Topic sort of says it. Normal stopping makes no noise. But under medium/hard stops, there is this "clunk clunk clunk" sort of repeated noise. It sounds like its coming from the right front of the car, or perhaps the middle (??), I really can't tell.
This morning I jacked up the front of the car, took off both front wheels. All front suspension parts (arms, etc) are bolted in, cotter pins in place, the calipers themselves are securely mounted, I looked at the tie rods/steering stuff, that all seems to be ok as well. I'm sort of out on a limb here. The sound seems like something has to be clunking back and forth or in and out of contact.. that is the best I can describe it.
Any ideas? Thanks

matt

Check the bolts on your upper control arm, both the ones holding the shaft to the frame and the ones on the side centering the shaft in the control arm. I have had them come loose and make sounds like what you describe. I'd try torquing everything in the front suspension down too just for grins if you haven't already.

Matt, get someone to turn the wheels while the car is in the air. This way you can watch to see if anything isn't moving quite right. Also check the ball joints while the car is in the air. You can use a large metal bar or rod under the wheel, and lift, that will show you any movement on the lower, then try to move the wheel with your hands, grab the tire, and try to shake it from top to bottom, and front to rear. I've watched our vehicle mechanic do this on all our vehicles at work. Good luck, Daren

Well, I checked the ball joints and all bolts on the suspension. I didn't find anything out of whack. Unfortunately, it started to rain so I couldn't take it for a drive to see if the noise was still there, and if so, maybe get a better feel of where its coming from. Weather looks lousy for a few days too..

was hoping to hit the chassis dyno next week too..

Matt

Does the clunking repeat in sync with the speed of the wheels? Loose caliper or something loose on the hub/rotor that's hitting something?

No shims missing from the upper control arm?

Not comming from the trans tunnel?

And it's gonna rain for like a week. :(

Tim.

how do the motor mounts and tranny mount look?

You know the sound might be coming from the trans tunnel. I'll check all those mounts. The calipers and stuff all were bolted in and torqued properly.. if they are moving, its beyond me. Shims are present, and appear to be the same as when they came back from the alignment shop.

If/when it stops raining, I'll get under there and check those parts out.
Due to the GV my trans tunnel is a tight fit..

thanks
matt

You know the sound might be coming from the trans tunnel. I'll check all those mounts. The calipers and stuff all were bolted in and torqued properly.. if they are moving, its beyond me. Shims are present, and appear to be the same as when they came back from the alignment shop.

If/when it stops raining, I'll get under there and check those parts out.
Due to the GV my trans tunnel is a tight fit..

thanks
matt

Hey Matt, make sure the disc brake pads are not moving around in the calipers. I had noises coming from the front after my disc conversion and it turned out I had to hammer the little tabs on the pad backing over just a little to give a tighter fit. They were sliding around everytime I hit the brakes.

I had the same problem once, and it was caused by a cracked rotor. You could just barely see the crack, had to look twice to find it.

Sounds like a control arm bushing from the description..try them with a pry bar, they won't be obvious as it takes the weight of your car plus the stopping forces to make it move

Thanks guys, I'll go over these and test it out once the weather clears (if it ever does..).
By "testing" the upper control arm bushings, with a prybar, what exactly do you mean? Thanks
I hope its not a cracked rotor, those things were (bleep) expensive.

Matt

Put a wrench on the caliper bracket mounting bolts, if you can move any of them even a little they're too loose. The torque spec is 100 ft lbs. They will make a lot of clunking noise if they are loose.