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Well, it's possible but the stabilizer bar link or tie rod is pretty tight and well isolated. If the bushing on that thing wear out on either end it WILL produce a whole racket of metal-on-metal rattling; however, it would be a quick, "smaller" (not as heavy), and rapidly repeating rattle, since every little crack in the pavement, every pine cone and stick and fold and dip and pothole, anything that jars the wheel by even a quarter-inch, would cause it to rattle. So you'd hear it pretty much all the time, going over all but the best, most perfect surfaces.
Also, you'd hear it extremely loudly outside the car- much louder than inside. That's a test I haven't asked anyone yet. When you roll over bumps and hear this clunking sound, can you hear a metal-on-metal sound blasting out the front of the car when you have your windows rolled down? Hear it reflecting back to you off cars, trees, signs, buildings? Or is the noise mostly just inside the car?
If it's the former, I'd be looking for loose nuts or deteriorated bushings.
If it's the latter, then it's most likely a shock problem - the components are all fastened tightly and have proper, intact bushings, so there is no loud metal-on-metal clatter coming out of the car. The sound inside the car just means something is too firm or not tuned right (i.e., springs are too soft and struts are too hard) that is transferring too much of the road force into the frame of the car, rather than being absorbed.
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Jun 5 2008, 12:35 AM
