Front-end clunk

The Kid

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2002
Location
Oklahoma
I've had a slight front end clunk, which is now getting more frequent. I'm not overly familiar with Macpherson strut setups.. so I'm not sure what it could be. It is deffinetly suspension related and is more noticable when I hit something that cause a upward compression as well as trying to push back on the wheels some, ie. deceint sized pothole. Are there strut bushings that wear out?

Not sure if this is related or not.. but my car seems to have developed a slight tendancy to pull to the right while braking.

On my F150 I had these same symptoms and it was a strut-rod bushing gone bad. Unfortunetly I live in the college dorms and am lacking the ability to lift my car up and give it a good look over until this weekend when I go home.
 

cattlerepairman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2003
Location
Ottawa
TDI
none
If it is pothole related and you can manage to get it to really rattle steadily when driving over a wavy asphalt surface, I would suspect the front swaybar bushings. No big deal and cheap to replace.
I had mine go at about 80.000km on my NB.
 

Fast_SilverTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2002
Location
Toronto, Canada
TDI
Golf GLS TDI, 2000, Satin Silver
95% sure it's swaybar bushings. It'll only get worse. They're cheap to replace either yourself or to have done cause they're only held on by clips and nothing much has to be removed to change them!
 

BawlsyTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2001
TDI
jetta, someday a getta, 2001, baltic green
I have just about the same thing, but it's because my struts are shot.
 

The Kid

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2002
Location
Oklahoma
Ya, I know whatever it is will only get worse... thast why I want to fix it before it causes damage!

I'll be sure to check the swaybar bushings, I really hope its that easy. Anyone happen to know what size the stock front swaybar is? I know its way too much to hope for it being 1in, but I happen to have an extra set of 1in poly swaybar bushings!
 
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