My wife's 08 Aspen with 71,000 miles has recently developed a clunking noise from the front end while driving at low speeds and hitting bumps. It drives great down the highway. We have a long gravel driveway and have owned the vehicle since it had only 18,000 miles on it. No maintenance to speak of except oil changes and tires. Any help in identifying the problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

Had a similar clunk with my 2008 Aspen. My mechanic found a bad tie rod end on the drivers side. Luckily I am still under the manufacturer warranty and it was replaced without cost. I only have 30K mi on mine but my warranty expires 12/20/11.

Best to have the front end checked to be safe. Hopefully its nothing major. 71,000 mi and typical maintenance...sounds like you have a good Aspen!!!

JJ

 

replaced engine cradle tie bar links a arm bushings hear clunking right side
can't find anything loose

 

I am in the same exact boat! I have searched high and low, seems to be just so much info for all the usual suspension parts that make noise when needing replacing.
120k miles on my unit. The truck only makes the "rattle" on uneven roads / bumps at a slower speeds.

Sway bar bushings and end links replaced, replaced shocks with Bilsteins, both outer tie rods replaced.
Ball joints done less than 40k miles ago. No movement at all with tire up in the air.
Had the shop who did the alignment after the tierods, check to see if anything was loose. Senior tech said everythings tight.
I also fastened all the inner wheel liners, the cooler lines that run to the rad, and screwed the fan shroud down.

Its just baffling!

I am thinking for some reason it may have something to do with the torsion bars.
I rocked the car as much as I could from underneath it and think I can hear a smaller noise that could be the same culprit.
It was tricky to keep rocking the car, and look for where it was coming from.
When I grabbed the torsion bar, I could feel a small sensation associated with the noise.
I thought maybe the adjustment bolts need tightening, I gave them both a 1/4 turn before I took it in for alignment, noise still present.
My other thought might be the CV axles, but the boots are all clean and both have the same amount of minimal movement.

If someone has any ideas, I am all ears!
If I find it, I'll be sure to post about it.

 

I have had that issue with my 07 Aspen 4x4 I had the front axle differential replaced. it was also locking up my tires and engaging 4x4 on its own at one point my truck would just not move forward or backward seems to be doing great now.