front end clunk

[jebjk1]

On an E34 5 series... One of the front wheels has been "clunking" over bumps, and is felt in the steering wheel as a "shutter". When the car is sitting on all fours, you can grab that wheel and get it move a little by grabbing the top and jerking it towards you. But if you jack that corner of the car up you can't seem to get it to budge at all. Hmmm? The main nut in the hub it tight, the bushings, the tie rod, ball joints, all seem ok. Any ideas at all what it could be? Strut maybe?

[Interceptor]

On an E34 5 series... One of the front wheels has been "clunking" over bumps, and is felt in the steering wheel as a "shutter". When the car is sitting on all fours, you can grab that wheel and get it move a little by grabbing the top and jerking it towards you. But if you jack that corner of the car up you can't seem to get it to budge at all. Hmmm? The main nut in the hub it tight, the bushings, the tie rod, ball joints, all seem ok. Any ideas at all what it could be? Strut maybe?
Upper/lower control arm bushings? Possibly the shock absorber.

[632 Regal]

when you creep really slow and hit the brake does it clunk? try that in reverse and forward, if it does its a ball joint, if not its probably either the sway bar links like mentioned or the strut collar nut needs some tightening.

[Jeff N.]

You say you can grab the wheel and move it forward in the wheel well? Towards the front of the car?

If that's the case, I would think it's almost for sure the thrust arm bushings and control arm bushings. Both serve to locate the base of the strut arm while isolating the chassis from chassis. The bushing material fails over time allowing the strut to move slightly.

Failure of these bushings is a very common item on the E34.

Side to side wheel movement would tend to be ball joints or a wheel bearing. That could also make the noise.

Jeff

[Bimminator]

On an E34 5 series... One of the front wheels has been "clunking" over bumps, and is felt in the steering wheel as a "shutter". When the car is sitting on all fours, you can grab that wheel and get it move a little by grabbing the top and jerking it towards you. But if you jack that corner of the car up you can't seem to get it to budge at all. Hmmm? The main nut in the hub it tight, the bushings, the tie rod, ball joints, all seem ok. Any ideas at all what it could be? Strut maybe?
My problem was the front right ball joint. Put in new control arms and thrust arms now everything is super tight and no more fightening "clunks" when you hit ruts in the road etc.

[Kalevera]

If you can move the wheel laterally with the weight of the car on the ground, it's either the collar nut (a possibility) or the top nut on the strut.

My money is on the latter, especially if the wheel makes noise as it is manipulated on the ground.

Here's the logic behind it:

1) With the car on the ground, there's no preload on the strut insert. Hence a loose strut fastener (in this case, the collar nut and the top nut) can exhibit play.

2) With the car up in the air, the force of the spring acts against the two mounts, holding the strut in position and making it hard to move.


This one drove me crazy for about a month before I discovered the problem. Started intermittantly, then got to be a sincere pain in the ass.


I'm assuming here that your swaybar links are okay.

best, whit