On my 2002 Sebring Vert I have just changed my RH front LCA for the 3rd time due to a noise when I hit sharp or deep bumps. I know there was nothing loose because I had changed the rear bushing in the summer thinking this was my issue, but the noise was still present after I put everything back together. Every time I change the LCA the noise is completely gone for 4-6 months. When testing the ball joint it shows no symptoms of being bad such as play. This time I went with a Moog basic LCA instead of the Problem solver thinking it was made on a different line or factory. I did a complete front end rebuild 1.5 years ago. The Left LCA has not had any symptoms like this. Anybody heard of something like this before?

 

I had a noise that turned out to be upper ball joints. Replaced them on my '02 sedan and '01 convertible. It's a fairly easy job that does not require removal of the strut or upper arm from the car. There's a "How To" complete with pictures over on the Chrysler Sebring Convertible Club website. The upper ball joints are sealed units with no provision for lubrication and mine were shot after about 100,000 miles. The shop manual says you need to replace the entire upper arm (which requires removal and disassembly of the strut), but as noted above you can press out the ball joint and replace it without removing the control arm.
The links on the sway bar are also possible sources of noise.

 

Problem with this is, I have a whole new Strut assy with new Upper Control arm that is a year old and the Sway bar bushings are 2 years old in good condition.

 

And the Links are also about 6 months old as well

 

Spring seats? Upper and lower?

 

All brand new when I replaced both strut assys

 

Sub-frame attachment bolts?

 

Nope, all tight. Steering rack tight too. Engine mount is 1 year old

 

The wrong engine mount can result in NVH problems. If they put in a sedan mount instead of a convertible mount, you can get excessive body shake.

 

I dont have any issues with body shake. as my post states, why would a ball joint go bad within 4-6 months twice?