacing both arms because I wanted to just "fix it for good". May not be your issue but... such was my experience. And I can see that your brace has the same larger sized hole at the mounting point (can see the hole extends beyond the washer of the bolt). That seemed to allow mine to shift over time because the hole is so much larger than the bolt that goes through it (unnecessarily, I might add) and if you aren't careful, you install it too low and it gets awfully close to the subframe bar underneath it, too. Again, not saying that's your issue but my first step would be to remove that. At least that might influence isolation of a particular articulating suspension part, that being the lower (rear) control arm.

In your case make sure the brake caliper is torqued properly, too. I noticed right at the end of the video the clunk occurred when you weren't moving. There's been a few people with similar noises that forgot to fully torque their brake calipers after suspension work.

 

[wildcatgoal]

I have in the past, many times, but this weekend was different.
I decided to take off both sway bar end links again to see if the noise changed. It did not. At this point I got really frustrated and tried to shake the front end by violently pushing back and forth on the strut tower brace. I was able to barely hear the clunking noise come from the passenger side corner. I tried shaking it again and just happened to have my hand on the top strut nut and I was able to actually feel it clicking up and down.
So I attempted to tighten the camber plate to strut nut again. I think it tightened a little bit before I snapped off the 10mm part of the factory PP strut that's used to keep it from spinning.
The noise is now reduced, but not gone. The camber plate must still be loose.

So I guess I should get new struts at this point if the noise gets worse again. Does anyone know if the Steeda Pro Actions (fixed) would pair well with BMR performance Springs? I'm also thinking of going back to PP spring retainers/strut mounts instead of the camber plates. Think it would be able to be aligned without them?

The fixed Steeda Pro-Actions do great with the performance springs. Good choice. I've never seen that part of the strut break off, though. That's crazy.

Can you just get an impact gun and give it a couple chugga chuggas and see what happens? Otherwise, if I see how you've assembled the strut outside of the car, I can tell you probably if something was done wrong or missing. Some people miss the lower isolator when they put the springs back on or some folks bind the upper bearing seat and that will quickly fail and make noise but often that locks up the strut assembly and causes a BOOONNNG sound as the spring shifts.

 

[Dary]

Here is the part number. It rests between the strut top plate and the spring.

5A306
Ford
Coil Spring Housing
RH/LH (Front)
$28.15

Is it possible to tell if this part is broken without disassembling the whole assembly?

 

[z06psi]

Is it possible to tell if this part is broken without disassembling the whole assembly?

I would say no. That plate is under spring pressure.

 

[z06psi]

I had the strut out already after doing the Airlift install. Took all of 10 mins. to change out but I have an entire garage full of tools.

 

[USMCtoARMY]

having same issue from passenger front after new spring install on PP struts. no issues after I replaced the strut mount and tightened all bolts from endlinks to strut to camber.....then three days later it came back every so slightly and now it's getting worse back to the point it was before I attempted to readjust. I'm super annoyed.

 

[Dary]

I would say no. That plate is under spring pressure.

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[BurnsS550]

Crazy I didn't see this thread before Thursday. Been lowered on Pro Kits for months, finally developed small pops just as Burger described. Took it to the dealer Friday and turns out I had three worn (see loose and destroying themselves) endlinks. Dealer is replacing them under warranty but I won't have the car until next week.

PP car as well, just shy of 26K.

 

[BrantMcE]

If your noise is similar to this when driving around (clunking heard in background). My issue was the sway bar links. When removed, if not done properly you ruin the inside (i believe whatever is within the rubber part). Dealership replaced it and now clunking is gone. This was happened shortly after installing my eibach pro springs.

 

[K-Roll302]

Is this still happening for anyone, or has anyone found the root cause and a solution? It's come back on my EBPP. For the longest time I thought it was loose caliper mounting bolts but after re-torquing and red loctite, it can't be that anymore.

I've still got my stock endlinks and re-torqued them once with blue loctite and the noise was gone for one day. The only suspension mod I've done is the Steeda Progressives as well. I'm thinking about replacing the endlinks with different ones and red loctite and hitting the center strut nut with an impact again.

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