If your car clunks when you hit a bump, inspect these five potential culprits:
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- Problems with the steering rack
- Issues with the sway bar links
- Troubles with the sway bar bushings
- Damage in the strut bushings
- Bad ball joints
The longer you drive your car, the more you'll be able to detect any abnormal behaviors. For example, have you ever asked yourself, “why is my car clunking when I hit a bump?” This should not be a normal situation and could be linked to an internal problem.
The good thing is that you pay attention to this weird behavior from your car because otherwise, things could get more complicated and cost you thousands of dollars on repair. Automotive experts almost recommend paying attention to these minor symptoms to resolve the issue without needing to install new components.
This article provides a detailed summary of the five potential carpets that could cause your vehicle to clunk every time you head of them. We highly encourage you to go through the entire list to help yourself identify what to expect next in repair options and repair costs.
By understanding these five culprits, you save yourself and the mechanic time looking for the many different components in your car that could go wrong and cause the issue of the car clunking every time you hit a bump.
Why is my car clunking when I hit a bump?
As a rule of thumb, if your car is making weird noises or behaviors, it typically indicates an internal issue that you must immediately pay close attention to. For example, one of the very common situations that we might experience and ask ourselves is, “why is my car clunking when I hit a bump?”
This situation is typically linked to one of the following faulty components:
1. Problems with the steering rack
One of the first and most common culprits for the weird clunking noise, when you hit a bump, is a bad steering rack. The steering rack is responsible for communicating between your moves to the steering wheel and the tire or wheel rotations.
When the searing graph goes bad, you'll have limited ability to control your vehicle, which means a very high likelihood of getting involved in car accidents. Therefore, if you confirm that your clunking or knocking problem has to do with a bad steering rack, you have to take care of the problem immediately to avoid safety situations and avoid losing your vehicle.
There are many recommendations for how exactly to diagnose and confirm whether the steering rack is going bad. However, sometimes it can be challenging for inexperienced drivers to perform these add gnosis. Therefore, we highly encourage you to consult with your mechanic and have him confirm the culprit.
How to get rid of this problem? And how much Is it going to cost?
To get rid of this problem, you have to fix the steering rack if it's the real culprit. Unfortunately, replacing the steering rack is not a simple repair which means very high repair costs.
To get rid of the clunking noises every time you hit a bump by replacing the steering rack, expect to pay between $1440 and $1734!
2. Issues with the sway bar links
The sway bar links are important components in your vehicle, and they're linked to the suspension system. They are responsible for smoothing out the motion transfer from the control arm and the sway bar. So they are very important connections in your suspension system for your vehicle to operate properly.
When the sway bars are damaged for various reasons, you could easily deal with situations where you ask yourself, “why is my car clunking when I hit a bump?”
How to get rid of this problem? And how much Is it going to cost?
Check the sway bar links and confirm that they are in good condition before moving forward to spend thousands of dollars on repairing other major components.
The good news is that replacing the sway bar links is not a complicated job and shouldn't cost you lots of money. Typically, repair costs range between $100 to $150, which is not a big deal in car repairs. However, suppose you decide to place it on your own without leaving a professional, assuming that you have the right skill set. In that case, the price can be much lower considering the illuminated labor cost.
3. Troubles with the sway bar bushings
Another faulty component that could lead your vehicle to make clunking noises every time you hit a bump is when you have a problem with the sway bar bushings, not the links. These bushings are involved in the way your sway bars operate and they can easily get damaged and require placements at some point in time.
How to get rid of this problem? And how much Is it going to cost?
Of course, to get rid of this weird noise every time we had a bump, you have to inspect the sway bar bushings and confirm that they're bad in the first place. Then, you have to replace them with nor wants ovoid dealing with other complications.
Again, replacing the sway bar bushings is not a very expensive repair, and it's very close to replacing the sway bar links. Typically, expect to pay between $140 and $200 to replace the stabilizer bushings of any of your vehicles completely. However, depending on where you get the job done, things much be at lower costs.
4. Damage in the strut bushings
In some other situations, you might start dealing with strut bushings damages, and these damages are typically associated with strut leaks. Of course, when something is leaking underneath your vehicle, you will notice it immediately, assuming that it's a severe leak.
