Well here's the story, someone pulled out in front of my and I had to slam on my brakes from 40mph to 0, right before it came to a complete stop there was this loud POP that came from the driver side and ever since when I break I have the pop when braking from just about any speed, it's always there. I didn't hear it when backing into my driveway but going forward I can for sure hear it and maybe when quickly turning at slower speeds. All my recent work is both upper control arms, new ball joints, new complete struts(with coil spring, bushings, and strut mount), new tie rods inner and outer, new rotors and pads from brakemotive and that's all I can think of.
Doesn't seem to have a drivability issue but the popping is a little worrying cause it sounds like something is loose or broke
Any ideas?

 

Ahh don't drive it anymore until you do a safety inspection.

It's obvious something is not right so don't take any chances.

It's not like you don't have any experience. Lol

 

Yea, it's braking fine and nothing seems out of the ordinary, be got an appointment at Costco for a tire rotation, I know some of the people so I'll see if they are cool with me checking it out while they have the wheels off.

 

https://youtu.be/C_reCXtb1U0

https://youtu.be/_rmfgkZeem4

These are two videos I made

I will say I could feel a small popping movement in the caliper bracket, but the fact that the noise was evident when not only braking but jolting the steering back and forth quickly

Would the caliper bracket move much when turning even if the brakes are not being applied?

 

No, not really. Only if they were really loose but then it would be obvious.

Your problem seems to be related to a lateral movement, not forward or up/down so ball joints/tie rods/loose axle nut/etc.

Do check all nuts and bolts just incase something is loose.

 

Did you ever check out the condition of your radius rod bushings while you had the front end apart?

 

So after a little more investigation with my camera I found out the upper control arm is moving, only one Side is loose. But I tried to tighten it but the bolt was tight as can be, do I have to disconnect the ball joint from the knuckle to get the pressure off or would that matter??

Again it's a brand new control arm and so I hope the bushing isn't messed up but I called and they sent me a warranty replacement free just in case. Regardless this is an obvious safety issue but I will just have to tighten the bolt everyday for the next day or two because I need my car to work and such

And your totally right wasn't what I thought it was, it's definitely lateral

 

Yes I did and they didn't feel like any weirdness, like they were firm and somewhat plyable. Also when I alighned it everything was in spec before and after adjusting front toe. I find it odd though that my rear driver side toe keeps going off spec but it's not that much anyway

Nor has it clunked on the pass side on the bumps it did before

 

Here are the torque specs.

Sounds like another aftermarket bs. You can shim the play out by adding a correct thickness washer inbetween the control arm and the mounting cavity. Thread the washer through the bolt inbetween the arm and the mounting cavity, does not matter which side of the arm the washer is on. Then preload the suspension and tighten it up to the correct torque spec. You can not leave it loose like that long term. It will wear through the bolt.

BTW: You should of caught that during the initial installation. There are virtually no play in all suspension parts. The only place where play is allowed is at the ball joints- about 1/16". Anything over 1/8" of play at the ball joint is considered defective and also puts the vehicle out-of-service by law. Pay closer attention next time. However, nice save!

 

Thank you sir, I'm going to try and get the car on a rack today and take the ball joint loose to get the pressure off the arm and see if I can tighten it anymore, if that don't work I will add washer.

Now that I'm thinking more and more, I guess it could be possible the metal insert between the arm and the rubber bushing itself could have dislodged and it could be that it's allowing movement like this and the bolt never really loosened as much??
I might be overthinking but just an idea, it is a cheap aftermarket part after all.

And the issue was never there before braking that hard, I put about 350ish miles after replacing everything

 

https://youtu.be/Rd7Z_bXETmo

I am able to zoom into the video with my iPhone and that's how I figured this all out

And my theory of the metal insert breaking off is correct, if you look closely you will see how the control arm moves completely separate, as the metal insert with bushing stays still, which would explain why the bolt wouldn't tighten anymore because it never came loose! And at the moment of it breaking when I slammed on the brakes would also explain the loud ass popping noise I got!

 

^ Awesome, it never cross my mind that a new part would only last 350 miles. Duf.

LOL here's a tip... use only 70% of maximum braking power at any given time to avoid damage to aftermarket parts!

 

Hell yea! Wouldn't of ever thought this would have been the issue, unfortunately the new part won't be here to Thursday but fortunately if I am cautious driving and only going to school and work I should be ok until I have free time Saturday to put on the part

 

Well I got the part switched out and all is well, but damn the picture above is the broke part, the bushing literally fell out