clunking noise in 1989 Corolla

My 1989 Toyota Corolla has recently developed a clunking noise that seems to be coming from the mid-right, front side of car -- not from the engine but lower than engine. This occurs at low speed (5 to 10 mph) and higher. It sounds like a rock tumbling in a barrel and occurs on straight road and turning, but not when idling. ANY IDEAS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

its time for a new car buddy=)

its time for a new car buddy=)

I was under the impression that ads on the message board are not allowed. And you must be a car salesman.

But I do need someone who is serious about trying to help others to offer me an idea about this problem. PLEASE HELP

Just on a guessing thought here, without much other info on it, could it be a wheel bearing? They tend to make a clunk clunk type of sound while driving, and on turns. If you think that might be it, just walk up to the car, and try to rock the tired in and out of the wheel well, and see if it rocks. If the whole car rocks, that's fine of course, but if your tire is rocking back and forth, you might have a bearing going bad.

One other thought, does this sound change with your speed? like a winding up or winding down sound? or just a clunking sound?

Thanks very much for your suggestion. I will try that. Will let you know result. Thanks.

The clunking noise is not louder or softer when changing speed.

Thanks very much for your suggestion. I will try that. Will let you know result. Thanks.

The clunking noise is not louder or softer when changing speed.



I did the tire test on all four, and the car rocks with tire showing no wobble.

I did the tire test on all four, and the car rocks with tire showing no wobble.


Also, the clunking noise (like a rock in a barrel) is not constant. It is there most of time but stops for two or three seconds. It seems like the noise may be responding to the uneveness of the road and maybe bumps and does not stop for long periods. What do you think, Dibleu? Anyone? And thanks.

it's kinda hard to figure out without being able to be there to hear the sound myself. Have you checked your Axels? it could be a loose bearing in the axels, hence, needing a new axel. Most of the time there though, by the time a bearing is loose in an axel (from my personal experience) the axel snaps. When an axel cv boot is bad, there is normally a tear in the boot, and the grease has leaked out, causing it to rupture/break/spit bearings out all over the place. It is possible I guess (don't know for a fact) for the bearing to wear out without a rip in the boot, or it tearing the boot. My first thought was the tire bearing, b/c of the type of sound. you may have a bearing just going out also, if so, the tire wouldn't rock noticeably. The tire bearing went out on our 90 geo storm, and made a type of clunk clunk sound, mainly on turns, but was also noticeable while driving. My uncle is the one that showed me to rock the tire to see if it was wobbly, and it wasn't very noticeable to me, but he saw it right off. If there's no chance of it being that, I would check the cv boots next.

Im pretty sure i had the exact same problem not long ago and i didnt have a clue what it was, i took out all the drive axles and checked them and the only thing wrong was broken CV boots , after i changed these the noise was gone.

I've got a wheel bearing going out on my 91 Corolla, and it's clunk clunking on me, but no tires are rocking just yet. I've had the cv boots go out on me before, generally you will hear a soft-loud (depending on the car, and how bad it is) squeeling/tapping/clicking/clunking type sound especially on turns. At the same time, when driving down a straight stretch of road (in my car now) if I swerve the wheel right and left, I hear my noise growing worse. I figure in another week, two max, my passenger side wheel bearing will be bad enough to rock the tire. My Uncle suggested to raise up the front end of the car, with a jack, one side at a time, and have a helper either listen for the noise, or sit in the car, put the car in drive, and rev it up some (just don't rev it high enough to jump it off the jack, that would suck.) He said that would help me narrow down which side the noise is coming from, as the sound could be transfered through the axels.

Oh k my clunking wasnt a little clunk clunk either this was a hardcore bang clunking that could be herd by people a fair distance away, similiar to the noise you get if u dont tighten your wheel nuts up hard. But yeah its a bitch anyway ahha. icouldnt beleive my problem was just the CV boots

Did you find out what the problem was?