However, some sorts of minor leagues might not be obvious forever drivers, especially if the fluid evaporates immediately after touching the hot components around your car.
How to get rid of this problem? And how much Is it going to cost?
To eliminate the problem, you have to inspect the start bushings and confirm that they're damaged in the first place. Next, your mechanic needs to confirm whether they are worn out or have some cracks allowing fluid leaks underneath the car.
Strut bushings are not very expensive to fix, but they are a bit more expensive than the sway bar components that could cause the clunking noise every time you hit a bump. Typically, it should cost you between $220 and $270 to get rid of these old strut bushings and install new ones.
5. Bad ball joints
Finally, if you've ever asked yourself, “why is my car clunking when I hit a bump?” Check out the ball joints because they could beat the actual culprit.
The ball joints are very critical components in any vehicle. They are responsible for connecting your wheel hop to the control arm. If there is any problem with the ball joint, it can easily do catastrophe outcomes that allow your wheel to jump off your car!
Therefore, if you start noticing these clunking noises every time you hit a bump, take the issue seriously because it might impact your safety in no time. Check the ball joints, confirm that they are in good condition, and never ignore the problem.
How to get rid of this problem? And how much Is it going to cost?
Ball joints are not very expensive to repair. However, if they go bad and you ignore the problem for quite a good time, there is a very high chance that you can pay thousands of dollars to fix the vehicle.
Typically, replacing the ball joints should cost you somewhere between $100 and $300. However, the price could differ significantly depending on your vehicle side and where you are getting the job done.
Can I drive with clunking noise?
Never recommended! As we always mention in our articles, it's never recommended to continue driving your car if it's making weird noises. Clunking noise and especially after you hit a bump could indicate serious issues, as we highlighted before. Therefore, if you don't want to put your life at risk, you should be thinking of other people driving with you in the car and some other people driving on the same road.
Driving with a vehicle that makes clunking noise means a high chance of getting involved in major car accidents. Thus, whatever is preventing you from fixing this problem should not be a high priority considering the high level of risks involved in ignoring this problem.
Why is my car clunking when I turn?
Although we focused on the previous discussion on honking noises every time you hit a bump, sometimes you'll notice that a clunking noise is much stronger every time you turn. This also means something different.
Typically, the situation is linked to a problem related to the bowls range because they are connected to the wheels and could mostly be responsible for the problem. Therefore, to save yourself time and save your mechanic efforts, describing the problem accurately helps you narrow down the list and focus on what could be causing the issue.
Hearing some clunking noises every time you turn means a serious situation, and it's not something that you can sleep on for a couple of days and ignore. Instead, reach out to your mechanic immediately and describe what you're dealing with to prevent risky situations.
What causes clunking sound in the rear ends?
This is another specific situation linked to one potential culprit in most scenarios. The problem could be related to worn-out shocks or struts. Therefore, check with your mechanic and have him perform a thorough inspection to see and confirm the hypothesis.
See how focusing on the type of noise and locations coming from makes a difference in terms of what you're dealing with. Therefore, it's always important that you provide more details about the problem if you don't want to deal with the hassle of wasting the mechanic's sign.
Can a clunking noise mean problems in the suspension system?
Of course, most clunking noise can typically be related to problems in this system but not necessarily the entire system. However, if you ignore the problem for a long time, you can easily deal with complications that require significant efforts to fix the problem in your suspension system.
Final thoughts
If your vehicle makes weird noises every time you hit a bump, this indicates an internal issue that you should pay immediate attention to. One of the very common questions that you might run through and ask yourself is, “why is my car clunking when I hit a bump?”
This article provided you with a detailed summary of all potential culprits that could cause this situation of these clunking noises every time you hit a bump. Once you familiarize yourself with these causes, you should understand how much you expect for repair costs and whether you should be concerned about this issue.
As you notice in this article, some repair costs might be expensive, which means it could not be worth the investment. So if you got to a point where you don't want to invest this amount of money in this old vehicle, you might want to consider selling it and take advantage of its value.
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