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Clunking sound every time going ov bump! Please Help!

27K views 27 replies 14 participants last post by  cas1234 
#1 ·
My wife has a 2006 Grand Vitara Luxury (2WD)...and now every time we go over a speed bump or hit a pot hole in the road there is a deep clunking sound that comes from what sounds like the front right wheel. I've checked the exhaust piping & hangers and they're all fine...I didn't notice any worn bushings anywhere...so my only other guess would be something with the suspension. (i.e. shocks/struts). My question is has anyone experienced this same issue?...and if so, what exactly was it? If we go VERY slow over a speed bump, we won't hear the sound....but if you're going 5+ mph over a bump, you'll hear it. Also, if it is a bad strut, how hard is the replacement and parts?...and should I replace both left and right sides?..or is it okay to just replace the bad one?... (I do a lot a work on Nissan engines...but I've never done anything suspension wise on my car or my wife's)...any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Check the rear bushing on the front control arm on that right side wheel - it's kind of difficult to see because of it's location, but they are known to fail and clunk when they fail.

For the most part you can expect passenger side suspension components to wear faster than driver's side - this happens because ruts & pot holes will typically be on the shoulder or toward the edge of the road, but replacement in pairs is strongly recommended unless you have a specific reason for replacing one side only, for example, collision damage soon after replacement - in a case like that, the undamaged arm/bush/strut would be in known good condition.
 
#5 ·
#7 ·
Also check the front sway bar link where it attaches to the strut.
 
#10 ·
Thanks evodave (and everyone) for the help...unfortunately, I still haven't been able to get the GV in the garage to check everything due to other cars in the garage that are having engine issues....and the sound from the GV is getting worse by the day. Once I get the other cars out of the garage, pull the GV in and check the things suggested I'll provide an update to hopefully help others in the future.
 
#11 ·
I replaced the front lower control arm assemblies on my 06 GV and it did next to nothing, and before that i replaced the struts and shock absorbers on it to no avail also. Couple thousand for nothing, so let me give you what nobody did for me, real information. Most mechanics think ppl are stupid and barely know what shocks are and by the time they figure it out the garage has already made a quick buck, the usual shocks and strut hustle, they'll say the best thing you can do is replace your struts to which i say bull****. Shocks and springs will last quite a few km if your tire pressure is correct and your driving is half decent.

I even prefer my shocks more when their worn in instead of brand new because their far too stiff at the beginning. You bought an SUV for the versatility and the suspension travel so why would you want to drive something that feels like a solid chunk of steel.

May I suggest instead checking or rather replacing the swaybar end links and sway bar frame mount bushings and brakets with up to date greasable polyurethane bushings and a bracket outfitted with a zirk fitting or grease nipple aka. These better quality aftermarket parts will be cheaper than suzuki oem replacements by several times.

Parts needed. Breaker bar, socket set, sawzall, jack and jack stands, torque adjustable wrench.

And when you want to do your struts buy the spring compression tool and do it yourself and tell the mechanics off.
 
#12 ·
Also it is not easy to tell if bushings are worn many times and mechanics opinions whether or not the bushing is worn is very subjective as well. If a part fails I always try to replace it with a part of higher quality or your gonna do it twice over.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, I just replaced the inner and outer tie rods with Moog brand ones on my Nissan 300ZX and they seem to work great so far and have good reviews....so I just ordered the same Moog brand (part# K750087) for the Grand Vitara from Rock Auto...went ahead and ordered both the front left and right ones. When I inspected the right one this past weekend, the entire boot was pretty much gone on the upper connecting point on the front-right wheel! (just the naked bolt being held on by the nut with no cushioning causing the clunking sound)....once the parts arrive, this should hopefully be a quick and easy fix!
 
#17 ·
There was a TSB out APR/09 for front upper strut mount bearings. Mine had a mild clunk going slowly over speed bumps. There is a new part for those mounts: 41810-78K00 should be replace under warranty.

