Since I installed the Progress sways and Whiteline endlinks, I've been getting a clunking sound from the front suspension. I've re-lubed and re-tightened the sway bar 3 times since the install and I can guarantee that it's not loose.

At first I thought that it was hitting something so I went over the entire sway bar to find a gash or scar somewhere -- nothing. Also thought the sway could have been hitting the strut but I can't find any marks on the strut either.

Had it up on the lift and had a Mazda tech check the entire suspension and everything was tight, he couldn't find any problems. (thank you Elite Mazda for club sponsorship and free inspections!)

We also checked for missing clips or loose things, added a few missing clips but that didn't help.

The sound is mostly coming from the driver's side and is very noticeable, especially when driving slowly on a rough patch or when braking.

Any thoughts?

 

weird, i have a clunk from front but that was because i put the stock suspension back on and i didnt line up the spring correctly. since i am looking at coil over i dont bother realigning it.

but since u didnt touch it doubt your suspension randomly came out of alignment.

 

1 of two things. I have the same problem. It will be the link that goes from the anti-swaybar tothe control arm. There is a TSB on it where the seated bolt breaks away from the cap its in.

Or, your motor mounts are getting weak and they hit the bump stops. Mine looks more the bump stop issue.

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...7&postcount=23

and

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...6&postcount=24

 

I'm curious if the sound you have might be coming from your whiteline endlinks. I have the whiteline front/rear bar and endlinks to which I get clunking noise from time to time. I still have not nailed down what the cause is.

 

Benjamz: My end-links are aftermarket Whiteline endlinks. I thought the motor mount issue was on the 04s? Mine is an 06... worth looking at though.

Todd: That's what I'm thinking right now. Unfortunately I don't have another set of links to test with. I lubed them up quite a bit through. I think I'll take them off and play with them a bit to see if they move freely. I really hope it's not the links though, I paid a decent amount for those :-/

 

Well, mine is an 04, And I put brand new end links on. If it sounds like a hamer tapping and you feel it on your floor board, it might be the bump stops on the motor mounts. My car is lowered a hair, h-techs, and its a bit more jittery ride. Our motor mounts are hydrolic, spelling, i know, but maybe they dont respond well to harsh driving. This is really the last thing on my last of things to check. All it takes is one side to get soft and then road bumps will be saying HELLO.

 

It can be a loose endlink nut that casues the clunking sound

 

I've been hearing the clunk and I have no aftermarket suspension... Could it bee that I need an alignment?

 

I'll know more when I get the testing set of endlinks on my car.

Whoops! I think I said too much!

 

If the suspension is tight, endlinks are good, its probably the bump stops hitting on weak motor mounts.

 

When I was running Progress Sways I got the same sound. Ended up coming from the sway bar bushing brackets. The nuts that hold it in place became loose, resulting in that sound. I just tightened them up and the sound was gone.

 

The sound you heard, did it feel like someone was tapping the bottom of your floor board with a hammer? I think there are alot of things that can attribute to the noise. I did have a loose endlink before and I heard noise. But this time I can actually feel something hitting hard over bumps.

 

I had the EXACT same thing going on with my 8... wheel bearing was loose.
The sound/vibration was only noticeable at low speeds and while breaking.

 

Well I got this fixed. Still not sure of the exact cause but essentially I lubed the endlinks and the bushings with Energy Suspension lithium grease (awesome stuff). I also tightened by front sway to full stiff (which means I had to extend the endlinks as well).

After all this and a day of autocross, still no clunking sound. One thing I noticed is that the ball on these endlinks are VERY stiff -- hard to move by hand. I would not be surprised if the cause was the endlinks.

 

Mine ended up being the anti-sway bar mount brackets. They warped because they were not centered causing play in the bracket.

See thread here..

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/progress-anti-sway-bar-bump-noise-fix-176182/