front suspension clunk - low speed + braking

[subforry]

Hello,

This is for a '66 Charger.

I have a clunk coming from the right front. It is easy to replicate when the car is rolling slowly and I jab at the brakes, especially rolling backwards. About 500 miles ago I rebuilt the front suspension, new bushings, shocks, ball joints, Leed disc brake kit. I have checked every bolt I and think of or find, including the K-member. The shock shaft is not hitting the inner fender, grommet are in place.

When wiggling the wheel, there is a very small left/right movement, noise. Nothing top/bottom. Wheel bearing is tight.

I have pried on the idler arm, but no movement. It has not been replaced. Any suggestion on how to check it? Today I changed an outside brake pad because I thought it was moving in caliper, it could have been. These are Ford style 4 piston calipers.

I also checked the upper ball joint and how tight it is in the UCA. It turned about 1/4 turn, but didn't seem loose, but could have been torqued more. It really seems like a bad ball joint. It is possible the new one bought about 3 years ago is now junk? It's a Moog part.

Also there is odd thing with the alignment. I had it aligned, then I needed to raise the left front. Changing the torsion bar caused it to pull to the left, this, I think, is expected. As the noise seemed to be getting worse over past few days, it started to pull to the right. Today, after tightening the upper ball joint, it's back to pulling to left.

Any ideas are welcome. Thanks.

 

[71RRHI]

Have you checked your lower control arm pivot bushing?

 

[Kern Dog]

Consider looking at the bracket that connects the caliper to the knuckle.

 

[oldbee]

Maybe even a loose strut arm?

 

[dvw]

Have someone rock the roof of the car side to side. Grab the suspension parts with your hand. You will feel the loose part. Works way better than pushing up/down than the ends of the car. My first bet would be loose upper A arm cams or strut rod bushings.
Doug

 

[BeepBeepRR]

In my old Silverado I drove from GA to SC the whole way every time I stopped Clunk every time I took off clunk. Turns out when I swapped rear ends I forgot to tighten a caliper bolt. So it was just pivoting every time I hit the brakes totally lost the lower bolt. Ooop's. It was a long ride home trying to not use the brakes too much.

 

[Geoff 2]

Disc pads. Make sure they are the correct size/type & if they use an anti rattle spring, that it is in place.

 

[Dave6T4]

Lower control arm strut rod bushings are toast. They are located where the strut rod passes through K-frame. When they are worn out, it allows the lower control arm to move, when braking. These are a brute to replace, entailing the removal of the lower control arm itself. This would also be a great time to replace the lower control arm bushing, also.

 

[subforry]

Have you checked your lower control arm pivot bushing?

These were replace with everything else.

Lower control arm strut rod bushings are toast. They are located where the strut rod passes through K-frame. When they are worn out, it allows the lower control arm to move, when braking. These are a brute to replace, entailing the removal of the lower control arm itself. This would also be a great time to replace the lower control arm bushing, also.

Checked, also replaced.

In my old Silverado I drove from GA to SC the whole way every time I stopped Clunk every time I took off clunk. Turns out when I swapped rear ends I forgot to tighten a caliper bolt. So it was just pivoting every time I hit the brakes totally lost the lower bolt. Ooop's. It was a long ride home trying to not use the brakes too much.

Also checked. Caliper is solidly attached.

Have someone rock the roof of the car side to side. Grab the suspension parts with your hand. You will feel the loose part. Works way better than pushing up/down than the ends of the car. My first bet would be loose upper A arm cams or strut rod bushings.
Doug

Thanks, I will give this a try.

 

[70 sublime]

My 69 Charger was making a weird noise like that also
It turned out the K frame had broken out around where the lower control arm bolts into it and I ended up swaping in another K frame

 

[subforry]

My 69 Charger was making a weird noise like that also
It turned out the K frame had broken out around where the lower control arm bolts into it and I ended up swaping in another K frame

I saw a post about this. It is where the LCA pin goes through the K-member? It would fit with the slight left/right movement in the wheel. Can I removed the nut at the front and see if pin moves?

 

[70 sublime]

When I took my nut off it looked just like a round washer was broken out of the K frame so you should be able to see it if that is the problem

 

[subforry]

Have someone rock the roof of the car side to side. Grab the suspension parts with your hand. You will feel the loose part. Works way better than pushing up/down than the ends of the car. My first bet would be loose upper A arm cams or strut rod bushings.
Doug

Doug, you are the winner. It was the rear cam bolt in the UCA. Odd because I used a pry-bar to move the it. Still the nut was finger loose.

Thanks all for the ideas and input.

 

[khryslerkid]