I have 325,000 miles on my front spindles. . . . . .

Stangar · Mar 3, 2007

. . . . and I cannot cure a "loose" wheel clunk type noise on both sides of the car. Front bearings, races, rotors, grease are all new. So are the brake caliper sleeves. With the front in the air, I can shake/twist the wheel/tire at the 9 and 3 o'clock position and get no noise. At the 12 and 6 it will make a little clunk noise like it's loose. When it has been driven for awhile, at speed, the clunk noise is much more evident than when you first start driving. Once everything is heated up you can shake the wheel/tire with the car on the ground and even get a bunch of clunk noises. I don't know why it will do it warm and not when cold. I'm getting tired of this and I would greatly appreciate any help.

Frustration City is where I've driven to and I haven't come back yet. I'll be looking for a cliff to drive it to next week. I have (almost) had it.

Thanks again for your help.

Stangar · Mar 3, 2007

A little help out here in left field, please. (I'm begging here)

wht87gt · Mar 3, 2007

Ok, I'll bite. Have you checked your ball joints, tie rods, bushings, etc. ?

Stangar · Mar 3, 2007

wht87gt said:
Ok, I'll bite. Have you checked your ball joints, tie rods, bushings, etc. ?

Yes. All new. Is is possible for a spindle to wear out or wear away?

Why does it do it when it's hot and not cold? You'd think it would be just the opposite.

mkk50 · Mar 3, 2007

i had a similar problem on only one side and it turned out to be the inner tie rod. Have u replaced the rack and pinion or inner tie rods?

wht87gt · Mar 3, 2007

Stangar said:
Yes. All new. Is is possible for a spindle to wear out or wear away?

Not sure about the spindle wearing out, I guess it could be possible with that many miles on it. What about your control arm bushings? Have you checked those? I would imagine that could cause your clunking noise.

Stangar said:
Why does it do it when it's hot and not cold? You'd think it would be just the opposite.

As far as it making the noise when it hot and not when it's cold, I'm not really sure what to tell you. Maybe someone else can chime in on that issue?

Stangar · Mar 3, 2007

mkk50 said:
i had a similar problem on only one side and it turned out to be the inner tie rod. Have u replaced the rack and pinion or inner tie rods?

Rack and pinion replaced with a rebuild 26,000 miles ago. New tie rods. Heck, new A-arms and bushings at the same time.

It's a very subtle noise. It is a clunk and it takes little effort to make it make the noise. Just pushing and pulling at the 12 and 6 o'clock position will do it but not at the 9 and 3 position. Thanks for the help.

I'm going to make sure this gets on the 6 o'clock news that evening when I/we figure this out.

Maybe a billboard on I-405 in LA proclaiming the fix for the Fox body Mustang.

ronburgundy · Mar 3, 2007

make sure the suspension is loaded when checking for movement. even new parts can be slack. put a jack under the contol arm and get the wheel off the ground when checking. spindle wear should be evident when you have the rotor off. they don't wear out normally, unless you had a bearing go dry at one time. that's a decent amount of miles. mine has 371000 km's on it.

90GTDan · Mar 3, 2007

I would check the caliper sleeves again. They are not all created equal. Had a car that would make a kind of clunk when you would hit a bump. They had just had new calipers installed at Les Schwab. The front end was tight so we ordered some new rubber caliper pin sleeves that were bendix or raybestos, I can't remember which. The point is they were a higher quality and there was a lot more rubber in the sleeves and the rubber was harder. After changing them the problem was pretty much gone.
Hope you find it.

DMAN302 · Mar 3, 2007

I had simular issue with the strut shield hitting the strut when compressed...the feeling transmitted to wheel when you had the wheel off the ground and did a push pull check. I had just installed all new components up front and in the up down push pull test i was getting a clunk....it was the strut shield contacting the strut.

sunil6784 · Mar 3, 2007

Like ronburgandy said...is the suspension loaded when you are checking this ?

Stangar · Mar 3, 2007

sunil6784 said:
Like ronburgandy said...is the suspension loaded when you are checking this ?

No it's not loaded. The suspension/wheel is just hanging there and I can move the front wheel up and down 12 and 6 o' clock slightly and get a clunk. No clunk when jiggling at the 9 and 3 o clock position. By the way it is most evident as previously mentioned when it has been driven at speed (65 mph) for awhile. When it all cools off, the clunk goes away. The one thing I did notice at my last brake job was the "browning" of the spindle. Someone has told me that that is no big deal. However, I plan to pull the wheel off and micrometer the spindle to see if I can find anything and also check out the suggestions made on this thread before I take anything apart again.

Great feedback, by the way.

I feel hope through my keyboard. Seriously, THANKS everyone for helping me out and I can only hope to find this problem and report it. I had previously taken it to a mechanic and they tightened alot of suspension possibilities from swaybars, wheel bearing torque to strut bolts and everything else that might be the cause but it seems it wasn't effective.

JChalfan · Mar 3, 2007

Stangar said:
No it's not loaded. The suspension/wheel is just hanging there and I can move the front wheel up and down 12 and 6 o' clock slightly and get a clunk. No clunk when jiggling at the 9 and 3 o clock position. By the way it is most evident as previously mentioned when it has been driven at speed (65 mph) for awhile. When it all cools off, the clunk goes away. The one thing I did notice at my last brake job was the "browning" of the spindle. Someone has told me that that is no big deal. However, I plan to pull the wheel off and micrometer the spindle to see if I can find anything and also check out the suggestions made on this thread before I take anything apart again.

Great feedback, by the way.

I feel hope through my keyboard. Seriously, THANKS everyone for helping me out and I can only hope to find this problem and report it. I had previously taken it to a mechanic and they tightened alot of suspension possibilities from swaybars, wheel bearing torque to strut bolts and everything else that might be the cause but it seems it wasn't effective.

This probably isn't it, and maybe you already covered it (strut bolts above)... But what about the 2 big nuts/bolts that bolt the strut to the spindle? I didn't get mine quite tight before, and it made a clunk, and it makes sense it would only happen at 12 and 6, not 3 and 9.

I know you said strut bolts were tightened, but I didn't know if you meant the nut at the top, or the two lower ones.

Good luck.

I have 325,000 miles on my front spindles. . . . . .

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