I own a 1998 V70, heard a loud popping/knocking in the front when turning. This started right after I replaced the shocks. Eventually the stabilizer link nut came off (I'm assuming it sheared).

Went out and bought a new passenger side stabilizer link, put it on last night. Now when I drive at a moderate speed I hear the same popping/knocking (much more frequently), plus a loud vibration type sound (although the car itself isn't vibrating).

The new stabilizer links seem stout. I tightened the new one down like crazy and checked to make sure the drivers side one was tight with the vehicle on the ground.

What is going on?!

 

A quick update plus some more details. I read that sometimes these links are not tightened properly. So I went outside, turned the wheel all the way left and yanked on the passenger side link... it didn't budge.

I'd also like to note that when I first put the OLD link on, I only had one side of the car jacked up. This made it really difficult to re-install since the link was in torsion. I eventually lowered the car slightly in order to engage the nut into the stud.

After that nut mysteriously disappeared during a sharp turn (I'm assuming the threads sheared) I just went and bout a new one from Advanced Auto Parts for 20 bucs. NOTE: Once the stabilizer link was no longer engaged, the popping/clunking went away entirely! I put the new one on last night, with both sides of the car jacked in the air.

When I drove it this morning, I heard the most obnoxious popping, grinding, clunking clearly coming from the passenger side suspension. It would crop up once I reached certain speeds, but would go away when I turned or hit the brakes.

One other side note, when I replaced my front struts, I used different nuts on the top plate/bearing assembly then what came with it. The ones on the vehicle were weird cross shaped nuts that I didn't care for. I have noticed now that the last piece of the upper bearing assembly sits off of the entire mount by about half of an inch.

 

Did you replace the upper strut mounts and bearings with the struts?

Your problem is some combination of worn upper strut mounts, worn stabilizer bar bushings and possibly incorrectly assembled strut assemblies.

Some of the stuff you write is odd for a mechanical engineer. e.g. "I tightened the new one down like crazy." and
"The ones on the vehicle were weird cross shaped nuts that I didn't care for."

 

Thank you for the response! See my comments in blue:
Did you replace the upper strut mounts and bearings with the struts?
No, they were not showing signs of wear prior to replacing the struts and I performed a visual inspection when I had the assembly apart.

Your problem is some combination of worn upper strut mounts, worn stabilizer bar bushings and possibly incorrectly assembled strut assemblies.
The only issue I could see with the upper strut mounts is the gap due to different hardware. This however would have continued to make noise after the stabilizer link was disconnected. Stabilizer bar bushings is a good call, I will check those today to see if they are sheared. I do not see how the strut assemblies could be assembled incorrectly... it is a simple hydraulic cylinder and compressed spring. That particular car doesn't have a left/right-handed version either.

Your last comment seemed unnecessary, is this better?
- I applied a nominally large amount of torque to the newly seated stabilizer link.
- The existing Nickel Aluminum Bronze (perhaps just Aluminum Bronze) nut was showing signs of wear and fatigue. To mitigate the risk of this hardware failing, I used a nut made from stronger material with similar width.

 

Quick update, I took some pictures of the anti-sway bar bearings on both sides. I was looking specifically for stress cracks, but from what I saw there were none. I also had the wheel turned in both directions to see how they responded and didn't see anything unusual.

I also took a picture of the gap on the strut mount I was referring to. I filled the gap temporarily with a dampening material and drove it for a few minutes. From what I can tell, the noise was significantly reduced when I did this. I've also attached a picture of the cross-shaped nut that normally holds the spring seat down. It appears that this nut is designed to distribute the load across the rubber piece above it, but I'm not 100% sure.

I've read on other similar posts that this nut can sometimes come loose after driving for a period of time. I'm going to attempt to tighten it down and also double check my spring seat mounts for damage now that i have a better idea what to look for.

 

I doubt it's the sway bar bushings. I don't think I've ever seen them fail on that car.

Pulling on the link is not how to check it. You need the car in the air so you can pull on the sway bar itself. Any noise that is that bad should be easy to trace down. I wouldn't doubt it If the cheap, aftermarket links are making noise.

 

I think I found the problem. After checking the spring seat mounts (good), splash guards for loose/vibrating components (good) and the stabilizer link hardware/ball joints (good) the noise was still persistent.

Decided to sleep on it, woke up today and checked the lug nuts on the front tire. Sure enough they were loose. So simple right? I tightened them down and the sound is now gone!