JimsGT

I get this too. more so on the pass. side though. Happened since the minute I drove it off the lot with 15 miles on it. Figured thats just the way its supposed to be, its a Mustang GT, I thought, not a Lincoln Town Car, so I didn't give it much thought. Not any worse, though, at 3,000 miles. Car rides fine!

Dave40

yup i get the same nosie on my 06 V6, there is a recall now on the struts, my vin does not match up on the after market struts problem. so im gona put up with the sound as normal for now, and have my dealer inspect them just incase

Dave

wolfey2k

Hello gentlemen and ladies if there are any out here ;-).
I spent the better part of today at my favorite dealer where I have made friends with some of the mech's and service manager as we all like to tell old autoshop war stories and so on.

Okay, while I was hanging out with the guys, the service manager asked me how it's going with the clunking problem. I told him it's still there and I was about to come see him about it so we can get hold of Ford's engineering dept. and see if they are aware of it.

He has to log on to their exclusive dealer only assistance hotline. Waited for him to jump through all the hoops to get to the section where he fills out a form that asks specific questions regaring customer vehicle complaints.

Here's a typed copy of the Q&A. Enjoy and rejoice my friends! Help is on the way! Finally!

**************************

REQUEST FOR DETAILS:
DISCRIPTION OF VEHICLE CONCERN:
clunking noise over small road deflections at low speeds.

DIAGNOSIS PERFORMED:
visual inspection of all suspension components.

PARTS REPLACED:
front strut assemblies at earlier service visit.

QUESTION: WERE YOU ABLE TO VERIFY THE CONCERN?
ANSWER: Yes

QUESTION: Is there an appropriate pinpoint test in the WSM for this concern?
ANSWER: No

QUESTION: Was the pinpoint test followed?
ANSWER

TECH'S QUESTION:
information to assist in better diagnnosis of concern

HOTLINE RECOMENDATION
get off your fat enginering asses and come up with a fix for this friggin problem! < just kidding, I added that ;-).
(note, at this point the service manager clicks on send, waits a few seconds and Ford spits out a phone number for him to call. Evidently the number is for the specific person or team addressing this problem at Ford engineering.
Then he's sent a LOG of the call and a summary of their conversation as written below.

CALL LOG:

CALLS TO HOTLINE FOR THIS VEHICLE (he entered my VIN and some other data at the beginning of the hoops)

1/16/07 12:15 PM - TECH SAID:
NOISE IN RIGHT FRONT OVER BUMPS AT LOW SPEED. THE STRUTS HAVE BEEN ISOLATED TO NOISE, COMPARES TO OTHER VEHICLES THAT HAVE BEEN TESTED IN THE PAST.

1/16/07 12:15 PM - HOTLINE RECOMENDED:
ADVISED DEALER THAT THE ISSUE IS BEING LOOKED INTO AT THE ENGINEERING LEVEL. CONVERTABLE MUSTANGS HAVE ALL THE SAME PARTS BUT DO NOT EXHIBIT THE NOISE, SO THEY ARE EVALUATING THE SUBFRAME CONNECTORS AS A POSSIBLE FIX AS WELL AS THE STRUT MOUNTS.
THESE ISSUES HAVE TO BE EVALUATED FOR ROBUST FIX AND CRASH TESTED, SO THE REPAIR MAY NOT BE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE, BUT THE FIX IS COMING IN THE FORM OF A TSB OR SSM. THE ISSUE IS NOT STRUCTURAL AND IS ONLY COSMETIC AND IS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE. WAIT FORM MESSAGE TO MAKE REPAIRS.
THANK YOU!
END OF MESSAGE.

Now I talked with the service manager a bit more analysing what they were saying regarding it only being a cosmetic issue?

He said that they consider it so because it's nothing that is dangerous. It is an cosmetic issue because it is only an annoyance issue.
Well that makes sense to me as much as I hate to admit it but they are right.
He showed me a blueprint of the subframe to body connections. They are bolts with hard rubber bushings around them with a metal shaft up the middle as with most frame to body bushings on any vehicle. They are small ones, not the huge ones you see on other vehicles.

My theory is that the subframe is flexing to the degree that it allows a tiny bit of side play (normal as that's what the bushings are there for), but the side play is sufficient enough to be a concern or possible cause. The strut bearings are an obvious issue. No need for analyzation. If there is any end play in the bearing i.e. up and down play, it's going to thunk!
That's the story folks. Problem solved....almost!

