On cold start hearing rattle and clonking from front suspension area

[josedirte4]

@apex96 my first look was going to be the front sway bar links, but I haven’t had time to get to it. I know if these are real bad there will be a lot of play, but mine has less than 25k miles on it and the sound is intermittent. I assume there won’t be a lot of play, but do you have any tips on how to determine if mine are going bad or not?

 

[apex96]

@apex96 my first look was going to be the front sway bar links, but I haven’t had time to get to it. I know if these are real bad there will be a lot of play, but mine has less than 25k miles on it and the sound is intermittent. I assume there won’t be a lot of play, but do you have any tips on how to determine if mine are going bad or not?

I don’t really have any tips on how to best determine it. I had to really rip my old ones apart to get them off (rust belt state) and only then did I see some of the wear marks on the ball ends. It felt fine with no weight on it and didn’t have much play, if any, when inspecting them.

The end links were cheaper and easier to replace than the ball joints so I took a stab at them first. Turns out the end links were the issue but, it could have also been the ball joints and I would have replaced those next.

 

[josedirte4]

I understand. With the cold season coming up, I may wait and see how it sounds in the upcoming months. Mine randomly will make a noise right now. If it gets worse I’ll definitely get down there and look.