I get a fairly loud clunk from front end of 86 GL-10 4X4 SW whenever I hit a small "high to low" change of elevation on/off road. Is this lower ball joint, strut assembly or other problem?

I would guess lower ball joint but it could be the strut assembly as well or other things (axles in rare cases, steering components). The best advice i can give is to get under there and start testing. Lower ball joints are easy to diagnose. Just put a screwdriver in between the lower control arm and the knuckle and pull it downwards. There should be barely any downward movement of the balljoint. If there is change em both out...and dont do aftermarket. I did aftermarket 3 years ago and they just now went bad again forcing me to do em again. I used subaru ones this time around.

Edited November 19, 200916 yr by hatchsub

On my 1990 loyale I have the same problem. Checked the ball joints and they had play, so I replaced the. I purchased an after market pair that were middle of the line price wise. And honestly I wont do it again they are crap. Any how, I still have the noise. I checked the strut tops to see if they were bad, nope. I checked the steering components, nope. I checked the wheel bearings and brake calliper, nope and nope. The subframe and engine mounts look good but I not sure what Im looking for. Ill watch this post for more ideas.

Thanks guys

Mike

It's generally ball-joints but clunking sounds can be from all over the place. I've even had loose leading rod's clunk back and forth at the control arm end.

 

You have to inspect EVERY point where the wheel is attached to the body.

 

GD

i agree with ball joints probably being the culprit, but definitely check out EVERYTHING under there - tierod ends, sway bar links, struts, control arms & links...

 

and definitely - if you do one side - do the other at the same time - only makes sense. doing only one side puts added stress on the other worn side, and it WILL fail not too far down the line. do both sides at the same time and be done with it.

 

and sorry guys - have used the cheaper aftermarket joints with no problems - but I dont offroad either...

Edited November 20, 200916 yr by heartless

HAHA offroad...neither do i. My car is only 2wd but i beat the hell out of it on the corners. I dont think the aftermarket ball joints liked that at all.

I haven't had an issue with the aftermarket's either but then I don't put a ton of miles on any given rig since I have so many.... and I generally use high quality stuff unless I'm in a pinch - Beck Arnley parts are very often repackaged OEM, and I get a lot of japanese made parts from my favorite aftermarket import parts house. They don't seem to carry ANY cheap parts at all. The only water/oil pump's they carry are the OEM's, etc. But the prices are usually right inline with like Autozone and the other ultra-cheap parts houses that sell korean and chinese parts.

 

GD