New:
control arms
ball joints
swaybar links
tierods
front lower motor mount
wheel bearings/seals
left caliper
pads
rotors
3 wheel studs passenger side
driver and passenger axles / seals
tires?
tranny?
ebay strut tower brace?

Most of these were replaced during summer or before it ended and my car is still clunking at times when I stop. NOT always but it does clunk. I noticed it's coming mainly from my left front side (therefore I didnt mention new suspension-work done in rear) but I cant think of anything else other than struts/mounts from a previous thread I had on "the clunk" I'm not sure if that would cause the clunk when just braking as my g/fs dad said if it was the strut mounts it would mainly do it while on bumps rather than stopping.

Has anyone had this problem or can anyone please guide me to a solution? Yes I do plan on replacing struts but I want to do it right and I dont have enough moolah to buy EVERYTHING.

Thanks in advanced

 

If you rock the car up and down by gently pressing on the left fender does it still do it?

 

As in like pushing it sideways from the fender? or bouncing the car? cuz if its bouncing it, then no but pushing it sideways I havent tried and I will. Any one else wanna pass down some knowledge to t3h n00b?

BTW ITS MY 1000 POST!!!!

 

Now, is it definitely a "clunk?" Because when I'm turning or sometimes even braking my left front (driverside) area will click, like a tapping. I'm pretty sure mine is the CV Axle.

Can't really think of what yours would be besides that, since you've had all of the usual culprits replaced.
________
Medical marijuana

 

How are the other motor mounts?

 

New motor mount bottom and the others are in great shape, both CV axles are new also replaced around summer

 

strut mount

 

Thanks and welcome to maxima.org Erick

 

Sooooo, bump for you suspension ****** out there who DIDNT contribute to my thread. I demand assistance.

Yes my car still clunks on front left side

 

rack and pinion maybe linkage or the rack and pinion system itself maybe...

 

Replace the strut mount john..

 

Do I need to remove spring from strut in order to change strut mount? btw what can happen if I dont change it yet other than the clunk?

 

Yes,you need a set of spring compressors to remove the strut mount,i warn you to be extra careful when using these,make sure they are lined up correctly,also make sure your head/arms/etc. are clear of the spring/strut mount when in the process of compressing them...The spring has enough force behind it to remove body parts if it breaks loose while compressed...

I doubt it would hurt anything to run it for a while..

 

check your transmission mount that's closer to the firewall. see if the bracket separated from the mount itself.

 

Thanks Greeny, I'm aware of the damage compressed springs can make and I'm super paranoid about those things..my friend once had one go loose on him and went right THROUGH a wood fence and just left a big hole. I'm not gonna mess with it until I upgrade my front suspension so I only do 1 alignment.


As for Danny, my tranny mounts are good as my tranny just got replaced and I told them to check the mounts in case I needed new ones. I did need a new one but it was the front center motor mount not tranny. I'm hoping the bracket is still holding to the mount, I'll double check when I get a chance.

Thanks guys

 

well i had this weird clunk when i accelerated hard or brake hard and it turns out the rear tranny bracket broke off and it was knocking into that when the engine moved around.

it's easy to check that...but you gotta get in there to look for it. figure do that before you start pulling stuff apart.

 

Thanks, will do that as its been doing it a lot more lately

 

got any pics where is the mount at?

 

for the strut mount

 

ColombianMax, any luck in figuring this one out? I have recently replaced my complete suspension, including new strut mounts. I have started to notice the same problem, a kind of clunk/click when braking sometimes, and only under light braking at something like 5mph or less, usually when going through drive-thru for coffee. This is also from the driver's side. The only thing I didn't replace on the suspension was the mount bearings in the front... I wonder if that could be it? Also have fairly recent new shafts and all brake hardware (~6 months old).

 

Ohhh....sounds like it's done for...you should just go ahead and buy my car...J/K
It ain't for sale, yet...

But seriously, I'm drawing a blank as to what your problem could be...You have replaced most if not all of the things I would initially think of...

 

how's your plastic inner fender's clearance from your bouncybits? hey, it's worth a shot...

 

Hah, actually I thought about posting that too. When I got hit in the fender of my VG, it pushed the plastic in and when turning left would click clack like a madman... took me a while to figure out what it was because looking at it while it's parked it looks fine, but when you turn it pops the plastic up and down.

Anyway, just cut some away and it worked fine...

 

I had a clunk that drove me nuts for a good while... until I realized it was the OEM jack stand not tightened down properly (can't believe I just publicly admitted that). I was cursing my suspension for months. Moral to story: don't assume the problem is what you assume it is.
Anyway, your issue is in the front and just about every suggestion has been thrown out there that I can think of.
Let us know what it was... if/when you find the culprit.

 

I still have not solved my problem as money has been an issue but I'm determined to replace my front struts along with boots, mounts, and them bearing thingamajigs...

I wish my problem was the plastic lining near the fender like 94maxshimas but it looks like its gonna be the mounts.

Hey mszilves, I'm kind of thinking its the mount bearing clunking, just let us know if that fixes your problem if you get to it before me.

 

Yeah that's what I'm leaning towards too... also since it's the only part I didn't replace on the struts. Oh well, at least it's the fronts and not the rears I have to take apart again. I'll post back the results.

 

+1 to strut mount. I assumed you had replaced this already. If you are replacing OEM strut parts that have never been changed before - it's good practice (and a big time saver) to just replace everything with new parts even if they seem fine on inspection. Given it's age, even a part that looks fine is likely to go bad soon. Not worth the few bucks you think you're saving.

 

you have question marks on the list on the topmost post. what are the question marks for? my car used to clunk under braking, but that was just because i had rotated tires and the PO had one of the tires plugged, and it ended up on the front and thus would clunk.