# Clunking front passenger side 2010 Nissan Altima 2.5S



## bean333 (Jun 5, 2017)

HI all.

2010 Nissan Altima 2.5s has a clunking sound in front passenger side, only over some bumps or cracks in the road, it is not all the time. I was thinking it may be the strut mount or maybe the upper engine mount...? However, I wanted to ask where do I begin? Should I start with the sway bar and then move forward from there? Any suggestions (or other threads, videos or blogs, too!) will be helpful. 


Thanks in advance.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

You'll have to get the front of the car jacked up and examine the struts for signs of fluid leak or severely cracked rubber. On the lower control arm bushings, look for signs of severely cracked rubber or missing pieces of bushing.

To check the lower ball joints for excessive wear, place a floor jack under the lower control arm of the side you want to check. Make sure the jack point under the control arm is out bound as far as possible; preferably under the ball joint. Jack the control arm up until the tire is about 2" off the ground. Now take a long pipe and push up on the tire while observing any movement at the ball joint; there should be zero movement. You can also place your hand around the ball joint and while pushing on the tire, feel for any movement; again you should feel zero movement.


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## bean333 (Jun 5, 2017)

rogoman said:


> You'll have to get the front of the car jacked up and examine the struts for signs of fluid leak or severely cracked rubber. On the lower control arm bushings, look for signs of severely cracked rubber or missing pieces of bushing.
> 
> To check the lower ball joints for excessive wear, place a floor jack under the lower control arm of the side you want to check. Make sure the jack point under the control arm is out bound as far as possible; preferably under the ball joint. Jack the control arm up until the tire is about 2" off the ground. Now take a long pipe and push up on the tire while observing any movement at the ball joint; there should be zero movement. You can also place your hand around the ball joint and while pushing on the tire, feel for any movement; again you should feel zero movement.


Thank you for the response, Rogoman. I am going take your suggestions and run with them this weekend. I will post again after I do these inspections and let you know what Isaw. Any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks again!


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