Today I replaced the strut rods on my 1997 ls400 in hope to fix the front end clunk but that did not happen,There is a definite thud on the front right on my car when going over speed bumps hitting pot holes and hitting dips in the road especially at lower speeds. I have torqued everything to spec used oem parts and checked all the ball joints for play. I can not replicate the noise without the car moving. I at 200lbs leaned on the car and bounced it up and down and cant get to knock it does not happen when i jab the breaks or when changing direction. I am at a loss and getting very confused on what could be wrong, any help will be greatly appreciated



Nick

 

when you torqued down the strut rods to spec with a torque wrench to their factory correct torque as specified in the service manual, did you make sure that the full weight of the car was on the ground before the torquing?

if not, then you will need to loosen up and retorque these correctly

otherwise, the main other component that has any problems on the front end of a 97 would be the upper control arms

 

I preloaded the bushings with the weight of the car. dose my situation sound like a uca or like a strut top mount

 

could be UCA, strut mounts, sway bar links or LBJ's.
have you tested for any play with the shake/wiggle test or clamp test on the joints: that method can be used to test any ball joint of that type, including tie rods, LBS and sway bar links... if it is anything other than rock solid like the first joint tested in the video, replace it!

 

 

Doubt he is going to see this.....his Last Activity:....... 03-12-14 04:18 AM