ok...i have a wierd problem..I have been putting up with an odd clunking noise from the drivers side front of my car. At first I thought it was my new control arm bushings settling in. No dice. I then had the whole front end checked over with a fine tooth comb. Couldnt find anything loose, nothing was broken and nothing looked worn. The only other thing I can think of is that back in the summer I removed and replaced the inner wheel wells. I replaced the two big bolts that are directly behind each wheel on the lower firewall.....what are they for? They seem a little to big to simply hold on the inner fender. Could it also be a worn body bushing? The knocking seems to come when I touch the brakes at low speeds and also if I am going over light bumps or something. It can not be replicated by pushing up ad down on the suspension or from moving the wheels around on the hoist. The slight clunking noise can also be felt lightly on your left foot if it is resting right near the headlight dimmer switch. It is not a heavy clunk, but a light one. It seems to come from the lower firewall and not from underneth the car. Everyone I have spoken to is perplexed.

Any suggestions?????

This could be the problem? :p
http://i11.tinypic.com/4tfxj6q.gif

Header hitting frame? Motor mounts good? Yes, do check the body bushings and their bolts as well. Maybe far fetched but worth a look at. Pete

Check brakes on that wheel since it happens when brakes applied.

Disc or drums? Maybe caliper piston or wheel cylinder is sticking?

When you replaced wheel wells did you install rubber insulators where wheel well touches frame?

I wasnt aware the wheel well actually touched the frame. I didnt put anything in the way of rubber insulators behind the two bolts I mentioned before. Did these items come stock and if not then where might I get some??? I forgot to clarify that we have also gone over the brakes comepletely and could find nothing wrong. I also doubt this would be brake related as the clunk can definately be felt against the bottom of my foot when it is against the floor by the dimmer switch for the headlights.

We have same problem on front passenger side, check out posting of Oct. 11th for "Noise in front end", lots of suggestions from everyone here.

Marc

Well I did manage to troubleshoot this one on my own and fix it properly. I decided to crawl underneath and have a look at the body bushing. It showed some minor surface cracking as expected. I loosed off the bolt with a johnson bar and soaked it with wd-40 before tightening it back down. I torqued it to proper specs and the noise is now gone.

A happy ending to a problem that has bugged the hell out of me for months.

Thanks to everyone who offered advice. I appreciate it.

Looks like I spoke too soon....the clunk is back. Looks like it might be a seperated seam somehwere in the front floor area near where the frame kicks in behind the front wheel. We've tried everything else so that seems to be the only other logical explanation for the noise.

Bumper under top A frame. Cone shape. Missing or damaged. If your springs are weak or the wrong ones it will bump the frame.

mine has made a popping noise ever since adding disc brakes, thinking its in the ball joints but they're all new...

doesnt happen much anymore though, just when its raining (the ball joints are all well greased though)

Well, Did you find out what the problem was?

not yet....still waiting to get it in to my mechanic for troubleshooting. not much more to report otherwise.

could the brakes NOT be adjusted? When you hit the brakes it makes a noise...

I had a similar noise it turned out to be the turn buckle between the two tie rods. One of the clamp bolts was facing the sway bar and would hit the sway bar from time to time. I discovered after it took off the nice paint I had on the sway bar.

wheel bearing loose? You said you put discs on.....


Thunderstruck - check to see if the BJ is popping out - you will see a gap from under the lower a-arm...

I have seen where the caliper brackets come loose, put a wrench on the nut and if you can move it, it's loose. The book says 100 ft lbs of torque, I have torqued them to the spec and had the clunk. Tighten it down!

Ok I guees I should clarify again what has been done....brakes-completely taken apart and checked=nothing wrong, tie rods, ball joints, sway bar, steering etc etc-completely checked over=nothing wrong, body bushings-checked and retorqued to specs=nothing wrong.

This problem occurs not only during braking but also when the brakes are NOT applied. It happens at low speeds 5-20 kph and I can feel the slight knock/clunk AGAINST my left foot if it is resting against the firewall right near the floor dimmer switch. It feels like something is shifting or binding up and moving slightly. My frame is solid so there are no cracks etc. Trust me when I say that the entire front end has been looked at. Has anyonr got any ideas as to what is in the area of the knock that might be making this noise? It seems to be in the area of the two bolts that go through the rear of the drivers side inner fender/wheel well and where the firewall bends down at an angle to meet the drivers side floor pan.

The rubber insulator that I mentioned earlier, they are mounted to the lower portion of the wheel well to keep from rubbing on the frame, probably helps more with squeaks than clunks.

The two bolts you replaced at the rear of the wheel well, are they too long? Maybe they are bottoming out? Can you loosen them and then drive the car?

