# front end clunk started out of nowhere...do sway bar end links go bad slowly or quickly?



## bsannich (Mar 4, 2021)

I have a 2017 Cruze LT sedan w/67k miles. Everything has been good, then, all of the sudden, I got a pretty loud clunk from the front end. It happens going over bumps and also when I steer back and forth quickly. I pulled the tires off and took a (very) quick look at the suspension and didn't notice anything that looked obvious. It as getting dark and I was running out of light, so I didn't dig too deep.

Even though I couldn't tell by looking at them, I'm assuming that the sound is the sway bar end links just based on previous automotive knowledge and a bunch of searches on the forums.

Assuming I'm right, I have two questions:

Will these go from quiet to very noticeable and noisy within a couple/few days? This seems to have come out of nowhere.
Is there an easy way to check if they are shot while still on the car? They are apparently pretty hard to find, and it looks like will take a few days or a week to get them. I would like to try to confirm they are bad before I order them and wait a week for them to arrive.
Based on what I described, do you guys have any suggestions on anything else it may be?

Thanks a lot for the help.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

bsannich said:


> I have a 2017 Cruze LT sedan w/67k miles. Everything has been good, then, all of the sudden, I got a pretty loud clunk from the front end. It happens going over bumps and also when I steer back and forth quickly. I pulled the tires off and took a (very) quick look at the suspension and didn't notice anything that looked obvious. It as getting dark and I was running out of light, so I didn't dig too deep.
> 
> Even though I couldn't tell by looking at them, I'm assuming that the sound is the sway bar end links just based on previous automotive knowledge and a bunch of searches on the forums.
> 
> ...


Unload the suspension and check for loose items.


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

I had a bad strut mount on mine, only happened over bumps. took me forever to figure out.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

End link has ball joints correct?

If so yeah. There are all sorts of ways for those to go. And pretty much all of them lead to squeak or a pop. Or looseness


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## CamaroKidZ28 (Mar 26, 2021)

End links are usually pretty cheap and easy to replace. So if you suspect them, just change them and if nothing else you'll have peace of mind knowing it wasn't them. Rockauto has the best prices on suspension components that I've found. Typically a clunk or rattle is due to bad end links or bad ball joints.


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