I am helping my brother with an issue on a 99 Legacy GT. There is clunk noise on the passenger front side. It happens on bumps but also on turns and acceleration. It is a single clunk.

 

We jacked up the car and he wiggled the tire while I looked under. The lower ball joint was kind of shifting side to side which I thought wasn't right. Could that be our issue?

So we went forward assuming it was the ball joint. We got a MOOG one from the local auto parts place. We jacked up the car, took the nut off under the LCA.

I broke the pinch bolt trying to remove it. I am working on drilling it out. Does anyone know what size bolt that is and where I could get a replacement?

So we went forward assuming it was the ball joint. We got a MOOG one from the local auto parts place. We jacked up the car, took the nut off under the LCA.

I broke the pinch bolt trying to remove it. I am working on drilling it out. Does anyone know what size bolt that is and where I could get a replacement?

 

M8 x 1.25

 

Probably around 40-50mm long

Your story sounds EXACTLY like what happened with my 93 legacy. Except mine only did it when I made a right turn on the front passenger side. When I broke the pinch bolt head, i just left the ball joint and drove it like that till I got my 94 SS. I put the same struts from my 93 legacy on my 94 legacy and guess what it still makes the exact same noise when I turn. Ended up being the stupid strut instead. Time for KYB GR2's, or AGX's this summer. I am done with buying crappy used suspension...

Two other things that will make a clunk sound when you turn are the strut mount, as ericem has already mentioned the strut. Also the big bushing at the back of the control arm, the bushing will be easy to tell if it is bad the rubber part of it will be leaking the grease out of it.

Oh and forgot to mention I also tried replacing the top hat and it still makes the noise AND there is 0 play in the wheel...

So we drilled out the pinch bolt. We damaged the threads so we just drilled it clean. We will either re-tap or put a bolt through and put a nut and lock washer on the other side.

 

We used a picklefork and got the ball joint free of the control arm. Now we can't get the ball joint out of the knuckle.

I am working on prying open the knuckle but it doesn't seem to move much. Is there a good trick to get the thing out?

Reattach the balljoint back to the control arm with the nut and hammer on the control arm. The pinch bolt needs to be completely removed as the balljoint is grooved so even if the bolt isn't tight it will not fall out. Also in the pinch bolt hole, spray a bunch of break away or some sort of strong rust freeing spray. Goodluck!! I would like to jump to the magic tool but the rubber seals and such would bother me.

If I remember correct you should put the end back in the control arm and put the nut back on, and then pry the control arm down to pull it out of the knuckle.

Sorry ericem, if you check the time of our post you will see I was replying at the same time, Not copying what you just said.

lol don't worry about it xD main thing is he will get the message

Thanks for the help guys. I think we are all set. We attached the control arm and used a large pry bar and got the thing pulled out. We installed the new one and put everything back together and it seems to work OK.

 

The clunk noise is gone.

 

Thanks!