I had a lot of clunking from the front and rear of my 2.5 Legacy (2001) 75,000 miles. Noise started around 60,000. My local independent garage diagnosed worn drop links and I had the rear ones replaced. This quietened the rear completely but I still had noise from the front (passenger side is worst sounding). Recently I had the front drop links replaced but there has been no change in the noise level. Get a clunk whenever encounter pot holes/ bump in road even when going straight ahead. Especially noticeable going along my farm access road to the house where car has to ride through potholes. Have checked the suspension by bouncing corners of the car but cant hear anything. Have also done a search here on "clunk" but this only furthers my confusion. Could it be the front sway bar -- are there any easy checks I can do? Thanks in advance for any input.

i think i have a similar sound in my 97 obw... whats a drop link??? could this affect steering??

 

john

 

I had a lot of clunking from the front and rear of my 2.5 Legacy (2001) My local independent garage diagnosed worn drop links and I had the rear ones replaced. This quietened the rear completely but I still had noise from the front (passenger side is worst sounding). Recently I had the front drop links replaced but there has been no change in the noise level. Get a clunk whenever encounter pot holes/ bump in road even when going straight ahead. Especially noticeable going along my farm access road to the house where car has to ride through potholes. Have checked the suspension by bouncing corners of the car but cant hear anything. Have also done a search here on "clunk" but this only furthers my confusion. Could it be the front sway bar -- are there any easy checks I can do? Thanks in advance for any input.

The drop links are desribed on my invoice as "front roll bar links" Hope this helps. As far as I can ascetain there seems to be no effect on steering.

Have you done a search here? It seem like lots of folks have had clunking in the front on those. I have a clunk less Forester so I don't know much about it.

My front end clunking on my 92 legacy was solved with new balljoints. If you do a lot of rough roads, yours are probably shot. They're cheap, so just replace them.

Our 2002 outback sport currently has a clunk in the rear that I've traced to the rear top strut mount. Only evident when the cover is off, you're touching the mount and gently rocking the car up and down. Can't hear it with the standard push the fender up and down test.

 

I've had the same thing with two legacy's I've owned, has any one else had trouble with rear strut mounts? Though to be fair our cars see a lot of gravel and I'm usually in a hurry.

Have you had any body work done where they would've removed the hood? My car had a front suspension clunk, then I noticed it was just my hood hinge bolts that were loose, letting the hood bounce once in a while. The body shop never tightened them.

Thanks for the input. I will investigate the balljoints as Chef suggests

how do you solve the clunking problem? live with it or fix it?

 

john

 

Our 2002 outback sport currently has a clunk in the rear that I've traced to the rear top strut mount. Only evident when the cover is off, you're touching the mount and gently rocking the car up and down. Can't hear it with the standard push the fender up and down test.

 

I've had the same thing with two legacy's I've owned, has any one else had trouble with rear strut mounts? Though to be fair our cars see a lot of gravel and I'm usually in a hurry.

You have to replace it. And since the struts have to come out to get it out, you might as well replace them. I'm saving my pennies and living with it for now.

 

The first time I had this happen on a legacy I tryed jamming a bigger washer in to take up the slack, and that one squeaked more than clunked, so I tryed greasing things up. Didn't work.

Yep, I'd say you've probably got a "dead spot" in at least one of your struts. I replaced the struts and upper mounts in my log wagon of a 97 Outback and it's like a Town Car now. There was one spot on the drivers side strut that had no resistance for about an inch or so.

Yep, I'd say you've probably got a "dead spot" in at least one of your struts. I replaced the struts and upper mounts in my log wagon of a 97 Outback and it's like a Town Car now. There was one spot on the drivers side strut that had no resistance for about an inch or so.

 

Did you use OEM, or something else?

 

Which aftermarket struts are the preferred brand?