jcraft

front end noises

I have a 97 plymouth voyager with a 6 cyl. 3.0 ltr. engine ( may be a 3.2). just got it inspected and passed about a week ago. For the past monht or so there has been a lot of cluncking in the front passenger side area. it is most noticeable when making a right or left turn. You don't really here it that much when going straight or over bumps. if you stop and go around with the steering wheel in both directions you can here it as well. you can also here it if you go and physically rock the pass. side up and down real hard. Purposely didn't let the shop know about this so we could see if they found anything but they didn't. I would think all the important stuff ( tie rods, ball joints , suspension) should be checked during inspection. Any ideas what this could be. thanks

DKM

Ft End Clunk

I would suspect the Ft sway bar bushings, where they mount to the lowwer control arms. What happens is the bushings get weak/worn and the end(s) of the sway bar hits on the lower control arm. It's not something normaly picked up on a ft end check cause they still feel tight. They only seem to hit when the swar bar twists, like on turns. If you look closely where the ends of the sway bar are, you'll probably see a shinny spot on the control arm between the bar and arm, where it's been hitting. I've seen a lot of vehicles that have had struts and other ft end parts replaced and all it was was the sway bar bushing(s). Hope this helps.

David

jcraft

re:

is this a bad thing if a sway bar bushing is bad. May not be able to get it fixed for a month or two.

Cabot

These are notorious (sp) for wearing out on this gen. of van. It takes longer to go to the parts store and get them than it does to change. 20 min. max., it will tighten up the front end also.