I replaced the two front struts with Monroe sensi-trac and all of the associated mounting hardware. I had had a slight noise in the right front that was confirmed as a worn lower spring isolator. So I replaced everything but the springs. All went well and I have confirmed everything is tight, but I get a dull thud from both sides when I hit a sharp bump. It does not have to be a big bump. Most of the time the front end is silent and I feel nothing in the wheel. Does anyone have any experience with these struts? They do feel very stiff as compared to the OEM. The car had about 125,000 miles at replacement. And yes, I do know that comparing new struts to struts that have 125,000 miles on them is not valid. They just seem stiffer than the OEM when they were new.
Any thoughts?

 

What about sway bar endlinks? Sway bar bushings? Strut mounts? Lower control arm bushings? Ball joints?

 

I'm not sure I understand the question. Strut mounts were replaced. I had no noise before the strut change and now I do. Could the other parts have some wear? Sure, but the only thing changed related to the struts. Again, everything in the strut assembly was changed other than the spring.

 

Check the nuts (3 small ones, 1 large one) on top of the strut to make sure they are tight.

 

Did that. they were.

 

Check the sway bar endlinks. Maybe they didn't tighten the nuts enough.

 

That had crossed my mind. I'll give it a look this weekend.

 

How about the washer on that large bolt on the upper strut mount? Was it place back in? Is there a gap? Have seen this before on other set ups...

 

Yep, washer is there. I just checked. And, it is tight.