Thunk, thunk, thunk

[wandersub]

I have an '06 Outback. When I'm taking a slow right turn from a stop I get a thunk, thunk, thunk coming from, I believe, the right side. I can feel it a little in the floor boards and the gas pedal even, but not all the time. I can't say that it's at the same RPM as the tire. It doesn't have to be a tight turn. The funny thing, if I just turn circles in my cul-de-sac I can't recreate the noise. I lifted the car and there's no damage to the drive shaft boots and the drive shafts and tie rods feel tight when I try to shake them. Any thoughts? What should I check next?

Thanks in advance!

Alan
League City, TX

[1 Lucky Texan]

tell us about the tires, the axles and how much mileage and other car details, work done recently, how long you've owned it, wrecks....

will the car idle thru a 'donut' on dry pavement, with no (or very little) gas pedal, without 'thunking'?

could be torque bind or axle. Inspect inner and outer boots for splits on the axles.

I dunno if the 06 has a FWD fuse in the fuse box under the hood - if it does, use that and test for the thunk sound.

[DavidPeab]

Wheel bearing?

[nipper]

Cv Joint, tires, wheel bearings, Brake rotor bent rim, torque bind, everything Texan said.

[cardoc]

Tire sliding on the pavement? Control arm bushing? Strut mount?
Feeling it in the floor means it is traveling through the body, so it most likely is something bolted to the body. Do you feel it in the steering?

[wandersub]

Thanks for the inputs. Just got back. Anyway, the drive shafts are both recently (last 20K miles) replaced and the boots are all in great shape. The tires are new as of Monday and I still have the noise. The car has about 170K miles. No other recent work. I've owned it since new. No wrecks. The problem is getting slowly worse and I think I even heard it during a left turn yesterday which is new. Anything that effects both sides? We don't feel it in the steering wheel. I can coast pretty easy through a donut on dry pavement. I'll have to try the fuse thing.

[mark211]

Wheel bearing would be a humming sound almost sounds like tires, I had new tires put on my 08 ob and the still heard the noise and then realized after it was in the shop where wheel bearings as subaru's are notorious for the bearings going out. It also could be a swaybar endlinks as they are another part that is prone to failing or could be the top hats on the struts.

[CSFiend]

Center support bearing for the driveshaft.

[cardoc]

It was doing the noise before the tire replacement?

Front control arm bushing, maybe. Alignment out will make the tires fight more in a turn. Front diff not unlocking making a wheel skip on the pavement. Right turn, right wheel spins slower than the left.

Has anyone checked for anything loose in the wheel, brakes or suspension?

[grossgary]

This is probably your issue:

Originally Posted by wandersub

Anyway, the drive shafts are both recently (last 20K miles) replaced

Originally Posted by wandersub

I lifted the car

What axles did you use?

Aftermarket axles are terrible and low percentage. They have lots of issues on normal cars. Lifting causes more angle and stress on a sub-par quality part.

You should never throw away Subaru axles - reboot them, don't replace. OEM axles easily make 200,000 miles, aftermarkets do not.

If you don't have them any more then get a used Subaru axle and reboot it. Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market I buy them in bulk from places for $25 - $33 each and reboot them. so far %100 success rate and every one I've gotten was green OEM Subaru, far better success rate than aftermarket.

MWE (he just changed his company name) is the best new solution available, have to deal with shipping and return core back to colorado though which is annoying to some folks.

The only aftermarket new option worth a look is EMPI but with the two solutions above I haven't ventured there yet. Lots of Subaru independents and hobbyists are using them though.

I have a set of Brand new axles in my garage now that were fine and when I installed a 2" lift they had issues. Had to replace the axles.