kbdecatur

72 cutlass disc brakes when I release the brake pedal I hear a loud clunk on the drivers side. Also when I ride over speed breakers I hear the same noise. Has anyone ever had this happen?

bry593

I recommend you have it checked out soon. Could be something mundane like sway bar linkage, or could be something safety related like missing or broken brake hardware. I've even had control arm shims fall out,, resulting in a hard pop when going from reverse to forward. The brakes put stress on everything since these are a direct link between your car and ground. Consequently, it is difficult to diagnose without putting it up on stands, removing wheels and giving things a close look.

oldcutlass

It could be a lot of things, check brake, steering, and suspension for worn and/or broken parts.

76olds

X3 you need to get that loud clunk checked out, could be a ball joint ready to drop out. I don't think it will be brake related.

Eric

Ozzie

It could be many things as everyone said, but you'll have to do more than just listen to it to find out. Raise it up carefully and look for things like worn out bushings or ball joints.

kbdecatur

Thanks guys..

Fun71

One way to locate loose steering components is to have someone move the steering wheel back and forth while you look at the front end parts. Slack in tie rod ends, idler arm, etc will be visible.

bry593

X2 on having an assistant turn steering wheel slowly in each direction. Any worn tie rods, idler arm and/or center link joints will be quickly obvious. However, i’ve never had worn linkage manifest itself in a clunk or thud. Rather a shudder or wandering at speed. Ball joints require different but similar inspection methods. Some have inspection gauges on the lower’s grease zerk area. But, normally you just jack up under the lower control arm to remove car weight (and spring load) from ball joints. You can temporarily reinstall the wheel to use as leverage. Grip the wheel at 12 & 6, rock, and watch the joints for relative movement. Again, easier to do with a helper.

kbdecatur

Well It was the upper control arm bushings. One of them was completely shot. It had no rubber in it..Well it’s all fixed now and I’m going to the alignment shop ASAP. Thanks again..

76olds

Thanks for the update. The information is always helpful here . Good to hear you have it fixed up and ready for alignment.

Eric

72455

Glad to hear you figured it out😀. Did you have to remove the control arm to replace the bushing?

kbdecatur

We removed the drivers side control arm. Didn’t have to remove the passenger side.It was a beast took a lot of time.