I have a '85 fiero that I have been getting ready for the road, my last hurdle is this clunk noise, you can at times feel it through the steering wheel. It happens upon braking, the first time in each direction. Subsequent stops in the same direction don't seem to have the clunk noise.

I raised the passenger wheel (side where I hear the noise), and placed a breaker bar under the tire to check the ball joint and everything moved together. I originally thought it might be a sticking caliper, but the fact that it happens in switching directions makes me think its not the case.

My plan tomorrow is to pull the wheel and start checking the obvious, shock mounts and loose bolts.

What else should I look for-at?

Thanks in advance,

Marc-Alan

Is it an 88?

The shaft that supports the upper control arm is bolted to the upper crossmember through slotted holes in the crossmember.
The slotted holes allow for the alignment of the front end by moving the upper control arm to the desired position. Then the bolts are tightened down.
If they get loose, it will allow the upper control arm to "walk around" when the car changes direction and the brakes are applied.

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Raydar
88 Formula IMSA Fastback. 4.9, NVG T550

Praise the Lowered!

It's an '85 as he mentioned in the first sentence.

I'd look for a broken swaybar end link or a broken front spring.

Loose caliper mounting bolts.

Thanks for the suggestions...will check them out

+1 for caliper bolts. Had that on the rear of my 88. Car stopped real QUICK when one came out and the caliper swung out into the wheel rim!

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Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

Bad ball joints pop when you stop or reverse directions. Also look at the A arm bushings that let the arm slide back and forth. Even a tiny bit of play makes a lot of noise. Dried out and cracked rubber on the bushings is a dead givaway.

quote Originally posted by Bloozberry: It's an '85 as he mentioned in the first sentence. ....

Thanks. Had my head in a dark place.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 04-26-2012).]

I'm gonna go with the sleeve that the upper A-arm bolt slides through is egged out, allowing the long bolt to pivot a few degrees, that translates to the upper arm, pitching, when braking it jolts the arm backwards and vice versa, depending on direction of travel and the resulting clunking. New bushings won't help. To check if the bolt is pivoting, jack the front corner with the wheel off, suspension compressed, shake the front assembly at 3 O'clock and 9 O'clock position and watch the upper arm to see if it moves around . If upper arm moves in forward backward motion, once it's apart the hardened bolt will be shiny at the outer ends of the sleeve, it wears the mild steel in the crossmember sleeve and it will be "egged" I have mentioned this problem several times because I had to scrap a front crossmember and the upper bolts, too much slop, bushings will not correct it.
The long bolt needs bracing at the outer ends, it acts like a small hinge on a heavy door or another analogy would be a weak wrist pin. I should have taken a video of mine a couple years ago, if anyone else discovers this problem, I think it would be helpful to load a video, I thought mine was unique at first but soon realized it was more of an inherent design. Actually hope that's not your problem because it is PITA !

The shocks look good. Sway bar bushings look to be dry and beat. Also (as posted in the responses) "the A arm bushings that let the arm slide back and forth" are dried out and cracked.

These bushings are on the upper A arm...should I worry about the lower?

M-A

Check for wheel bearing play?

I just checked. No up and down motion holding the wheel at the 6 and 12 O'clock positions

Movement at the 3 and 9 O'clock positions. So, does this mean tie rod?

m-a

Tie rod or rack bushing. If it's the outer tie rod, it's easy enough to see if there's movement there, but to diagnose whether it's the inner tie rod or the rack bushing, you'll have to look closely where the inner tie rod meets the rack boot while someone wiggles the road wheel. If the tie rod appears to move in and out, then the inner tie rod end is worn. If it appears as though the tie rod is moving up and down slightly on the passenger side, then it's the rack bushing.

So, movement on the outer; not really other than movement at separation on the bottom which I believe to be normal, grease is coming out of the area. There was no movement up or down or side to side that I could tell at the inner where it goes into the boot. Is this where I am supposed to look?

I was thinking some of the rubber o-rings the caliper pins slide in may be bad or missing.

quote Originally posted by marc-alan: So, movement on the outer; not really other than movement at separation on the bottom which I believe to be normal, grease is coming out of the area.

No sure what you mean by "separation at the bottom". There should be no movement at all beween the knuckle, the tapered shaft of the joint, and the body of the joint. Even the slightest movement will accelerate the wear very rapidly from this point on.

quote Originally posted by marc-alan: There was no movement up or down or side to side that I could tell at the inner where it goes into the boot. Is this where I am supposed to look?

Close enough. The inner tie rod extends a bit further into the boot and is hidden, but if it's worn out or the rack bushing is worn out, then you'll see some movement of the tie rod in relation to the rack housing either in and out or up and down. Again, you're looking for a very small amount of play... maybe a 1/16" or more.

I checked the drivers side outer tie rod and compared to the passenger...I think that there is some more movement on the passenger side outer tier rod. I am going to recheck the outer tie rods and look for the movement again.

The passenger side calipers bolts looked good as did the rubber around the bolts.

Thanks

m-a

[This message has been edited by marc-alan (edited 04-28-2012).]