Suspension knocking?

GTLOWE13

MEMBER
1997 NISSAN SENTRA
1.6L
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
165,000 MILES

When I am driving at highway speeds and the car is coasting in a straight line there will be an occasional knocking noise from the front suspension, I believe the driver's side. It is inconsistent and almost random as to when and how bad it is. I originally thought it was a ball joint or tie rod end but was told with complete certainty that it was my sway bar bushings. The only problem is that my car (listed above GXE model) doesn't have a front sway bar so therefore it can't be the issue. I am hoping to pin down the issue, so I don't have to just go through replacing part after part looking for the actual problem. Thanks in advance.

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,573 POSTS

Did someone remove it? From the factory there hasn't really been a car built in the past 40 years that doesn't have a front and usually rear sway bar. On yours it's item 10 in the attached image part number 546114B405. Worn end links or bushings are very common causes of front-end noise, another is the strut bearing at the top of each strut. The easiest way to test both is to get the car into a spot where you can pry on the part in question, the design of end link your car uses is very prone to wear in the ball joint end, it takes a very small amount of movement to cause a lot of noise though.
I would check that close first. An easy test is to disconnect both ends of the bar and tie it out of the way, then take it for a short ride and see if the noise is gone. Don't drive it for long that way though, without it connected the car will handle like a weeble on roller skates and be harder to handle.

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