Flyboy4yang

I've been hearing clunking sounds coming from my axles when I drive over bumps. I jacked my car up and the suspension seems to be nice and tight. I did notice a wiggling from my axles when I pull on them. Is there something loose or is it broken? Car still drives straight and there aren't sounds when I'm turning so it's not the CV joint. Any ideas? I have an '02 TL-S with Koni's and GC.

aarethas

if you can jack up your wheel, and wiggle the wheel, it sounds like your tie rod ends need replacing. Those will go "clunk"......so will bushings in your CA's and sway bar endlinks. Since you inspected your suspension from underneath, , I would go with the tie rod idea first.

raymundojr

The Honda AEM cam gearsmay have been disrailed and or have cracked.Doing self repairs may not help you at all.

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

I've had an axle break inside the CV joint on me before. It didnt' make any noise or come apart, it simply wouldn't move the car. This was a long time ago before I knew anything about cars, so I wasn't able to get in there myself & check it out.

I can tell you that the outer CV joint is a fused bearing. If everything is assembled properly, you won't be able to slide the axle shaft in & out at all by hand. There are several cir-clips (#13 & #14) inside that hold the CV joints (#1 & #7) to the driveshaft. If one came off, the axle might be able to slide back & forth in the joint. If you know how to rebuild CVs, the I would say take it apart. If you don't, then you may want to replace the axle yourself w/ a lifetime warranty one from Autozone, or take it to a mechanic to have it taken care of. The latter of the two will cost more of course...

Picture is from this page:

Flyboy4yang

Hmm...yea I can wiggle the tie rod when I pull on it. I don't know if I should replace the entire axle? Since it still drives fine. It makes sounds only over some bumps. Thanks for the input guys.

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

When you say "tie-rod", are you just referring to the axle shaft (shown in the pic above)? A "tie rod" is actually a steering component that connects the steering gearbox to the steering knuckle...

bamf3000

i definitely think it might be a tie rod

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

Well to figure out if it's a tie rod, all you do is jack the car up & have a friend shake the tire up/down & left/right while you crawl around underneath looking/listening for play. I found bad tie rods, loose sub-frames, loose steering gearboxes, bad gearbox bushings, and other fun stuff with this method...

aarethas

if you're just hearing the noise while going over bumps, and the steering feels fine and tight, you will just need to replace the tie rod end links.

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by aarethas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you're just hearing the noise while going over bumps, and the steering feels fine and tight, you will just need to replace the tie rod end links.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats just not true... A clunk noise could be from play in ANY of the suspension components (or even the sub-frame & motor mounts). Don't replace any parts that your not sure are worn out. You will be wasting your money...

PS: The OP never answered my question...
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94eg! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">When you say "tie-rod", are you just referring to the axle shaft (shown in the pic above)?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Flyboy4yang

I'll try to get some pics and vid of what I'm talking about. It's the bar that comes from the CV joint to the wheels. It's probably is the axle shaft not the tie rod. Thanks guys.

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

Yes, that is the axle shaft. It shouldn't be able to move back & forth. You should have it checked out if you don't know how to do it yourself...

Flyboy4yang

Would that be broken or just loose? It moves only slightly.

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

I can't tell you from over here duh...