Hi everyone:

I have a 02 TL-S at 98K that is starting to give up some really nasty front end clunks and thumps here in pothole / sand-salt Minnesota. From what I can tell, the CV and tie-rod boots are all in pretty good shape.

I'm wondering what tends to be the most common front suspension repairs / replacements made to a stock TL-S at this point in life. I want to keep my car for another 2-3 years at least, but don't want to destroy my front suspension, or put up with the noise in the process.

Help???

 

my lower ball joints became a problem at 103K.

 

^ +1 - front lower ball joints at 78K last year.

 

Lower and upper ball joints, swaybar end links and shocks are what typically cause it. My upper control arm bushings were teh cause of it once.

 

i had an upper control arm bushing pop out on me once, made a constant clunk on the way home......

 

Front lower ball joints and sway bar end links with me.

 

Sway bar endlinks...Blown strut....And bump stops as well.

 

I just changed an outer tie rod end and a sway bar link. My 99 has 86K miles.

I was getting a vibration when braking at high speed and assumed a warped rotor. When I went to take off the off the wheel, there was about a quarter of an inch of side to side "free" play in the wheel. Took off the wheel and not only found a bad tie rod end but also the sway bar link was broken off and no longer attached to the car.

Needless to say, I was not pleased......

 

Thanks for all the replies. I had my mechanic tell me several months back that he thought that my lower ball joints were going bad. Before I let him go in there, I'll check to see if these other things may also need to be looked at.

Thanks, everyone.

Jim

 

Best of luck Jim... and keep us posted!