03 Impala making a thumping noise

[tirwin88]

Hello,

My 03 Impala is making a thumping noise intermittently when driving. This is only happening once in a while. Took it to the shop and they could find nothing wrong. Any ideas what this could be? Everytime we take it to the shop it stops doing it. It then can take days to a week for it to return. It is doing it again today and on the way to the shop it stopped! Tires were checked and they are not the problem. We even rotated them to be sure.

It sounds as if it is coming from the middle front of the car.

[gmtech1]

Very difficult to diag this without hearing the noise. How many miles? is it a rotational noise? what speed? when turning or when going straight? happen on accel on decel? Since it's intermittant, it's not a tire. You may one or both axle assy's worn.

[tirwin88]

It has about 160k on it...all highway miles to work. When we pick up speed so does the noise. It happens at low speeds and high speeds. It happens on both and when you turn it slightly sometimes it will stop but other times it continues. As soon as she straigtens out again it starts up again. It happens on accel and continues on decel.

[gmtech1]

It's possible you have a hub bearing noise, but your description sounds like worn axle assy's. You can get complete reman axles for pretty cheap from Autozone or places like that. Not sure what you have in your area.

[tirwin88]

Thanks! We will start with replacing that.