miko442

oldcutlass

Jack the car so that the front tires are 5" off the ground. Grip each tire with your hands in the 1:00 and 7:00 positions and check for wheel bearing play. Use a piece of pipe or something with some leverage and pry the tire gently from the bottom and see if there is any play in the ball joints. Inspect upper and lower control arm bushings. Lower the car to the ground and have a helper move the steering wheel gently side to side and inspect idler arm, tie rod ends, and center link pivot points for side to side play.

Also inspect the body bushings for major cracks or if they are missing.

joe_padavano

To clarify, jack the car directly under the coil spring pocket in the lower control arm when you do this. You want to keep the springs compressed, otherwise you will artificially load the ball joints and be unable to detect wear in them. Be sure to look at the control arm bushings, the tie rod ends, the idler arm, and the center link. Wear in any of these components can cause a clunk.

oldcutlass

Sometimes you get used to doing these things and forget to include the obvious. Thanks for adding in your clarification. Also check your sway bar bushings and end links.

miko442