Chuck Gladfelter

I have read every Mustang forum I can find in search of the noise in my front end and finally found the issue. I couldn't isolate the problem until recently. The center links were bad and I replaced them along with the end links (they were still good). Completely solved the problem and I'm sure I'm not the only one with this issue so I thought I would post it here to try to help anyone else with this issue.

wanted33

Been there done that Chuck. Glad you found your problem.

Bert

Thanks, yep that might help when I finally get around to digging in to mine.

What are "center links" exactly?

Chuck Gladfelter

The sway bar has an end link on each end and center bushings towards the middle. The middle bushings were bad on mine and it drove me about nuts trying to find the noise. These bushings basically clamp the sway bar to the frame and are held on with 2 nuts per clamp (or link the term is synonymous).

05PRMTX

Ugh, I just started noticing a clunk up front on my passenger side. I think I will be doing this as well

Bert

so "center link" means sway bar bushing and the bracket that holds it?

if so, that's too bad, because I already replaced those and I still have a clunk

Chuck Gladfelter

Yes, but the end links are known to go bad too. It seems front end clunks are hard to troubleshoot on these cars as the issue can come from many places. I was going to go to a front end specialist to see if he could find anything loose but I found it myself. An alignment shop will check everything before they do the alignment and tell you what needs to be replaced if you can't find it yourself.

EF1

If it isn't the sway bar bushings I would look at the control arm bushings. They are another source of the dreaded clunks.

Chuck Gladfelter

Yes, there are upgraded control arms available; I think the cost is about $300 for the pair at LMR.

Bert

The end links are relatively easy to isolate -- take a wheel off, grab the end of the sway bar, shake it up and down as hard as you can . . . if it makes noise, that's it. I confirmed mine were bad by doing this, and replaced them. From my experience the sway bar end links make more of a "rattle" sound than a "clunk."

I do plan to upgrade my front lower control arms to the "boss" ones from Steeda, which include new bushings and extended ball joints; hopefully that will make the noise go away. if it doesn't then . . . .

KonaMustangGT

I check them with the wheels on (front end on ramps, rears chocked). The sway bar should have minimal loading for this inspection. Vertical push-pull the sway bar at four locations (end links and near the bushings). I suspect if you try to check them with a wheel removed, the extended strut/spring will load the sway bar and make it more difficult to apply enough force to determine if there is any play leading to a clunk noise.

Gabe

The stabilizer links are known to go bad fairly often, front and/or rear.
Way more than the bushings, which I've never before heard of being called a "center link", in 10 years as a Ford Service Advisor, and I've dealt with many worn ones during that time. They've always just been "bushings".

The links on my wife's '08 Shelby were fine until I disturbed them putting in the Koni struts, but shortly after that I had to replace them since the right front started rattling over bumps, and no amount of tightening would fix it.
This is the noise it was making:

JimGilles

I recently purchased a 2008 Mustang 4.0 Coupe Deluxe for my daughter's first car. It had 115k miles on it. From the Carfax and my personal inspection, it has turned out to be exactly what I was hoping it to be, an all original car that had no history of major mechanical issues. It was just driven by previous owners who had to do nothing to it. I wanted to be the one who performed the first maintenance on it. It had the original serpentine belt, spark plugs, fuel filter filled with very dark brown mirk, totally flat shocks, springs and struts, cloth seats, complete with drivers side hole in the lower outside back rest and totally glazed over headlights. In other words, a perfect car that had never been messed with by a wannabe teen age mechanic.

This forum helped me find the "clunk" in the front end. I read where someone suggested that the fastest, easiest and cheapest first step in the process of elimination is to remove the front stabilizer bar. I removed it and wa-la...no more clunk. Someone had placed a plastic shim behind the passenger side mounting clamp in an attempt to stop the "clunk." That was the first and only shade tree fix that the car had. New bushings are on the way.