05 Town & Country Clunking in front end

[rampside]

What am i missing i have a terrible clunk in the front end when i hit bumps. I thought it was the struts and mounting plates so they are new . no change Stabilizer links were tight but i replaced them as well. Everything else seems tight but the noise has not changed with any of the above mentioned repairs. Any suggestions before i throw any more money at this thing..

[earlyrizr]

Very common is the sway bar bushings. Cheap and easy to replace,but just by looking at them you can't tell if they are bad until they are out.

[cbwilsha]

Yes, it is the sway bar bushings. I have a 2005 T&C with only 25,000 miles and had that problem last week. Replaced the sway bar links and bushings and all okay now. Was a $250 job but I had a zero deductible extended warranty so cost nothing.

C.B.

[Cntrysthbst]

I thought is was my end links making the noise but the dealer said it was the bushings. They replaced and all is fine. Drives better too.

[Elvis Martin]

Please don't laugh and say I should be grateful because I have gotten so many miles. It's the same problem whether you guys had it with low miles or like me, 196,000 on my '05 Dodge Gr. Caravan.
I had it on jacks and links are tight and sway bar bushings "appear" perfect. I put a huge pry bar under the lower ball joint and could not replicate the clunking I hear from both sides over the slightest road surface blemishes/cracks/holes. Pryed hard and fast enough to actually lift the side off the jack a tad.
Based on your suggestion, should I still count on replacing the sway bar bushings and hope that does it???

[Alphabravo]

Elvis, be sure to also check your inner & outer tie rods as well. They can make a clunking noise too. If the bushings are cheap and easy to replace you just might want to start there, especially if they haven't been replaced already given the miles you have on it.

[Elvis Martin]

I've been asking about my wife's '05 Gr Caravan w/196,000 miles. I find it very odd yet I am grateful that my '02 Town & Country w/220,000 miles doesn't have this chassis clunking problem.

[bigj-dog]

Elvis- Just go ahead and replace the bushings, they're less than 15 bucks, and it takes about 15 minutes to replace. There are a couple of tricks though, pay attention to the instructions that come in the package telling you where to point the split in the new bushings, and they should be installed with the suspension loaded, ie, weight on the tires. That's why you can't get the noise to replicate, because the bushings wear with the weight on the suspension, when you have it jacked up everything changes. I replaced two sets with the vans on stands, had both of them back within 2 years.

[wallace956]

I had my shop put lifetime warranted bushings in. They have replaced them free of charge about 4 times so far.

[bigj-dog]

Sounds like you should tell them to install them with weight on the tires instead of on the lift. Unless you like making them eat the cost each time you bring them back.

[wallace956]

I guess I don't understand how that would make a difference and also would seem to be quite difficult. What am I missing?

[bigj-dog]

The reason it makes a difference is because the geometry of the suspension changes when weight is placed on the suspension. If you install the bushings on the sway bar, and tighten them all the way up to the body while the van is on the lift, both front tires are hanging at full suspension travel, so when you set the van down it loads the suspension (pushes the tires back up towards the fenders), and twists the sway bar up. In other words, you've already sucked the brackets tight over the bushings, and now you're twisting the bar inside the bushings, which will cause more wear more quickly. The bushings are designed to allow the sway bar to move some, but not much, and the more it moves inside the busings, the quicker it wears out. Grab your index finger with your other hand, squeeze it tight and then twist it back and forth inside your grip. Notice how it goes a little ways either way before it hurts, but the further you get from your original grip point, the more it stresses your skin. Same with the sway bar bushings, so you want to tighten them up at their normal resting point, which is with the car sitting on the ground. Make sense?

And it's not that much harder, if you have a pit it's super easy, otherwise even with the car on ramps that's good enough, and it's not much harder.

[wallace956]

Thanks! That explains why this is such a common reoccurring problem. My mechanic will be even more thankful!

[bigj-dog]

No problem, it took me a few re-dos to figure out what was going on, so I'm happy to able to help someone else avoid it.