HELP!!!!! Loud clunk heard and felt!!!

[sandspeed]

Ok, I'm in Germany and I'm driving back to the UK tomorrow. My car has started making a loud clunking noise that I can also feel inside the car when I turn sharply at medium speeds, or over uneven sections of road in turns. It seems that it's coming from the rear end, but I can't see anything loose or broken under the car, and I don't have access to a lift or even ramps right now. There are aftermarket pads on all corners and they have the standard clicking noise from not having the spring retainers that stock ones have. I don't think this noise is from the pads clunking back into position while the calipers slide, since this seems too loud and substantial to be just that. The suspension is stock 2003 sport aside from the Hotchkis RS4 race swaybars. Please help, so I don't drive 6 hours on some broken suspension parts or something.

[festerfm]

x2.....

exact same scenerio. stock 03 sport suspension, rs4 rear sway, and stock pads all around... turning into the driveway there's a tiny water drain to go across and makes a horrible clunk going across it. also hear a tapping sound going over a rough or dirt road... been tryin to find out for a month and a half now what the problem is.... no luck yet...

[My OOOO My]

Check the swaybar bushing / bracket / links / bolts

[IceMole]

Check your CV boots and the area around them for grease splattered out.

[sandspeed]

Does anyone think this is going to be a safety issue for my drive home tomorrow?

[IronAudi]

If its the CV boot then yes it could be they can dry out and tear apart, ive driven a long distance on one and didnt have issue, look at it and see if you can seal the tear with what ever is left in the boot should be better then nothing, or get it fixed now and dont worry.

[festerfm]

i checked my cv boots before.... it doesnt give the symptoms of cv.... when i have the tire off, i can re-create the sound by taking a wrench and tapping the caliper mount/dust shield...all the cv boots are clean and sealed. and y would it do it when u'r on uneven ground??? mine sounds like it's coming from the front altho i could be wrong, as unoften as that is... :-D...

[AudiA4_20T]

sounds like it could possibly be a control arm also

[[email protected]]

Also check your exhaust mounts/hangers.

I had the rear hanger on my Milltek break off at the weld and it was not visible when the car is still but bounced around nicely when you hit a bump.

[coowhip]

I would have said tie-rod, had one go out on an older car, everytime I turned to the right I heard a nasty clunk. I let it go almost too long, mechanic said I probably had a few more trips before it would have completely busted on me.

[festerfm]

i got mine fixed.... where the swaybar mounts to the end links, the bolt from the drivers side walked it's way out.....every time the rear would flex, the swaybar would bang against the endlink. i'l have some pics up to show how i figured it out... but just to explain it, i drove the car on a road where i kno at a certain part it makes the clunk... made sure it was coming from the drivers side rear whenever it would compress... so i came home, got out the ramps, and backed the car up on only one ramp... the drivers side... looked like a jeep on an articulating ramp... all 4 wheels touched the ground. went to autozone, got 2 new bolts for $2.50, came home, and no more clunk... i'll post pics later when i get them scanned...

[TonyD]

x2 on the exhaust hangar thing. Mine is like that right now and is rubbing on something.

[festerfm]

i backed the car up on ramps, but only one side of the car was backed on the ramp and all 4 wheels were touching the ground as u'll see in the pic, so the swaybar wasnt attached... had it been attached, the passenger rear wheel would have been about 4 inches off the ground or the car would have been teetering on 2 wheels... problem was solved.... try it...sorry about the cell phone pics...

[sandspeed]

Those pics are kinda blurry, but I have several different lifts available to me through the Auto Skills hobby shop on base, so I just threw it on a four-post. And yep, as I suspected after talking to a few people, and just what my initial gut feeling was, the driver's side rear sway bar bolt is gone. And I'm in England, and have no idea where to get a high grade bolt for these, so I just ordered two from the Audi dealership in Cambridge. I figure it's fine to drive this way for a few days, as long as I'm careful and don't go crazy. Man I was worried.

[festerfm]

quite odd.... why would that side back itself out??? i figured it was my own error maybe from not tightening the bolt enough, but for it to happen twice on the same side??? oh well, like i said, i went to a local parts store and they had 2 bolts for like $2... how much did audi wack ya for the bolts???

[sandspeed]

quite odd.... why would that side back itself out??? i figured it was my own error maybe from not tightening the bolt enough, but for it to happen twice on the same side??? oh well, like i said, i went to a local parts store and they had 2 bolts for like $2... how much did audi wack ya for the bolts???

Not sure yet. I'll pick them up and pay for them in Tuesday when they come in. Let me check ETKA and get a rough idea..
According to ETKA, they are about $1 each. I'm gonna replace both the rear ones, check the front ones, and use a better Loc-Tite.