Prior to working on the car, there wasnt any noise besides the "whirring" of the power steering.

I have just replaced the following parts on both sides:

Sway bar bushings
sway bar links
Tie rod ends
Control arms
Wheel bearings
Wheel hubs
CV axle (passenger only)
Struts (all parts were replaced except springs)

I just got the car back on the ground and turned her on and began steering in place and i can hear a clunking through the full range of steering. The steering wheel is smooth and i cannot hear any straining on the pump.

My plan was too take it in for an alignment but with this clunking im worried i may have something a bit off.

does anyone have any idea what this may be?

 

The noise may be from a strut mount. Have someone turn the wheel while you place your hands on each mount to feel for the clunking.

 

No assistance available to turn the wheel for me, but i was able to turn the wheel a bit from outside the car and could see a popping movement in the springs.
(maybe 3-4 pops from center to full left and 3-4 pops center to full right)

I have seen people suggest it being the strut mount but it really only goes on one way and i made sure the insulator plate was pointed out on both sides.

 

On both sides or just one? I would remove the strut assembly and check the mount. Something is not right.

 

It appears to be coming from both sides but i could only see driver side while turning wheel by myself.

I found someone what sounds like the same issue but the solution for them appears to have been riding it out till the springs seated properly. In this instance they had replaced everything and they were going to get nissan strut mount bearings to fix the issue but found that after driving the popping went away.

Id hate to assume my issue would be resolved the same way and end up causing more damage.

If i do pull the struts back off what exactly am i looking for. I was actually starting to think the top rubber insulator is turning with the spring inside of the insulator plate itself (the one with the "out" notch)

 

When I was experiencing the same clunking while turning after doing my front struts, I removed the strut assembly and found that the bearing was damaged. I thought I had them installed properly, but came to find they were not, and because of that the bearing itself got damaged.

You can try and wait it out and see if it settles, but if your bearing is damaged, it won’t go away.

edit: I used the KYB strut mounts, but after the damaged bearing I replaced the bearings only with Febest.

 

thanks for the suggestion, i used KYB Struts with Gabriel strut mounts that came with bearings from rockauto. I didnt like the way the felt when i took them out of the box, the originals felt way smoother but i replaced anyway.

With the struts off the car, how easily should that top mounting plate spin? When i try to spin it, it does not move freely or smoothly

 

The mounts should not spin freely like they are loose, but they should be smooth, no binding.

 

Did you rebuild the strut assemblies yourself? You didn't use Nissan OEM Parts on all the consumables? (Bearing, Strut Mount, and so on). That's sometimes a problem... OEM Springs? What did you use for SPRING Insulators? When it comes to spark plugs... It's always NGK... Unfortunately when it comes to Strut Assemblies.... Nothing compares to OEM. Fickle little 4th Gens. Spring Insulators were ALWAYS a problem with aftermarket three times over and why I went back to OEM... Stupid money yes. But they're finally quiet and effective. The only partt NOT OEM I used was Koni Orange (Str-T) Struts And the Strut Mounts for the OEM SE model are bigger and stronger, so use them.

 

I didnt touch the insulator i pieced it back together like an A** and used tape to hold it in place while installing spring. I figured it wasnt causing a noise before and i could get away with it. They really dont sell any replacements in store and nissan wants $35 for just 1 (shows 3 on each side)

Looking at all the nissan parts it looks like it would cost about $500 per side?

where are you getting your nissan parts because my dealer gouges the hell put of me. Spent $15 just for one bolt to hold up the control arm plate.

I would always use nissan but how theyre still charging $35 just for a plastic bearing or a sleeve of rubber makes it impossible. And i really wish rock auto didnt use those "favorite hearts" because thats what i went with.

Really not sure what to do outside of throwing alot more money at it, installing all the old parts on the new struts, or just hope for the best

 

Yea i think thats it, when i attempted to turn the struts after installing they would not move, only with the steering wheel was i able to get them to turn. Before i did all the work i would be able to turn the front wheels with just jacking up the car and using my hands on the tires themselves to turn. I originally assumed this to be an issue that an alignment would correct so i did t think aything of it.

As far as putting the struts together the problem i had was getting all the pieces above the spring attached becuase i had to press down to tighten (i could not get spring compressors tight enough so there was about an inch i had to compress the spring with bodyweight).
this was difficult and began causing problems with the strut top thread and the "D slot" on the mounting plate

 

Alright so i got one assembly off and took it apart to find the gabriel strut mount (rubber with the D hole that goes on strut thread) has just been spinning around on the strut, D slot has rounded out, large gap leaves me to believe this part was just junk and the hole spec was off. The strut bearing that came with it barely spins( it was like this before installing) and there is some grinding when it does spin.

I reinstalled the original strut bearing, and the mounting plates and found the strut mount spinning smooth but when i release the spring compressor it binds up and i cannot spin the strut mount by hand (off the car).

 

It’s hard to turn the strut when it’s not mounted with the three top nuts. You can try putting it in place, attach the 3 nuts and use a screwdriver thru one of the knuckle holes to try and turn the strut.

 

I have now removed both strut assemblies and reinstalled the original strut mount plates and strut bearings.

Like Dsonnylal mentioned when i put them on the car i was able to turn them smoothly. Reattached the knuckles and tested at the steering wheel and found the clunking completely gone.

I removed the struts again because in haste i left the gaskets on the old mounts. Reinstalled them with gaskets, tested again and no clunking.

I then put the wheels on the car and gave it another test with the wheels up in the air and found only one small click (its a higher pitch than the clunks were) when during the wheel from about a ¹/² turn to the left from center to a ¹/² turn to the right from center (only when turning right not left)

Going to remove the wheels and test again.

 

I used Thick Walled Heat Shrink Tubing on each end of all 4 springs. It is SHRUNK on TIGHT and THICK so it will be stable and silent for a LONG time.

And once I spec'd out all the Nissan Parts I needed, I searched on Google with the part numbers to find the BEST LOW DELIVERED PRICE. With the spring compressor and everything else, came to over $900. SO WORTH EVERY PENNY! I spent more than that going full circle to come back to Nissan OEM. Always problems and NOISES. KYB, Monroe and MOOG. JUNK!

The Heat shrink tubing I used is: DSG-Canusa CFW 0750 6 years ago, I bought 4 foot lengths for $13 on Amazon. Unfortunately, not selling it anymore. Maybe they changed the model number or try other retailers online.

 

Thanks for the idea of the heat shrink im going to need to do the rears next but hopefully can hold off until spring.

i got the alignment today and all is good, i did hear a clank or two while driving around, but im guessing its due to the condition of spring Insulators.

ended up paying about $250 bucks to get both sides done, going to see if i can get a refund on these junk parts from rock auto.