Strut housing nut.. explane pls.

[Claude]

I hear a "clunk" on the front right wheel when this wheel pass from the street to my drive way (small level difference). Ball joints, trust arm bushing and other element of the front suspension checked OK.

In the E34web site they give the following hint as a possible cause of this "clunk":

"Loose strut housing nut
If you changed your shocks, you may have a loose strut nut. Take a monkey wrench a tighten it. You don't need to remove the shock assembly, just jack up the side."

But i don't understand what they meant exactly, what is this strut nut that seems so easily accessible ? where is it located exactly ? Could you shed some light on this for me please ?

[gale]

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/sp-col1.jpg

Other possible causes are:

1. sway bar link ends worn

2. Top strut mount bushing/bearing worn. Maybe pry the rubber cap off on the top of the strut tower & inspect for cracks in the rubber or possible loose nut.

[Boone.Msi]

That damn retainer collar kicked my ass when i did my suspension. I had to use my torch to soften the metal and break the seal...

[Dukes]

I had to use a pipe wrench on mine. What a PITA!

[winfred]

id say 1 in 5 or so clunk's is the collar, the other 4 is divided between sway bar links and thrust arm bushings

[Claude]

id say 1 in 5 or so clunk's is the collar, the other 4 is divided between sway bar links and thrust arm bushings

How could the strut nut (collar retainer) be loose, and what produce the clunk ?

[GoldenOne]

I started to get a clunking when I installed my sway bars....turned out to be my sway bar links...i'd check those first

[winfred]

sometimes they work loose or are not installed tight enough when new cartridges are installed, what's clunking when this happens is the strut cartridge is banging up and down inside of the tube with the bumps



How could the strut nut (collar retainer) be loose, and what produce the clunk ?