If it's not them I'd be looking at that body bushing and area behind the wheel well. You said you loosened that bushing and tightened it back down? That one is held on by a square nut, don't see how you could get it tight without a wrench on it. You might have to drop the back end of that wheel well and see what is going on back there.

Do you have a manual or automatic? Isn't the Z bar for a manual clutch in this area you described. I assume if your hitting the brakes with a manual your also pushing in on the clutch.

The rubber insulator that I mentioned earlier, they are mounted to the lower portion of the wheel well to keep from rubbing on the frame, probably helps more with squeaks than clunks.

The two bolts you replaced at the rear of the wheel well, are they too long? Maybe they are bottoming out? Can you loosen them and then drive the car?

If it's not them I'd be looking at that body bushing and area behind the wheel well. You said you loosened that bushing and tightened it back down? That one is held on by a square nut, don't see how you could get it tight without a wrench on it. You might have to drop the back end of that wheel well and see what is going on back there.

I dont understand what you mean by saying you dont understand how i could tighten it without a wrench. I hope you dont think I just tighten it by hand so it was finger tight. I did get a 1/2 inch johnson bar and tightened that puppy down. It didnt bind or snap. The clunking didnt change. I am begginning to wonder exactly what is cuasing this noise.

btw- it is an automatic.

You loosened and tightened the body bushing bolt that is right behind the wheel well? On my 69 there is a square nut on the end of that body bushing bolt and that nut is inside a small square cavity behind the wheel well at the bottom. I have to drop the rear of the wheel well to access this square nut and hold it with an open end wrench to tighten that body bushing bolt. If you can loosen/tighten yours with the wheel well in place you have something different than mine.

Could a tool have fallen inside that cavity? Do you have the large fender washers on the two bolts at the rear of the wheel well?

I had a similar knock on my car and nothing could be found loose. The sound was metallic (metal on metal). The fix was to grease the ball joints. Sound went away and has never come back (1998).

The rubber insulator that I mentioned earlier, they are mounted to the lower portion of the wheel well to keep from rubbing on the frame, probably helps more with squeaks than clunks.

The two bolts you replaced at the rear of the wheel well, are they too long? Maybe they are bottoming out? Can you loosen them and then drive the car?

If it's not them I'd be looking at that body bushing and area behind the wheel well. You said you loosened that bushing and tightened it back down? That one is held on by a square nut, don't see how you could get it tight without a wrench on it. You might have to drop the back end of that wheel well and see what is going on back there.

I had a similar knock on my car and nothing could be found loose. The sound was metallic (metal on metal). The fix was to grease the ball joints. Sound went away and has never come back (1998).

again, I refer back to my original post in this thread....the entire front end has been inspected, greased, tightened, eyeballed, tested and measured.

The next thing to do the front end is to replace the entire front clip and frame section. Maybe that will fix the problem.

Kev - with all due respect - I'd go back to the front end - even though you say it's been inspected. I had a clunk that was hard to find it turned out to be the upper shock mount was loose. Looked fined when you just looked at it, but if you cycled the front suspension you'd see the problem. Front clipping these cars is a major job. I wouldn't buy one of these cars that had half of the frame replaced. Especially when there are so many frames available.

again, I refer back to my original post in this thread....the entire front end has been inspected, greased, tightened, eyeballed, tested and measured.

The next thing to do the front end is to replace the entire front clip and frame section. Maybe that will fix the problem.

Sounds like a loose upper shock mount.

If its an upper shock mount thats lose then why would I be able to feel the knock against my foot on the floor pan as previously mentioned?

Sorry if I sound pissy...this is just frustrating the hell out of me.

Understand the frustration, been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. Sorry, I have more questions than answers for you, but was the noise there before the wheel wells were changed?

Kev - I felt the loose shock mount on the floor, in the wheel, and in my teeth - its so cheap and easy to check.

Well...I finally fixed the clunk/knocking sound. I decided to go back to basics and through the process of elimination, I managed to isolate the noise to a small area as previously mentioned as being in the drivers side lower firewall area. I removed the two bolts that go inside the wheel well and after poking around, I noticed there were some more missing bolts from where the wheel well bolts up to the body. I decided to flex the wheel well at various points and managed to replicate the exact same thud. I replaced the missing bolts and placed a peice of rubber between the wheel well and the firewall behind the two bolts I removed. After tightening everything up the noise is now gone for good.

Thank you to everyone who offered advice and also an apology to those of you that may have been offended when I got a little pissy.

Congrats Kev! Always recheck the cheap and easy stuff multiple times before moving on to the hard and expensive stuff!