More on Sentra suspension clunking

Since my first posting on this subject, I have pulled the struts out, disassembled and inspected them. The top bearings seemed to have a little play, but everything else looked okay. I put in new bearings (they only cost $6 each) and reinstalled the struts. Suspension still clunking.

I ran an autocross Sunday, and now there is even more clunking. Only now it is more frequent, and like creaking instead of clunking, on braking and acceleration. One of the Sentra guys at the autocross suggested replacing the lower control arms -- his old Sentra SER made a lot of noise until he replaced them. I checked and Mossy Nissan has them in stock for $142 each. These include the rubber bushings and a new ball joint. Lacking any other ideas, I think that I will replace the control arms this weekend and see if that helps.

Bill in San Diego

98 Sentra SE 2.0
I've got this annoying clunking sound from the front suspension of my 98 Sentra > SE 2.0. At first, it occured primarily while accelerating from a stop and > turning (at the same time). It has become increasingly frequent, and now occurs > also on straight acceleration, and when applying the brakes, or sometimes when > going over bumps. I replaced both axles. There was a temporary improvement, but > over the course of a couple days, the clunking came back. I pulled the struts, > inspected the ball joints and everything else I could think of. There was again > a temporary improvement. I pulled the right axle back out to replace the seal > (I had dislodged it while installing the axle), reinstalled, and again there is > a temporary improvement -- on both sides. (The clunking comes from either side, > not at them same time though.) It seems that jacking up the front end > temporarily reduces the frequency and amplitude of the clunking. > > I'm thinking the only other possiblities are the brake calipers and springs. > Could the calipers shifting around make a clunking noise? I have KYB AGX struts > with stock springs. Maybe the springs shift around on the perches and cause > this noise? I guess I'll be pulling the struts back out and inspecting > everything in detail, but I'm otherwise not sure what to do. Anyone have any > ideas? > > Bill in San Diego
Reply to
WillemBop
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Bill, Check ALL your suspension bushings...front AND rear. Also check your tension control rods if you have them. I had this same clunking type noise problem on my Nissan, (a 240SX) everytime I braked or went over rough roads - my rear end would clunk like crazy. It turns out the rear subframe bushings were shot. I ended up fixing the problem by putting in some rear subframe spacers from Specialty Z which compressed the shot bushings & fixed the problem.

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WillemB> Since my first posting on this subject, I have pulled the struts out,

Reply to
REMOVETHISidlafie

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