Riptide

The car does this frequently when I go into my driveway. Also when going over a washboard stretch of road it clunks over every little bump. Speed bumps taken slowly don't seem to do cause the problem. Smaller bumps, yes.

Going to be working on my suspension next week, in particular the rear. Is there anything I should check back there?

UPRDanielle

Check the upper and lower control arm bushings and bolts...the bushings may be torn, or the bolts may be loose.

Riptide

Going to be pulling both those parts out. So those are on the list to check. Replacing the upper and the mount. And checking the bushings on the lowers. Thanks

09blkgtcal

I was hearing clunking and it ended up being my endlinks on the front sway bar

SaddleUp

My clunking was a loose set of catbacks. Spot welding took care of it.

timothyrw

i've got the same thing, small bumps cause a clunk but larger bumps don't. i am betting (hoping) it is some loose bolts...

let us know what you find.

Just1Guy

The OEM bolts are 1 time use only. And they aren’t kidding. When you torque them the first time they stretch quite a bit. The second time you use them they have already been stretched and get to their torque setting in 1-2 clicks of the wrench.

They need to be torqued to 127ft lb which is higher than most would guess.

They should be torqued at or near ride height. Don’t torque them with the axle hanging.

I had a random clunk that took me a while to chase down. The hole in the U shaped bracket that goes between the floor and the UCA had gone oval and the bolt was moving under load. This most likely happened to me because I re-used the OEM bolt when I put my UCA on. I have since welded “shoulders” on the U shaped bracket and I am using a 12.9 grade bolt/nut there now. I have not had a clunk since.

mstngsule68

mine was my front ball joints/lca

Rubrignitz

This is likely your problem. I haven't seen any deformation of the bracket holes on my car but had many clunks and rattles before going over my entire suspension and replacing all of the hardware with either 14mmx100 long shoulder or 9/16''x4'' long shoulder Grade 8 bolts, whichever fit the tightest in the brackets and suspension components. Some parts wouldn't accept the 9/16'' even though they fit through the bracket holes so there was a disparity in suspension part bushing and brakcet hole!!! I added washers and new nylock nuts to everything and torqued it all down with the new hardware. It's tight as a drum back there now.

For some reason the stock ford bolts have short shoulders and like he said are tty (torque to yield).

Riptide

I intend to re-use the bolts. If I have any problems with clunking that weren't there before the install of the new control arms (upper and lower) then I will buy the hardware and replace the bolts at that point. I've known people that pretty much always re-use the bolts and haven't had any issues. So apparently YMMV. I will keep an eye (ear?) out for it though and replace if need be.

Bolts will be torqued with the axle supported by jack stands.

Regarding the UCA - the UMI mount should fix the inherent "slop" issue the stock mount produces.