I've been trying to identify this clunk I have in the front end which isn't you're normal garden variety clunk. I've been fooled before in trying to track down a sound. It seems that the unibody conducts sounds pretty far from it's source. That, and my hearing isn't what it once was, the search continues.....

Symptoms- I can duplicate the clunk when parked by pushing down hard on the bumper. Sounds pretty simple but when you're doing it by yourself, the process is tedious and there's a lot of guesswork. I believe the clunk is coming from the passenger side frame rail.

It seems that suspension movement doesn't always produce the clunk. Most times, a shift in the body will do it.

I've tightened almost all the bolts on the bumper and frame plates as well as any other visible bolts.

I've replaced the track bar and lower control arms. New Brown Dog motor mounts (ultra-flex). Shocks are good as are the sway bar bushings and links. Upper control arm replacement is on the drawing board.....

That said, what would be a good method to find the culprit by doing it without help? Any and all ideas will be entertained...

 

Check control arm bushings. I had the same problem, replaced the bushings and the problem is gone. You could also have control arms or leaf springs over torqued.

 

Get help, so that they push on the bumper and you could lay under it. I'd say it could be the sway bar hitting the coil spring.

 

Look at the UCA mount on the passenger side as they are known to be very weak and easily broken.

I had mine beefed up and replaced when I went to HD Adj. UCA's

 

I just replaced the upper control arms as well as the axle bushings. Not a fun job at all. It seems quieter and more driving will tell me more, but I still get a "clunk" (don't know how else to describe it) when I hit a nasty dip at speed. Normal suspension movement and it's quiet. This clunk sounds like its right at my feet, but I've been known to misidentify the location of a sound.

Could it be an issue with the coil spring? I'm going to recheck the sway bar and links......

 

If it's at your feet it's probably your exhaust mount on the transmission cross member. Mine is worn out and rattles o. It pretty good. Also check your say bar bushings. Mine are worn out and don't feel or hear anything under normal suspension cycles but when it's a big dig or a speed bump it chunks and makes all sorts of noises.

 

I stand corrected. My sway bar links, on closer inspection, looked iffy. Just ordered another set to eliminate them as the perpetrator.....

 

Replaced the sway bar links. The bushings did show evidence of wear and needed replacement, but no joy. The clunk still exists....

 

Just like he said^^ if it's at your feet it's probably the exhaust hitting the crossmember. Get under it and check to see how close the exhaust is to the crossmember.

 

I was pretty positive that it wasn't the exhaust hitting the crossmember. I had that issue once before and it was a different sound and it was on the opposite side....

But I did find the culprit. Sometimes one has to think outside the box, which is often times difficult for me to do when attempting to diagnose a problem. I ran this issue through my mind countless times and today it came to me. I zeroed in on the sway bar and it was contacting a bolt head for the bumper tie in. I used a washer and that was the difference between contact and non contact. To be sure, I ground down the bolt head app. 1/16" and that did the trick. The clunk is gone.....

I replaced the track bar, control arms, sway bar links, and motor mounts and it wasn't money wasted. They all showed significant wear and replacing them yielded driveability that was long gone. Now it's back and I'm loving it.....

Thanks to all who chimed in with advice. it really did help me.......