KY, I'm not sure man. I have EVERYTHING torqued down to specs and I'm still getting it. It also sounds like it's coming from the top, although I'm sure sound can do that when you're driving down the road and actually be from the bottom. I've read several different people saying that the cushion(below the mount plate) can wear out and shrink in size as well as the bearing in the plate goes bad. At this point I just want it done. I need to do some work on my Rover and it's a big job so I want to get started on it.

 

I do a stack of shocks and the most common issue with the clunking as you described it is the rubber mounting top plate either not seated correctly or simply worn out whilst there it wouldn't hurt to change the bearing as they also tend to wear out

 

Steve, a couple of questions for you. Should the new top plate come with a new bearing? Also, and this one is going to sound dumb, but does the bearing looking thing that come with the Bilstein struts and sits right on top of the piston(under the threads) stay right there when you install it? I'm almost positive that's where it was when I removed mine but I want to make sure at this point.

 

By memory there should also be a washer that sits here

(PS this is not a Jag strut I'm simply using as example)

 

Yeah it's a washer and that's where I have it. It's just a pretty thick washer so I wasn't sure.

 

By looking at the pics the shocks/ struts look easy to remove...Is it just the top strut cap bolts and one large lower bolt to the control arm?

 

Loosen large bolt to control arm and then remove outer bolt to lower control arm. You also have to remove upper control arm(only outside nut). And then the stabilizer link. It's an easy job, takes about an hour to remove and put back on. Only thing that takes longer is compressing the spring. I HIGHLY recommend an impact wrench for that. They say you're not supposed to for safety reason but it makes the job far easier. Just don't screw down one bolt too tight before doing the others.

 

Got my strut caps in and will be putting them on this evening. I think this is literally the 5th time I've removed all of this stuff and put it back on. I'm praying this works because I don't have it in me to do it anymore after this. Hopefully this is it and I'm not just missing something on how I'm putting it back on.

 

 

As steve_k_xk said above, that top plate could be out of position. Before you compress the spring, take a look at how the top of the coil is seated. I know mine was having a tendency for the end of the coil to 'slip out of the pocket' by twisting out of position as I was removing the spring compressors.
If that's not it, when you do get it disassembled, compare the old and new parts, to see if anything looks different (cracked or warped) and could have contributed to the clunking.
You said it was coming from one side or the other, were you able to determine which side?

Take a good look at that strut while you've got it out, see if there are any signs of leakage.
Even if not, you may still have a bad strut.
I had clunking for months, and even after the strut finally pee'd on the garage floor, I had no CATS error. So it was responding correctly electrically, but not hydraulically.

But hopefully you've got your solution.

 

Argh, still have a sound. It was on both sides but this time it sounds like it's mainly the right side. The struts are brand new so I don't think it would be that. On the top nut of the strut- I tightened it off the vehicle and then torqued it down once it was on. Is that ok? I started thinking maybe I need to torque it down while the springs are compressed so that pressure doesn't contribute to the torquing process. With them on the Jag and the pressure of the spring it seems like it might make the tighter already. For those that haven't followed the whole thread, this is my 2nd set of struts to put on. I put on some for a 2010 but it was a harsher ride so I ordered ones specifically for the 07. But when I had the ones for the 2010 on I didn't get any cluncking sounds. BUT, I did torqued them down differently. Once they were on the car I didn't use the allen wrench, I just tightened it with the torque wrench.(still not sure how I did that without the whole piston spinning) I'm at a loss. I know the manual says to torque everything down once the car has it's weight on the wheels and not on jack stands but I can't reach many of the bolts and nuts to tighten them down that way.

 

 

Sorry to hear it's still clunking

Obviously youve checked all the components you removed in order to pull the strut out ie tie rod end , lower control arm , stab link rod check then double check