'99 Forester A few weeks back a pedestrian and dog were in the middle of the road, strange since two perfectly good side walks were open. Anyhow on this road I had to take the shoulder area which was rather pot holed. Didn't appear all that extreme, but noticed there after a kinda of "Clunky sound" from the front end anytime a bump is crossed. I thought it might be the undercover, so I put new clips in that hold it on. No change:( The kyb struts have 50k and look fine as do the original springs. It was aligned about 5 months ago by a very good shop. It tracks and runs fine, and stops smoothly. Just this annoying plastic rattle trap sound at each bump, for lack of a better description. Any thoughts of the culprit here would be greatly appreciated.

seems like crawling through potholes would put some stress on the front anti-sway bar and it's endlinks and brackets - definitely check that system out carefully.

 

basically, all the suspension and steering needs to be examined.

ball joint / swaybar links

My uncle had a bad curb hop mishap in a 2000-ish Toyota Camry. The rear sway bar popped out of the mounting clamp and bushing. Made a hell of a racket rattling around.

 

Check your suspension components at the sway bars and control arms. The extreme force might have popped out a bushing or even the bar itself.

This is good advice. Looked at the end links and they are fine. I need to remove the undercover and really take a good look at things.

Thanks!

bad top hat at top of strut??

bad top hat at top of strut??

 

good post - even rebound may have busted one of those 3 little studs too.

Don't Know if it is a factor, but discovered the tires were all overfilled; the fronts have something near #40psi. No I didn't do it, I know they are supposed to be in the neighborhood of 28-32 psi from the door panel.

Don't Know if it is a factor, but discovered the tires were all overfilled; the fronts have something near #40psi. No I didn't do it, I know they are supposed to be in the neighborhood of 28-32 psi from the door panel.

 

I suppose it's 'possible' the suspension/steering gear could have received more shock than if the tires were a little softer. might never know. They definitely would transmit 'NVH' (noise, vibration,harshness) more at 40 than at 30.

 

A lot of people run their tires 10-15% over so, 40 isn't 'crazy' high. I usually set mine about 3 psi over, figuring they'll be low for a awhile before i check them again. If you really do consistently run tires at 40, handling might suffer a little, and they will wear in the middle faster than the shoulders.

have been puting all awd subarus at 35 front and 32 rear to compansate for engine wheight so get no windup

This happened to my 95 impreza after i smashed the front end into a mud hole. My LF control arm rear bushing is leaking grease now. Pops whenever i accelerate. Check those bushings. Theyre servicable seperate from the arm on older subys

The car went to the good shop today and we got the answer. It confounded the mechanic, who thought it was the strut tower; a closer look revealed it be an issue with the hood. Apparently it was loose and had be tightened a bit... go figure.

at least you got it resolved. My noise at take off is still there. It's worse now that i replaced my motor mounts.