Hi gang, how are you? Hope all is well?
So as i had posted Before, i've been getting a clunking noise. I was chatting with a car buddy who suggested it might be strut related (rubber mounts). I don't know if just the rubber can be changed without having to take off the whole spring assembly?
Or
is it best to just put in new quick struts?
I saw Gabriel makes them.
have any of you put these in?
my car has almost 200 000km on it. 2009 model
fab

 

I'm curious if anyone has any suggestions as well, same issue..keep it on top.

 

Clunking noise? How 'bout getting your vehicle up on a alignment rack & pulling down on the back of the vehicle to replicate the noise & find the slop. Have you checked the rubber bushings in the control arms, lateral links, ect?

 

Felix. I've tried pushing down on it, no noise. It's really at lower speeds over uneven road. Tried shaking car side to side, nothing noticeable.
The links had been changed, no loose play in them. The mechanic checked the knuckle bushings, no play in there too.
he said it might be one of the lower bushings or the strut mounts. Needs to get worst to see what exactly it is.
When driving, steering feels a little wonky (jittery) at times, and i find car takes a bit more effort to come to a stop.
only other thing i noticed was a slight play in the rear calipers, but once brake pedal is applied they don't budge, so probably not that.
Car is 2009, with almost 200 k km on the clock!
fab

 

''Steering feels a little wonky (jittery at times'' Have you checked the lateral link (bushings? Play in the calipers, you checked the caliper slide pins? Any slop there? As you know there shouldn't be any slop in the calipers. I don't get that ''he'' the mechanic checked the knuckle bushings, but said it ''might be one of the lower bushings or strut mounts'' Pushing down on rear bumper just adds additional load if it is a strut mount, the suspension needs to be in a droop position to find if you have any slop in a strut mount.....If it is a lower control arm bushing that'd account for the weird steering feel.......I'd take it to a shop that deals w/ suspension & has a alignment rack.

 

Felix. The garage checked by pushing, pulling and pry baring everything. There was no play anywhere. I triend pushing down on the corners of the car but no noise.
As for the caliers, if i push and pull on them by hand, the do clunk. I pryed a snow brush between brake pedal and drivers seat to push pedal down. I tried shaking calipers and they did not budge, however; when i'm driving and press down on pedal to come to a stop, i still hear the clunking going over bumpy road.
Do you think it's the slider pins that are worn? The clinking noise of calipers does sound like what i'm hearing in the car. As well, maybe this is causing steering issues? And long braking response?
Fab

 

The only action the caliper has is, as you know the caliper slides laterally as well the caliper is bolted solidly to spindle & the only give would be when the caliper slides via the piston. I'd also check the pad clips as well as they keep the pad from moving back & forth. How are the pads wearing? & what do the rotors look like? How many miles on them? Your long braking response could be your brake fluid needs to be flushed w/ new dot 3 & I'd even go as far as swap out the brake hoses. I swapped out the brake hoses for SS ones & a couple of them looked kinda iffy, w/ 144K on them, as well as flushed the fluid w/ new dot3. I would have done a BBK, but I didn't want to throw $1800.-$2000. at it. I figured I'd just throw good rotors/pads at it........

 

Here are some pics of the rotor and pads...

 

Wow, pretty rusty.........Looking at that rotor surface, w/ all that glaze....I'd lightly scuff the surfaces at least.

 

Felix, our winters are harsh (salty roads). Think it's worth changing?

 

Update...
so i decided to change out the slider pins. I also ordered the small rubber parts too. I was surprised when i took them out though. Normally, one pin is solid metal and the other has a rubber sleeve near the tip. On mine they both had rubber. Even the parts guy at dealership was surprised. It was the same on the other side of car too. I went ahead and put in a new set of pins.
i inspected the pads and they seemed quite worn down (probably around 4mm), and one pad war worn more towards one side.
i'm planning to do the back and maybe all 4 corner rotors and pads.
I'm probably gonna put aftermarket products.
i know there is the wide retaining clip that holds the pads by the sides, but do i need the tiny clips that go on bottom of the pad too? Some kits have them and others don't.
fab

 

I would as thats what keeps the pads from moving around. http://powerstop.com http://brakeworld.com has disc italia rotors/pads......which I've used on a few different vehicles.

 

Update... changed out the pins, and decided to change all rotors and pads. They where due. The clunking is still there. 😒.
I'm hesitant about it being the strutsas there is no noise coming from the rear as i either push the car (laterally) side to side, or push down really hard on bumper (bounce test).
can a strut be silent on these tests and clunk over bumps?
besides the sway bars and bushings the other thing that was touched was the camber adjuster bolt (with round, notched adjuster). They had to torch it to get it to turn. The rubber bushings on both sides of that bolt do seem a little worn. Any ideas would help.
fab