2013 Corolla, 70k miles, light clunk in front?

[ryanschillinger]

My wife drives the car back and forth to work and the freeway isn't the smoothest. The 710 in LA isn't known for being awesome... Anyway, I hadn't driven it for a while but took it on a longer drive this weekend and noticed a light clunk or rattle coming from the front end over sharp bumps. I haven't had a chance to get under it yet, but was wondering if anyone had experience with anything going bad in these. It's quiet unless you go over a bigger expansion joint or something similar. I should have time to get under there this week, and I know that's he only sure way to figure it out, but if someone else has a similar year corolla that did something similar and turned out to be _____? Might be helpful.

 

[eljefino]

Not having a corolla you can write off my answer.

But I suspect sway bar end links, their rubber isolators, or strut mounts.

 

[Drew99GT]

It's impossible to tell without looking at it, but Corollas have been known to eat up sway bar bushings and end links. If those are good, could be ball joints. It should be easy to check the sway bar bushings and links; grab the links and wiggle and also grab the bar by wear the mounts/bushings are and wiggle it with all your might; any movement is not good. You can check ball joints fairly easily if you jack it up and pry the lower control are with a pry bar and or grab the tire and move it. If you notice any sloppiness in the steering I suppose it could also be a wheel bearing.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Does it still clunk if you ride the brake over the same bump? If so, it's probably something in the suspension, such as a stabilizer bar link. If not, then it may be your brake pads rattling in the caliper mounts, which isn't unheard of. Some vehicles will have a looser fit here than others. Looser fit generally means more noise, but also more tolerance for dirt/grime/rust. Tighter fit usually means less noise, but also less tolerance for dirt/grime/rust.

 

[ryanschillinger]

Hmm brake pads rattling? I've never experienced that but how would I diagnose that? I'm not sure if it does it with brakes applied. Just noticed it for the first time the other day. I'll look closely at sway bar and components.

 

[Oro_O]

The mounts would be highly suspect in my book, a known issue on the Corolla and Camry. In mild use (highway, good roads) they can last forever; We have 1/4 million miles on our ES300 2002 mounts and they are fine. They seem to not like rough roads/bad urban roads and cars in NYC, eg, can fail well under 100k.

If that is the cause, get the OE mounts as the KYB and Monroe ones fail. Do not think of touching the cheaper off-name ones.

 

[ryanschillinger]

You're talking about strut mounts? I guess if it's something like that I'll drop it at the dealer for repair. I paid some extra for a 7 year 120k mile "extended warranty" If it's something easy, I'd rather just do it myself.

Is there a how-to on checking the strut mounts?

 

[KitaCam]

My guess is the stabilizer link....

 

[ryanschillinger]

If it's something like that, I'll probably just buy some energy suspension poly bushings to replace the originals.

 

[HerrStig]

Make sure the strut mount bolts are torqued properly. Then look at the other suspension pieces. No one, it seems, makes a better than OEM mount yet.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: ryanschillinger
Hmm brake pads rattling? I've never experienced that but how would I diagnose that? I'm not sure if it does it with brakes applied. Just noticed it for the first time the other day. I'll look closely at sway bar and components.
The little anti rattle clips which hold the pads in place in the caliper loose their "spring" with time and can let the pads wiggle a bit. As others have said, when the pads are being clamped by the caliper they won't rattle. New pads usually come with new clips.

 

[ryanschillinger]

I recently replaced front pads and everything seemed to go back together normally. Pretty sure they had new clips, plus I used the brake lube stuff on all the contact points. The pads would rattle over bumps, or just when going on and off the brakes? I hoped to get time to look at it today but it's already getting dark.