*banging Front Suspension*

[wynndi]

Before I start tearing things apart, I thought I'd get an educated opinion from y'all.

2 days ago, I noticed that the right front suspension is letting out a BANG evert time I hit a bump. Car tracks straight, no CV noise, no unusual wear on tire.

Car is off the road until I fix it.

What's the most likely cause?

[gsodonis]

Without actually inspecting it, it sounds like a worn out suspension bushing. It could be as simple as the sway bar bushing (easy and cheap to fix) or as complicated as one of the control arm bushings (time consuming and higher degreee of difficulty to replace). When suspension bushings deteriorate (such as the sway bar bushing), they can allow metal to metal contact under extreme loads, like hitting a bump or pothole.

Cross your fingers and start by inspecting the sway bar bushings.

To make sure that my SVX was good to go before I mounted my new winter rims and tires, I took it to my Subaru dealer for an inspection. They inspected the entire suspension front and rear (and steering system - tie rods, hoses, etc.) anf dound nothing was amiss, They also didn't charge me anything. If you have a good relationship with your Suby mechanic, maybe he'll check it out for free in a hope to get the repair business in the event that something is bad.

Good luck.

[SVXer95]

Sounds like a strut mount to me. No way to tell but to look at it.

Either your strut mount, or the lower ball joint. If its pulling like you say, then more than likely its a ball joint about to fail.

[Earthworm]

I would suggest strut mount first followed by ball joint.

it's either your strut mount, ball joint (doubt that one), or most likely and easiest to check: Swaybar bushings. Take a peek. The rubber swaybar bushing is probably all stretched out.

Course.... your strut could also be shot too... the strut controls the spring, and maybe it just shot the suspension up against hte bumpstop. Who knows. G'luck!

[mbtoloczko]

As everyone said, it could be any one of the items other people have mentioned. A worn strut or strut mount or sway bar bushing will not cause any damage to the car, but if a ball joint fails, that can cause some damage. And they do fail on occasion, so give the ball joints a look for sure.

I didn't think there were bumpstops.