Misery loves company and it seems that I have found the company that I have been looking for it seems that I am within the company of contour owners that have a clunking sound coming from the back of their cars. I get this clunking sound only when my car is loaded with passengers and the trunk is full and when hitting the appropriate bump I get the clunk which occurred in my car only after a Lincoln Town car hit and mashed my car suspension up against a high curb. The funny thing about this ailment is that the ford mechanics could not find the problem way back in 96. The ford mechniques heard the clunking sound during test drives and would recommend a strut replacement. A body shop that did a great deal of body work on my car in 96 would recommend a knuckle replacement. A Firestone tires store would recommend and actually perform the knuckle replacement in 98. Yet still the problem remained. Clunk Clunk
So does anyone know of a good contour mechanics in the Brooklyn new York area that understands this problem and knows how to fix it?
OR
How best would I explain to my current mechanics, a local near the job Amoco gas station service center, my problem. The problem could possibly be the rear stabilizer bar moving around in a worn bushings housed within stock mounting brackets. If this is indeed the issue within the posts that I have read under the suspension form the solution would be to replace the bushings or both the bracket and suspension with non stock items for stock seems to be not very good here. The problem could also be the reinforcing backing plate holes that the rear stabilizing bar brackets are screwed into have been striped or no longer can hole the bracket firmly possibly because they were ripped off of the sub frame. Potholes are a ***** here in New York. To resolve this problem will welding be needed to fix the damaged metal work? What kind of shop knows about this type of work? A body shop a tire shop a suspension shop?
The contour group suspension forums seems to recommend not using the stock parts that a local gas station mechanic would use and find in the books that he consults when looking for parts to replace the old ones of the cars he works on.
Should I replace the parts with after market versions of the rear sway bar along with the mounting brackets for the sway bars bushings for the sway bars and backing plates for the brackets to attach to. If what I say seems confused it is because I am still learning this problem definition and solution. How much would it cost to replace these three parts and how much hourly service would be needed?
Any comments please or recommendations please.
