Getting a "klunk" noise from the front end. Went on a test drive, went over several speed bumps/humps...nothing. So going straight down the road at about 30mph, made short, abrupt left - right turns which made the noise. Coming home, making a left turn into driveway, going over street curb and got a nice clear "klunk" from the front....appears to be more left side than right side.

Lift front, removed wheels, checked everything I could. The upper shock mounts are new last year which are the ones from Welsh; rubber still looks good, although the shock nut is not exactly centered anymore...not far off, but not in the exact center.

Lower shock bolt tight, upper control arm bushings replaced last year, fulcrum bolt re-torqued to 110 N-M about a month ago.
Steering rack solid, outer tie rod ends, solid, upper / lower ball joints are good.

Looking for suggestions as to what else to check.

Thanks in advance.

 

Sway bar bushes and links, tie rod ends, and subframe mounts or even motor mounts if sufficiently bad.

 

My intermittent front end klunk turned out to be the sway bar bushes from the above possibilities.
From under the car i could see one side was bad, and not snuggle fitted with in the holding bracket.
Good luck.

 

I did look at the sway bar end links...they are original, but looked fine, no missing rubber anywhere. I did not check the frame mounts of the sway bar....will do that today.

Already checked the outer tie rod ends...they were fine.

Checked the lower control arm bushings....again fine.

Now the sub-frame....all I did was see that the front two bolts were there. I did not look at the rear ones nor did I put a wrench on any. I will do that today as well.

The motor mounts....I looked at these...did not see anything obvious....are these filled with fluid? I would sure not want to have to replace either side...wow...are those up in there!!

Thanks for the suggestions....keep them coming...

 

Did you replace the inner wheel well plastic cover recently? If thats out of alignment suspension travel makes it klunk .

 

My bet is on the welsh center bushings no longer holding shock top securely.

That is what happened to my 2nd set of Welsh mounts.

Regardless, the Welsh mounts still suck less than the URO versions.

Sadly Welsh seems content to continue selling ones that last just long enough for them to fake sympathy with a "sorry, but you are just out of the warranty period" response when its brought to their attention (by several of us at this point).

 

Can't believe I didn't suggest this given that I am on my third Welsh mount in 2 years. The first of which failed during the warranty period.

 

Johnken: I did replace the left side access cover and it is not 100% seated. I will work on that some more.

Had the XK8 yesterday for a long trip and only time I heard the "klunk" was when only one wheel went over an uneven surface; no noise when both wheels went over the same uneven surface.

Tried to look at those sway bar bushings....geeze...are those in there! Will have to do some searching on how to access those as I think I will change them along with the drop links just due to age.

I did take a good look a the Welsh mounts, the rubber ring on the outside is still intact, no missing chunks or anything.
However, the "klunk" only appeared after I noticed the shock no longer being centered within the Welsh mounts. Choice of living with "klunk" or getting different mounts.

 

Lanny,
they're not as bad as they look. Tip is to disconnect the drop link on both sides.

RHS is straightforward as you can get a socket + extensions on the clamp bolts from above. The LHS might be more difficult as the trans oil cooler pipes get in the way - I could only get square on one of the clamp bolts (although it may be better on the 4.2). The other was manageable from underneath by rotating the sway bar to get better access with a ring spanner.

 

I had a clunk, which was the result of a worn right side sway bar bushing. It didn't look bad until I removed it. The right side isn't hard to remove with several very long extensions.

wj

 

I read through a couple of threads on this topic.....got to the parts on order.

Thanks

 

Drove the XK8 past couple of days and of course went over some rough spots in the roads....both shock bolts have moved more off-center than they were. Looks like I will be needing to get the "kit" when it is ready.

I have a pair of the Welsh mounts that I removed about a year ago....so I am ready.......

 

I think I found the source of the "klunk" in the front.....see picture of sway bar bushings I removed; the bad one was on the right side. Most of the bushing on the right side was not even under the clamp, it was pushed-out towards the engine. The missing chunk was not there.

 

Yep...that was the source of the "klunk"; went for a drive, actually went looking for bumps....no noise at all. YEAH!!!! Wife happy with her car again.