2007 Front Suspension Thunking Noise - Page 9

wolfey2k · 01-03-2007, 12:55 PM

Cool casper!
Thanks for giving it a try at least.
I hope you do find that noise and kill it!
Interesting about the rotors but the wheel and lugs should hold it dead still once tightened one would think.
Moosestang commented about his rear calipers being lose. That's strange.
I did check my front calipers weeks ago when I was looking for mr. thunk and they are snug as they should be.
Someone will figure it out I hope!
FORD should get off their duffs, fix the problem and issue a TSB. Especially with all the people they now have complaining about this problem.
Perhaps we should get others to send them a letter, email, phone calls and harrass the shiz out of them until they do something about it.

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My05GT · 01-03-2007, 03:21 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: wolfey2k

How much did you tighten yours? What's the torque spec' if any?What exactly did you tighten? The end links or the clamps/bushings holding it to the frame?
Thanks

85 ft/lbs (115 N m). Here's a photo

http://www.mustangforums.com/albumtn...i721698874.jpg

stangme1 · 01-05-2007, 10:40 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Embalmer

I will be taking my new '07 with 300 miles on it back to the dealership this week for this problem. It has gotten a little worse, first occuring predominantly on the right side but now both sides have the problem. I explained to them there may not be a fix for this, so I'll report back when I find out something.

So how did it go? Did the mechanics find the cause of the thunking noise?
I was under my car today to look at the configuration of the exhaust system while I was deciding on which cat back true dual exhaust system to buy.
I looked at the lower control arms and since I was looking from the front of the car to the rear I could see a gap on the bottom of the rear 'big' bushing where the rear of the LCA connects and is held in place by a huge 3.5" or so roundrubber bushing.
You can see there is a clamp on top of it holding it in place so it can't move in and out and supposedly up or down in that holder but I swear I saw a gap on the bottom of it and it could be possible that this is where the mystery thunking is coming from.
I have other reasons to think so but I won't post them here.
I just wonder.....hmmmmmmmmm...
I may look further into this after the weather clears up and I have a nice day on my hands.

white531 · 01-09-2007, 10:56 PM

Went to my dealer today with my 07 gt.They had no recalls or tsb for the clunking.Mine has it front and rear at slow speeds.They checked all suspension parts and found nothing loose.I have noticed that when i have the car loaded with passengers i do not have the noise over the same roads.It must be preloading the suspension.I am going to live with this until there is a safety issue.

northy_polk · 01-10-2007, 11:48 AM

I have an '07 GT with the same thunking, and that is the perfect word for it. I test drove about 4 GTs and they ALL had this sound. Car noises drive me INSANE; it's in my genes or something. A few things:

1) I drove an '85 Scirocco with oodles of miles on it and this is the same sound that car had: it was a strut noise.
2) I drove a 2000 Honda Insight and sued Honda using the lemon laws and won. Each state is different to a certain extent on what is required to cause a car to be a lemon. But fairly common to all of them is how many times you take the car to the dealer vs. if they actually fix the problem. For me it was 5 or 6 times and maybe a month total of not having the car to have it declared a "lemon".

I hate to be "that guy" and say sue the bastards, but maybe it would send a stronger message?! And what you get if you "win" is not necessarily predetermined: could be money damages or a total buy-back of the car. I don't want to get rid of the car, but this noise is ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE.

One more thing: I haven't heard of a single person on this thread [maybe i missed it] who has put NON-FORD struts on the car. Anybody? Did it kill the thunk?

Thanks!

NP

My05GT · 01-10-2007, 04:18 PM

There are some that have the Tokicos. I do, and have had the noise. Since I tightened the front link this last time, I haven't heard the noise.

rjg426 · 01-11-2007, 01:49 AM

I checked the upper and lower bolts on the link and they were tight on my 06 GT. I could only get them to move a fraction (more than the 85 ft-lb spec) but it made no difference. I've had the thunk from day one and still have it. I've learned to live with it, although it is irritating to not know the cause.

northy_polk · 01-11-2007, 05:03 PM

DAG! Sucks not knowing. . . I'll take what everybody's said and try to build on it so we can drive at 27 mph in PEACE AND QUIET.

NP

wolfey2k · 01-14-2007, 08:26 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: sandy

I have an 06 GT and had the exact same problem. I took it to my ford dealer and after test driving it, the service guy said it was supposed to sound like that. I said no way, so they took an 07 off the lot and took me for a ride in it. Low and behold, it also had the cluncking noise on low speed bumps. The dealer checked their national hot line for complaints and had none on this problem. He said that eventually when complaints came in Ford might do something about it. OK, now listen to this. I wanted to lower my stang, so I added eibach prokit springs with tokico dspec struts. Vola', the noise went away and I haven't heard it since. This tells me the problem is in the factory strut/springs assembly and Ford doesn't want to deal with it.

I presume you replaced the strut bearings with the new kits right?
I am convinced now more than ever that the slop in Ford's stock strut bearings are the culprit!
However, there is also a possibility that the ratio between the spring tension and the stiff resistance of the shocks may be causing the bearing to THUNK during undamped suspension periods. The tiny bumps are so sharp and so fast that the strut / shock doesn't have enough time to react hence the vibration goes to the weakest point which is the tiny amount of vertical play in the strut bearing. Mine has gotten worse recently. My dealers suspension mech' replaced both struts and bearings with stock Ford strut kits...It's still there. I too have driven other stangs and they thunk too. It gets worse over time.

LarryS · 01-14-2007, 10:42 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: wolfey2k

I am convinced now more than ever that the slop in Ford's stock strut bearings are the culprit!
However, there is also a possibility that the ratio between the spring tension and the stiff resistance of the shocks may be causing the bearing to THUNK during undamped suspension periods. The tiny bumps are so sharp and so fast that the strut / shock doesn't have enough time to react hence the vibration goes to the weakest point which is the tiny amount of vertical play in the strut bearing. Mine has gotten worse recently. My dealers suspension mech' replaced both struts and bearings with stock Ford strut kits...It's still there. I too have driven other stangs and they thunk too. It gets worse over time.

I measured the upper strut bearing movementofone of thepieces I replaced.I've replaced both to no avail. There is about .025/.030 movement. However, this movement is eliminated with any load on the bearing. I can't see that the load would be taken off over a small incline.

I've heard it's this bearing, the strut and even one posted that it's the A arm. I really don't know what it is but I feel like my new Mustang is a "clunker"! Almost embarrassed to havefriends ride with me. I thoughta new car is suppose to be nice and tight.