I've been chasing a front end clonking for 3 months. I didn't feel it in the steering wheel as much as I felt it through my right foot. It kind of felt like my foot was attached to a pole that was clonking around about 2 feet higher than my foot.

Well, it wasn't my lower control arms ($2,000), but it did steer better after that. I took it by my indy Jag mechanic and he replaced the transmission mounting plate, which was hydraulic and definitely was broken and needed to be replaced. But that didn't fix the clonking.

No. Did you realize that there are TWO failure modes to these air shocks? One failure is the air suspension fault where the air bladder blows. The other failure mode is where the mechanicals break inside the shock/strut. I've had no air fault failures. But after I removed the shock, I could stand it upside down and wiggle it around and see the separation between the shock about 7-8 inches from the top and the section that begins about 8 inches down to the bottom of the strut.

So, if you are fighting a weird clonking in the front, take a good look at the struts. And dont' swap them left to right, that won't really narrow it down as it is difficult to discern what front quarter it's coming from. I already had an Arnott on the front left, so I kind of discounted that from the diagnosis. The front right was a stock Jag strut.

I'm still suspect of the sway bar bushings that some have reported, but to be honest, most of the clonking has just gone away with the new replacement strut.

Have fun!

Mark
2004 XJR w/112K miles (and counting)
My daily driver - 22K miles/year and loving it.

 

Don’t forget 2 others

1. The hubs
2. The bracket behind the bumper. The rivets can loosen and need to be replaced

Cheers
34by151