Elusive front end clunk

[richmondvatdi]

Replaced front suspension components and I now have a very annoying clunk (going over a parking lot pot hole, speed bump, etc) in the front end. Replaced nearly all suspension components including Mehle HD control arm kit from FCP Euro, tie rod ends, sway bar links and sway bar, steering rack. (As recommended, I torqued every nut/bolt with the suspension loaded.) Not long ago, I also replaced front shocks and all new related hardware (Koni Orange).

I rechecked every bolt and all are tight and torqued to spec. I even dropped it off to have my local shop see what they can find. They found a bad motor mount (which they changed) but can't find anything else and the annoying clunk remains. Ideas?

 

[maintenance247]

I had similar issues turned out to be a loose allen head bolt for the front right strut / shock tower in the engine bay also on another occasion a few of the bolts on the subframe were loose, I tightened them and haven’t had an issue since. The worst clunk was the loose subframe bolts and I was lucky they didn’t fall out since I might not have been able to visually check for it as easily , see how many bolts your subframe should have like 9 ish not sure on Passats or so and check make sure all your bolts are in their proper location and none are missing.

 

[Kravt]

Might be stating the obvious here, but make sure to check for suspension looseness when the suspension is fully loaded. I’ve had a couple clunks that hid from me until I put the wheels up on supports.

 

[thundershorts]

Was the steering rack new or used? They can be a source if any wear. Try thumping on the inner tire rod with a rubber mallet.

 

[richmondvatdi]

Was the steering rack new or used? They can be a source if any wear. Try thumping on the inner tire rod with a rubber mallet.

The steering rack was a rebuilt unit from Rich at RackDoctor in South Carolina. I've installed rebuilt racks from him before with no issues. I will try giving the tie rod a couple whacks with the rubber mallet.

Last weekend I checked all the nuts/bolts again and everything is tight, including the shocks/shock towers. No missing subframe bolts. (I did not have to remove any subframe bolts to do the suspension work.) I avoided dropping the subframe by cutting one of the control arm bolts (don't remember which one) and switching the direction of the new bolt/nut.

What's really frustrating is that this clunk only started after replacing all the suspension components. It was quiet before that. I had a bad tie rod which was not allowing a proper front end alignment, so since all the suspension components appeared to be original (15 years and 270,000 miles) and well-worn I decided to do the full refresh. Now I'm kinda wishing I didn't.

 

[Drclaw]

The steering rack was a rebuilt unit from Rich at RackDoctor in South Carolina. I've installed rebuilt racks from him before with no issues. I will try giving the tie rod a couple whacks with the rubber mallet.

Last weekend I checked all the nuts/bolts again and everything is tight, including the shocks/shock towers. No missing subframe bolts. (I did not have to remove any subframe bolts to do the suspension work.) I avoided dropping the subframe by cutting one of the control arm bolts (don't remember which one) and switching the direction of the new bolt/nut.

What's really frustrating is that this clunk only started after replacing all the suspension components. It was quiet before that. I had a bad tie rod which was not allowing a proper front end alignment, so since all the suspension components appeared to be original (15 years and 270,000 miles) and well-worn I decided to do the full refresh. Now I'm kinda wishing I didn't.

you ever figure this out?