Few days ago, I was going on a family road trip. Loaded everything into the car (2001 gsr) and started driving. As soon as I speed up to about 20mph, the car started to make this loud clunking noise. My initial thought was that one of my tires went flat because that's kinda what it sounds like. The tires are fine. The noise is not coming from the engine bay. It's definitely something near the front driver side wheels. Below 15mph, the clunking noise is non existent. Above 20mph you can hear it and it gets progressively louder as you drive faster.

After a visual inspection of the suspension parts, everything looks ok.
I jacked up the car and shook the front driver side wheels. It does not wobble.
Previous to this problem, the suspension had been making a very feint creaking noise whenever i would brake or accelerate the car from standstill.

Mods to the car:
headers
CAI
exhaust
short shift
lowering springs (dropped 3.5 inches)

Any ideas what it might be?

 

Bad damper? What is the frequency of the noise? Does it get worse turning?

 

The sound is very constant, as in every second the car is going 20+mph. Actually, the noise does not occur during turns.

 

Does it get faster or stay the same speed? Any vibrations in the steering wheel?

 

It stays the same speed. The steering wheel does not vibrate.

 

Well, I am thinking that it is damper related due to the fact that the car was loaded for a trip. Could also be bad bushings in the upper damper mount. The fact that it does not increase in frequency can relegate anything rotational to the "not likely" pile.

 

Check your axles.