Hey guys I was wondering if anybody ever had this problem?? I hear a clunk or pop sound from the lower front suspension (Left and Right) when I am braking a little hard and just about to come to a complete stop. Any feedback is greatly appreciated..

 

Anybody??

 

It might take people more than 20 mins to reply. Just be patient lol. As for the clunk, try and be more specific. Its hard for us to diagnose im hearing a clunk from both sides when braking. Are you certain its not coming from just one side? Do you see anything loose? a clunk usually means somethings loose under there in my experience. Can you replicate it when you have your car in the air and are spinning the wheels and slam on the brakes? You would obviously need some jack stands and a buddy for that test.

 

Thanks for the reply. I have checked for something being lose and can't seem to find anything. I do hear it on both sides and I haven't tried to lift the car and slam on the brakes to see if I hear it. It kind of sounds as if something is shifting forward and hitting something else??? only happens when I am braking and just about to come to a stop.. Weird......

 

This could be so many different things, very hard to troubleshoot on a forum. You sure it's not the transmission? Try putting the car in neutral and then coming to a stop in the same manner. 700R4s are famous for a substantial knocking sound as you come to a stop.

Get under the car and jerk around real hard on stuff, like the steering linkage, steering knuckle, etc. Put a jack under the A-arm so you can jack up a wheel while keeping the suspension loaded and give your tire a few healthy kicks with your foot in all different directions and from different angles.

Look at the passenger side window as you come to a stop (carefully....). Having your ears turned 90 degrees gives you a whole new dimension of directional hearing ability, its a biological thing. On top of turning your head also **** your head to different angles, this will really help you pinpoint the direction of the sound.

 

If its under braking, chances are its the caliper hitting the mount. This is very common, especially on older cars with these brakes and a lot of mileage. Check the spacing between the caliper and the mount/ears on the spindle. Sometimes some new brake hardware (sleeves and rubber, and pins if need be) will cure it.

 

This sounds like it might be it !!! it does sound somewhere down by the calipers.. thanks for the reply

 

mine does that too...have you fixed the problem yet? If the calipers are replaced will that fix the problem or is it all in the mount? I was thinking my brake pads were going out, but after inspecting them, they are fine...thanks for the idea.

 

This exctly describes the problem that's been bugging me for years and I've replaced alot of things. Good to have new stuff - needed it anyway, but still have not figured it out. I will test with tranny in nuetral tomorrow. That's an idea I have not tried yet.

 

The nuetral test didn't change anything- still pop/clunk when almost completely stopped.

 

I`ve had the same sound in the right front for 6 months or so on my `88 Iroc. Everything looks and checks out ok, I had`nt thought of a caliper problem. When someone figures it out please post your results.

 

I'd reccomend checking the calipers to both of you. If you've checked everything else out and it's good or replaced, try that. I know how annoying finding noises can be.

 

I thought calpers were the problem too.

So far new:

Calipers- they did have alot of slop and were actually contacing the steering knuckle, but did not solve the clunk.
Struct tower mounts,
Poly bushing in torque arm,
Tightened the tranny crossmember mount bolts.
Tightened the torque arm - diff mount bolts.
Checked the panhard bushings
Checked the rear links bushings.
double checked for subframe connectors looseness(weleded and bolted).
rubber tranny mount (I like rubber since it's dampens vibrations better).
double checked the shocks in the back to make sure they had not metal-fatigued their mounts.
checked the springs for cracks.
Checked the steering box mount for cracks.
Found a small crack by where the front engine crossmember mounts- welded it.
checked for loose bolts at crossmember mounting points.
Checked the controal arm bushings.
New Ball joints.

I'm thinking it still has to be a body crack somewhere.

 

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more than likely its the tire bearings , lift your car in the air , grab the tire and try to rock it , if there is alot of play thats prob your knock and pop sound , atleast it was for me

 

my iroc clunked on braking and some turns i took it into school up on a lift and the clamps on the tie rod sleeves were not tightened and the tie rods were moving over the threads i tightened them up to fix them temporally and it helped but i still had to replace both inner and outer rods and sleeves because the threads were all sorts of screwed up from being loose, this was not the first time i have found suspension and many other components very loose on the car, the idiot kid who had the car before me screwed up a bunch of stuff on it, but yeah check your steering components too

 

Hi,

I finally figured it - slightly loose transmission cross member mount bolts.

A couple of years ago, I was diagnosing a vibration - turned out to be a bent driveshaft(now replaced with aluminum) by shimming the trans mount down.
I had stripped one of the 4 bolts that hold up the crossmember to the "frame". I drilled and tapped it for a bigger one and replaced it.

I was so worried about stripping another that I didn't tighten them all down as tight as I normally do. I backed them all off a turn to make sure they turned freely, then honked them down tight.

The clunk-pop just before completely stopping vanished.

 

I also had a similar problem my trans crossmember is held in by 3 of the 4 bolts because one is busted off and stuck in there and one of the trans mounts was busted, so every time i punched it the trans would smack the bottom of the floor and make a clunk noise

 

When did you first notice this noise? Did you change anything? Front coils that don't have isolators on them will clang and clatter as the suspension is loaded and unloaded....so, did you change the coils? change the A-Arms?

 

It happened sometime after I removed/replaced the tranny crossmember. I didn't tighten the 4 bolts enough. Tight isn't good enough - really tight worked.

 

Be careful!! Those bolt holes strip like a senator's secretary...

 

Glad you found the problem! Suspension noises bug the hell out of you and they're tough to trouble shoot.