Popping sound when turning -- strut mount?
 

Hi guys,

My car (2018 BRZ) has been making a popping sound when turning at sharp angles and low speeds. So, in parking lots, basically.

The sound is medium-pitch, intermittent, and seems to come from the front passenger side. When pulling into my parking spot at home, it will sometimes pop 2-3 times, and sometimes not at all.

I asked my shop to take a look at it and they tell me that my front passenger-side strut mount is making the noise.

They recommended that I change out all my struts for ~$2000, because, of course they did.

I asked them if they could just replace the strut mount that's making the noise. They said that's not recommended because changing one strut mount will cause the others to wear out faster, or in a weird way, or something. I'm not sure how that's possible but that's what they said.

So I'm looking for some additional opinions here. What's the likelihood that the strut mount is the actual problem, and if so, what do people recommend doing about it (if anything)?

Thanks in advance!!

I hate a similar popping issue. It was my skid plate on too tight. Loosen it slightly.

Endlinks being loose is most often the culprit for clunks. It could be other things as well caused by components coming wearing-out/coming loose over time (shock mount center bearing/top nut, main shock mount nuts, control arm, ball joint, etc.). Usually if it's something critical like a control arm or ball joint, you can often feel a change in steering effort midcorner, which will clue you into that issue.


It also helps to understand whether the sound happens when the car is loaded or unloaded on a specific corner.


It's generally good advice to change shock absorbers in axle pairs at least (both fronts or both rears), especially when higher mileages are a factor. Mounts you can probably get away with if you mileage isn't particularly high.
-- If you have a lot of miles on the car, it's best to change the pair rather than just one. One going bad is an indication that wear is reaching limits and the other will come due soon anyway.
-- I don't know that you need to address the rears necessarily, when the front is your problem. However, if your car is getting up there in mileage (~75k-100k), you should consider doing all 4.

Supposedly the shop did a "thorough inspection" of the suspension, not sure if they would have caught what you're talking about or not though.

Also I wouldn't describe what I'm hearing as a clunk, but rather a pop.

Basically I only ever hear it at low speed in parking lots.

The car has 56k miles on it and the popping sound has been happening for the last 5 or 10k, so I don't think regular wear is a factor.

I had similar parking lot noise/symptoms on my 2013 with 90k. Subaru diagnosed it as one of the front strut mounts. I replaced the dampers all around, front/rear mounts, front rear end links, and all hardware. Noises are gone. Not a cheap fix, but I needed it with that mileage anyway. Car rides like a dream again now.

The strut mounts were notorious for failing on early models, but I think that was sorted by 2018. That being said, they can still wear out.

The bummer is, the job to replace the strut mount is basically the same as replacing the entire strut assembly, so if you're going to do one, you might as well do it all. Mine's a 2013 and I did replace just the mounts initially. Then I bought the TRD lowering springs, so I had it all apart again. Then the lowering springs put the final nail in the OEM struts which started leaking, so I did it a third time. Don't be like me :D.

It's honestly a fairly simple job if you're at all mechanically minded and you can rent a spring-compressor from a local auto parts store. Watch some Youtube videos to see what's involved and decide if it's something you want to tackle yourself. Just go slowly and only do one side at a time. You definitely don't need to do all four corners though - just do the front end for now (unless the rear struts are actually leaking or something).