Thread: Clunking from front and rear.

Every bump I go over the rear driver side makes a loud clunking sound and when climbing in the trunk the other day to fix my sub it clunked again. I am thinking its the strut, but how can I tell for sure?

Also I noticed the other day when backing out with the wheel turned right, the car jumps a little like something is loose. Any idea what that could be?

And finally, when turning and pressing the gas there is a clunk in the steering wheel.

Any help is appreciated, car is a 2006 Grand Prix.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

Ever replaced the sway links??

Could be both the struts and links.

Not that I know of, I should probably have it looked at but money is tight right now. Is there a visual inspection I can do to see if it would be the links and or struts?

Any other suggestions?

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Sway bar links (in the front) connect the sway bar to the control arm. If you look behind the wheel, you should see the sway bar connected to the control arm with a long both that has poly spacers on it. If the spacers are crushed/deformed, the link is bad. These are cheap and easy to replace yourself. Check those for the fronts. In the rear, could be something similar or could be a strut/strut mount. Check to see if the car "bounces" when you give it a push test. Push down on the rear of the car to get it moving, and keep pushing up and down until it's moving. Let go and see if it continues to bounce a couple of times, or if it stops quickly. If it continues to bounce, your struts are shot. Clunking could also be the strut mount itself.

Another clunk source in the front could be the control arm bushings. Lower control arms for our cars are like $40 a piece, and not too bad to change out.

I'll have to check all that when it warms up a bit here, - 20 and snowing right now lol. The car definitely doesnt bounce when pressing down on it or going over bumps, just makes the clunking sound from the strut tower.

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Check your rear strut towers and make sure they're not rusted out...if they're solid, I'd say you have bad strut mounts if you hear it while climbing in the trunk, and it sounds like it's IN the trunk.

No there not rusted.

Does anyone know the warranty for the electronic rust control modules?

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Are strut mounts hard to replace?

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What's the mileage on the car? Might just be worth it to replace the entire strut assemblies. No special tools needed - they sell the entire thing in a one piece unit. Grand total of 5 bolts each.

Around 80,000 miles

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You have to take the struts out to put new mounts on anyway...maybe save up a bit and put new struts all the way around...