Tsb: Knock Noise From Front Suspension
SUBJECT: KNOCK NOISE FROM FRONT SUSPENSION.
MODEL(S): GRAND VITARA (JB627)
YEAR: 2006~2008
CONDITION: Knocking noise may come from the front suspension.
CAUSE: Insufficient dampening at the upper strut support, allowing sound transfer.
CORRECTION: Redesigned shape, and softer material used in the upper strut mount.
 
#20 ·
My wife and I have a 2010 Suzuki Grand Vitara 3,2 V6 with only 85000 kilometers in a bery good condition. I have had the same problem with noise from RH front wheel and they could not find any wrong or fault even at the yearly safety car inspection. I run a workshop myself since 1980 and could not find anything iether.. Yesterday 2022-03-23 I found the fault, it was the shock absorber. No gas in it. Its like new now with no noise.
Göran Kölborn 🇸🇪
 
#21 ·
I just had to retighten (a garage did anyway) the top joint on the swaybar link. I had replaced the front right strut 3 months ago. The sound it made was very similar to a loose top joint on the swaybar. The garage, after they replaced the strut, must have replaced the nut on the strut but it had slogged out threads. The next garage found the nut was loose and replaced it with a new one AND loctited it on. I am hoping that that is the end of loose nuts. This is the third time it has come loose and I suspect that each time the threads had got a little worse. Replacement of the nut should possibly be done instead of just tightening it up.
 
#22 ·
What are discussing here? A loose nut on the top joint of the swaybar link or a loose nut on the top of the strut?

Struts, at least all that I have bought, have come with new nuts, but I've never used them, I've also never put loctite on them, and I've never had one come loose - and that's maybe a dozen or so disassemblies across a variety of vehicles - strut replacements, spring replacements, lifting/lowering. I've also never used loctite on swaybar end link nuts, and never had them run loose.

What I think you need to get a handle on is exactly what is loose and making the noise, and maybe find one garage that you can trust to do the job right and stick with it - torque to spec, is all that's required.

For what it's worth, one of the common sources of clunks when going over bumps in a third gen is the rear bush on the front control arms - does the clunk feel like it's a few inches forward of where your feet are? It might be worth checking.
 
#23 ·
I had this kind of problem with my suzuki celario a while back. At first the dealer thought it was the anti roll bar and replaced it. This didn't resolve the problem. Then I suspected something loose or rattling in the engine bay or loose plastic wheel arch protectors. Second visit to the dealer resolved the problem....Brake caliper pins needed greasing. Been ok ever since.
 
#24 ·
In my case it was the nut on top of the swaybar link. 3 times it has come loose. You might think that I haven't been fixing the root problem but it has definitely been that nut each time. But I did physically see that the nut was loose each time. Three different garages involved. The last time the nut definitely had a worn thread which may or may not have allowed it to be torqued up correctly (and I suspect they didn't use a torque wrench to do it) but it came loose so the nut was replaced. Each time there was a clonk when you went over any sort of bump. Each time after tightening the clonk went away completely. I suspect the issue mainly was that at least two of the garages didn't understand the importance of making sure that this nut needed to be torqued up to at least a minimum standard. I am aware of the probability of the rear bush on the front control arms wearing out eventually.
 
#25 ·
This gives me horrible flashbacks to my 99 clunking noise. It finally turned out to probably be right rear axle bearing. They were sure it was the front- it wasn't. The sound is just so hard to locate sometimes. The clunking got worse and worse and then was not just with bumps or stopping but all the time. Another time we had a clunk like that and it turned out to be a broken motor mount. I would get it up on jackstands and see if you can reproduce it by turning the wheels. We listened with a stethoscope to see if we could locate the noise. It was faint when up on jackstands but you could still hear it and feel it. I remember one mechanic was sure it was a CV axle. It wasn't.
 
#26 ·
One thing seems common here is how similar very different problems sound like and how hard it is to trace the location. Unless you have had prior experience.
When my swaybar link failed the 2nd time I knew immediately what it was after the first time. But when it failed the 3rd time it sounded more like my failed front RHS strut (both on the same side).
 
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