Timmay!!!

I've been getting a bunch of rattles at low to moderatespeeds from the front end and the same sound on tighter turns(like turning into the driveway, parking, etc) I was last under the car maybe 1500 mi ago and everything seemed tight and in place. Since I did shocks/struts, springs and a bunch of other suspension work I checked behind myself and made sure everything was good and nothing seems out f place. Pigtails are seated properly, spring isolators areat the bottom of the spring, front swaybar is properly mounted. What could I have missed? I really didn't look at the strut mounts that well but could those be the culprit? Please advise. Thanks
-Tim

Timmay!!!

Wel after a short search I guess I'm not the only one having this issue, stupid me[:@]. Maybe I'll remove and reinstall the front sway bar just to make sure everything is kosher.

wolfey2k

IF / when you find out what is causing the rattle or thunking noise, please let me know.
I have a new 07 4.0 Pony and had the strut assemblies changed out with new ones including strut bearings in an attempt to get rid of the low speed/minor road bumps thunking noise in my front suspension.
It's still there.
There is a tiny bit of slop in the strut bearings and I think that is the cause.
Replacing them with the OEM didn't change anything because they are exactlythe same spec' as the original bearings.

redfirevert06

Check the end-links for the sway bar.

richp

How long till it started making noise? I've not noticed anything yet but only have 700 miles on it so far.

Timmay!!!

Honestly it's been making the noise since I lowered the car(3-4 months), but only ever now and then on the roughest roads. But since I've been home in St. Louis the last couple of weeks the car sees more rough roads now and the rattle has definatly increased.

F1Fan

Hi Timmay!!!

The click or pop when turning is usually one end or the other of the anti-roll bar links. These are hard to get right even if you use an air gun. The only other problem I've seen is the stock strut bearings going bad a either broken race, a race that is cracked and looses a ball orflat plastic *****. You can try replacingyour origninal strut bearings with newFord parts as they are cheap. Just makesure that your Ford parts man gets you the newestversion for your yearS197. If thismakes the noise goaway lucky you butif you are like manyfolks the new strut bearings will only last so long. A better permanent solution is to install a pair of the new Steedaprecisionstreet strut bearings with adjustable camber and no additional NVH as they are isolated unlike Steeda's competition strut bearings which are not camber adjustable and use a soild spherical bearing for strut location.These new Steeda street strut bearings are nicely doneandaretrick but maybe a bit pricey at300 clams. But I suppose they are cheap if the darned popping goes away and stays away after installing them!

HTH

Timmay!!!

Thanks for the response F1Fan. Can you inspect the strut bearings without removing the struts? Maybe I'll try the Ford bearings if they are cheap enough.

F1Fan

Hi Timmay,

Nope, can't tell by looking at them. You have to pull the struts and pop off the strut bearings and even then you usually cannot tell by simple inspection, you have to look very closely at the ***** and bearing surfaces. But if you got it apart you have an old style strut bearing and it should be replaced. The newer strut bearings don't come apart easily. The OE strut bearings are pretty cheap call you local Ford dealership and get a pair to install if the cost of the Steeda pieces are too scary to consider.

HTH

LarryS

I installed new Ford strut bearings in mine and didn't help a thing. They were $17 each at my Ford dealer. I don't have a front sway bar so that's not it. I'm trying aftermarket struts next.