Anyway, I'm happy that Ford is on top of it and we will soon see a TSB out on the issue with the correct and permanent fix!

Look forward to it I'd guess within the next few weeks to few months!
Wolfey2k

genmex2

I´m from Monterrey, Mexico so please excuse my errors .
Sadly I can tell you that I have experienced the same problem as you, My car is a 2007 GT and I also drove two0 km cars before I decided to buy mine and the 3 of them including mine, had the same noise you guys have been writing about . I decided to buy the car accepting that I would deal with that problem, My brother had a 94 Mustang Gt and it was noisy also. Last week I bought a pair Prokit Eibach Springs and set of Tokico D-SPEC adjustable shocks and struts for my car. Before I bought them the salesperson told me that It was incredible the number of custumers buying the springs and shock package for this cars and he also told me that the 2005-2007 mustangs had a design problem with their FRONT STROUT MOUNTS, he asked me If I had noticed any strange noises in the front end and I told him that In the three 0 kms cars I drove, the noise was noticeable . He said the noise was going to be stronger as miles pass. He told me thatsome times the noise stops when you lower the car , but as you use your car ,the noise will start. He said there was nothing to do by the moment and that he would let me know if some aftermarket part appeared to deal with the problem, With a little investigation on my mustang magazines I read about steeda suspension components and today I found in its homepage : http://www.steeda.com/products/heavy...nts_street.php that they just released these replacement part for the struts mounts, Not to make this much longer, I decided to order them (they are expensive) and I´m almost sure that the problem will be solved, Check it out , In a couple of weeks I´ll let you know the results, meanwhile read this:












555-8120
Heavy Duty Upper Strut Mounts - Set of 2 - Street - '05-'07
$299.95













Product Details
FINALLY! A heavy duty, direct replacement upper strut mount to replace the weak factory mounts for S197 Mustangs that can be used on the street! The Steeda street heavy duty upper strut mounts are manufactured to the same exacting tolerances as our industry leading caster/camber plates. They utilize a roller bearing that exceeds OEM specs to ensure precise suspension control. Will not fail on lowered cars like the factory piece. They eliminate the "popping" sound that is common on lowered cars when the factory upper mount fails. Unlike the factory piece, you can also get an extra 1 degree of camber in each direction with these plates as well. Steeda's heavy duty upper mounts are specifically designed for street use and will not show any increase in NVH when installed.

Price includes a set of two.

Benefits

[ul][*]Better handling with more stable cornering, while maintaining factory ride quality[*]Precision Tolerance and Fit with the Highest Grade Materials available[*]Allows adjustment of up to 1 degree positive or negative of camber. [/ul]Fits Vehicle Model:
Ford Mustang GT & V6

Ragnar

Thanks for the excellent write up wolfey2k. I have a 2006 with the same issue and response from Ford as everyone else. What I find funny though is Ford is on top of it. This is the 3rd year for this model and the issue has happened since day 1. 3 years and they are on top of it? We can expect it to be resolved in 2010 with the redesign. But I doubt they'll address anything that they consider cosmetic for our model years. They told me to just live with it and let it go. I hate to say it but that's what I'm doing. If it gets worse, which it hasn't 14,000 miles later, I'll raise holy hell.

sandy

As I've posted previously, I added eibach prokits and tokico d-specs and the sound went away.

HypromanGT

Well I'd like to report that at 19,000 miles it seems to be getting a little more noticeable[:@] I think I'll call Ford again.

LarryS

Do you still have the factory upper springbearings?

sandy

I'd say yes as the only parts I furnished to the installer were thesprings and the struts.

wolfey2k

Hey GenMex2,
did you get those upper strut bearings replaced with the aftermarket ones you wrote about?
Has the thunking noise dissapeared?

Ever since Ibaught my car, I had it in to service the 2nd day I had it and all the mechanics I talked to there were lunkheads because they denied it was possible for strutbearings to thunk due to the pressure of the return spring and vehicle weight!
Geesh!
Anyway, I've known the bearings are the culprit since day one.
Ford wants to play games and from what one other wrote about their fixes, Ford may never get around to issuing a TSB on it.
I do find it interesting that Ford says convertables don't make the noise. There is evidently an additional cross member between the two frame to body mounts and this is the ONLY difference suspension wise.
I haven't test driven any convertables yet.
I might give on a test drive soon though.
I'm going to give Ford until Spring time to come out with the fix. If I don't see a TSB by then, then I may consider purchasing and installing those bearings you found.
Let me know how it went with the installation and the result.

Thanks!
Wolfey