HELP! CLUNKING NOISE WHEN ON ROUGH ROAD

gbb116 · Jul 2nd, 2007, 01:51 PM

I have a 97 Nissan Sentra GXE 4cyl.

I am experiancing a clunking noise when driving down a rough driveway or pothole filled road. The odd thing is that the noise is only ever made when the road is rough and when it is making the clunking noise i really cant feel in the steering wheel, i can only hear it and feel it on my feet. Going to what i thought the cause was, i replaced the struts and the strut mounts and bearing. That was unsuccesful, i took the plate off of the mounts of the control arm but the seem to be in good shape. The car only has 47,000 miles on it. Ball joints and everything seems solid. I had it on my buddys rack shaking the crap out of it trying to replicate the noise. I have no more ideas. PLEASE HELP!

I also have to replace the main seal....already.
Thanks in advance!

Tavel · Jul 2nd, 2007, 04:29 PM

oh, that's what you mean. haha

could be overinflated tires, or even a broken belt (sometimes you can't see a broken belt, but the car just doesn't feel right). Check inflation and rotate them.

Tavel · Jul 2nd, 2007, 10:28 PM

was thinking it could also be the plunge joints on the inner CV joints. I don't know how to verify that, but CV axles only last 125k-150k miles.

But your car only has 50k on it...so I would be hesitant to straight up replace them. Find out how to test or inspect the inner CV joints (particularly the plunge joints) for wear.