'99 Grand Am - LOUD bang/breaking sound from front left

1999 PONTIAC GRAND AM
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STLTHRIOT
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This morning when leaving for work I experienced a very loud, not good sounding, snapping/breaking/bang sound coming from the front lefthand side of my car.

It happened when I was pulling out of the driveway of where I was parked and as soon as my front left tire hit the dip that's at the end of most every other driveway. I wasn't going fast or doing anything out of the normal.

I don't notice too much different in the way it drove while I went to work but it does seem to favor the left side a slight more now and there is a rattling sound like something is loose and I hear that when I go over the typical bump on the road.

Anyone have any ideas as to what this sound could have been?
It seems like it would be something to do with the axle or something with the tire in that area.
Apr 25, 2007 at 8:05 AM
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STLTHRIOT
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So I took it in on Thursday and the shop said they didn't notice anything from looking at it.
They did mention that a balancer on the front looked busted but didn't think that was what I heard break, they thought it looked broke for awhile now.
What exactly does the balancer do? Is it something I should have fixed?
Apr 28, 2007 at 1:16 AM
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JEEP03
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It sounds to me like you have a bad ball joint or sway bar bushing. I had a 94 Buick Regal, the ball joints went bad quite often.
Apr 30, 2007 at 8:00 AM
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STLTHRIOT
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k, I'll have to look into that.

Oh, and how important is the balancer to the vehicle? When I had it checked over after the sound they said it looked like that had busted in the front left but awhile ago.
May 3, 2007 at 10:50 PM