The wife's daily is a '01 Taurus wagon. 65K on the clock, original everything holding the wheels on.

About a month ago I noticed a slight "clunk" coming from the driver's front. It would happen when going over a medium to large bump or crack/hole in the road.

It has progressed to being a genuine "CLUNK", that happens regardless of the size of road defect, and there is now some shimmy in the steering under moderate to heavy braking.

I got under it yesterday and have noted:
No leakage from the strut.
Upper & Lower strut attachments are solid/tight.
Sway bar link not broken.
A-arm bushings and lower BJ appear to be good, no slop.
Tie Rod end is good/tight.
Caliper & Misc. brake components good.
No slop/play in CV or drive hub.

My experience with strut suspensions is nil. Would the described symtoms & checks indicate a bad strut?
TIA

Double check the sway bar links.
The ends wear out and make a clunking noise.
Check them with the weight of the car on the wheels.

i own a 2000 focus,had the same problem,the coil spring was broken in two places...jeff

Also check the attachment of the rack & pinion on the rear of the frame. I know the Taurus's are famous for front motor mount failures, especially with a lead foot, but I doubt this is your problem. A shimming during braking usually indicates warped front brake rotors. I've also seen the inner tie rods wear out, where the attach to the rack inside of the dust boots. Have you jacked the front wheels up off the ground, and actually grabbed them and check for play? If you do this, jack one side up at a time, and put jack stands on the frame rails right behind the front wheels.

Sway bar links are tight with weight on or off (goofy things are PLASTIC!), the spring is intact.

Yesterday's inspection was on & off the ground, no loose/sloppy components through entire steering travel.... didn't see/feel any looseness of the rack itself, but I didn't specifically check mounting integrity.

i own a 2000 focus,had the same problem,the coil spring was broken in two places...jeff

Yeah, check out that spring. You have to really look hard, and maybe feel around, too. I think that was a problem with the Taurus.

Found the problem! Flippin' sway bar link on the driver's side. My previous checks were with the suspension unloaded on the stands, or loaded sitting on the ground. Everything felt tight and I couldn't move anything.

Tonight I jacked it up to where the front was just barely loaded and had the wife rock the car while I was looking around. Sure 'nuf I could see/feel the sway bar link "clunking" in it's socket.... now I've got to do a run-out check on the dang rotors!

Boy would I like to get my hands on the numbnuts "engineer" that designed the sway bar links on this thing!!

The ball & socket joint on them is similar to a tie rod end, but not tapered. The whole length of the "stud" is threaded, except for a short section of the end, which is 8mm hex (or 5/16"). They're held on with 18mm nuts (about 3/4").

Ever try and crack loose, then run a 3/4" self-locking nut down an inch of RUSTY threads with only a 5/16" wrench on the end of the stud??... with no "swing" room?

What a PITA! This fudgenuts got his degree out of a cereal box....

they only try to keep the prices down and thats wat u get its common on any make