noise in driver's side front

[ChemMan]

For a while I've had a clunking/thunking noise going over rough pavement at moderate to low speeds coming from the driver's side front wheel. It has progressively gotten worse over the past year. As far as I can see the ball joint on that side has no play at all in it so I don't suspect the ball joint. Could this be a bad strut mount making such noise?

Now today I was crawling through some wonderful stop and go traffic and noticed a new sound. I had the car in first, and if I stepped down quickly on the gas (i.e. quickly loaded the drive train), a nice loud thud came from the driver's side front. The same sound occurs when I quickly come off the gas when in first (i.e. quickly unload the drive train). This makes me think that the half shaft is bad. So, my ultimate question is, could these two separate noises actually be the same bad part, or do I have multiple things to fix.

Thanks

[J-Ri]

Two possibilities that I can think of, the first is worn/separated lower control arm bushings, the other is the strut mounts. To check, have a friend bounce the car on the ground and see if you can feel movement in any of the suspension components. Do it 3 ways. Pushing down on the bumper/rad support, pushing down on the LF fender, and rocking the car back and forth by pushing near the "B" pillar. Either of these being bad could cause all the noises you are hearing. I've never heard CV joints make noise except for a rapid popping on sharp turns.