Clunking when turning left

[X-flow]

Sometimes when i turn left and accelerate, or accelerate in a straight line, i hear a kind of slow clunking sound. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does happen, i can feel it through the entire car. I'm not too familiar with subarus, but i think it may be something to do with a motor/transmission mount, drive axle, or maybe suspension mounts. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks

[Subaru_Nation555]

That happens to my car but when turning right and I am yet to figure it out.

[Project_Legacy]

doesnt sound like a CV axle to you guys? sounds like that to me. maybe check that out.

[greg donovan]

check the torque on your lugnuts. they should be around 75-90. it sounds like you have a loose wheel.

a cv is more of a clicking but that could be it too.
look for tears/cracks in the cv boot. as well as any grease oozing out of the boot.

[tasq]

Anyone ever figure this out? Similar issue with my car, and I can't figure it out.

[onur]

could it be your steering rack?

[tasq]

Of all the stupid shit... My exhaust is hitting the cross member.

[Darkseb]

Endlinks?

[Kelly]

suspension clunks can be somewhat easy to hunt down if you take some time.

First of all, are there any aftermarket parts in your suspension? Has anything been taken apart or replaced? If so, start there. Poly bushings will go bad quicklly if installed incorectlly or not proporlly lubed. Also, strut top bolts wont always seat correctlly and may require reTorquing after being replaced. Aftermarket sway bar bushings are notorious for clunking, and anything with the term "coilover" is definatelly gonna piss off any "anti noise/vibration/rattle enthusiest".


Is the clunk speed dependant while turning? Does it clunk with the same frequency as the wheel turning? Prolly an outer CV joint. Is the boot torn? If so, thats prolly it, as CV joints dont last long without their grease.


Does the clunking happen while hitting bumps, or all the time while driving, like somethings up front? If your car has high miles and factory struts, id go in that direction. Factory struts for most makes of cars usually only last about 60Kmi. If your car has over 130K on the clock, and sounds like a wheel is about to fall off, id replace the struts. Aftermarket ones, like the GR2 will last much longer anyway, and improve your handling ten fold. I dont see strut bearing, or endlink failure nearly as much on these cars as I do struts.


But before we go dropping Too Buku Dollah on a fresh set of dampeners, we must assess the health of the front end overall.

Jack the car up, and rest it on stands on the body of the car. Look for torn boots. CV boots, steering rack boots, outer tie rod boots, and lower ball joint boots. If any of these are torn or leaking, its gonna need attention. Put one hand where the tire WOULD be resting on the ground, and the other hand 180 degrees to the top. Pull hard back and forth. If you feel any movement at ALL, get yourself a light, and a buddy to help you find out whats moving. Most likelly it will be the lower ball joint, but it could be a wheel bearing, and Ive seen struts go so bad they move laterally.


Often when ball joints go bad, it starts to wear the tires unevenlly. If you feel the steering wheel kinda rock back and forth slightlly as you make low speed turns, and chances are if the wheels arent bent, youve got a bad ball joint, and your tires from here on out are screwed. Again with the the whole car up on jack stands, start the car and put it into 1st gear. Watch the front tires. Do they seem to go up and down in places? Look very closely.

Next move your hands 90 degrees, so your essentually turning the wheels. Rock it back and forth. If theres movement, like a tiny small little clunk, closelly examine the outer tie rods, if they arent moving and the slack isnt inside the steering rack (inner tie rods) suspect the wheel bearing if it clunked on your "top bottom" test too.

[smh0101]

Bushings shot???

[rally370]

I've just noticed something similar on the rear of the rally car. I drive it to work everyday and because of rally seats you can feel every bump/clunck. So on slow speed bumps and turns I feel a metal knock/clunk on the drivers side rear. I supsect the front trailing arm bushing is shot. So I'll do some looking this weekend and report back. Since moving to MA is there any good Subaru performance parts stores in the area?

[rally370]

Checked the car over this weekend. Turns out the rear anti-roll bar(sway bar) bushes on the lateral arm were toast. I had some better old ones and fitted them. I noticed shiney metal so I figure this was the clunking noise. Also the diff beam bolts were a little loose where they boltt up to the floor. Plus the exhaust was hitting the diff also. What I was amazed about was how much the front trailing arm bush moves....I will be swapping this soon. While I was at it I slotted the rear struts(04 STI) to give the correct negitive camber.