Now that the roads have thawed and the pot holes are every where I have noticed that when only one of the tires hits a hole or even a decent crack in the road, and loud clank can be heard from the front driver side tire. I can feel a vibration on the pedals when this happens. When both tires hit at the same time, such as a dip in the road or even a crack that spans the road, 9 times out of 10 there will be no sound. To test things out further I drove through a parking lot at about 15-20 mph and violently jerked the wheel to the left. Doing this will also make the same clank sound. When I jerk the wheel to the right I can hear a slight rubbing sound. I figured out that the rubbing sound was from the strut spring rubbing on the wheel well. I inspected the axle and everything looks fine. CV boots look good, sway bar looks fine. Could this just be the struts? Do you think they need to be replaced. I don’t mind changing them, but this can be expensive if that is not the problem. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for your help.
From your description about the clank sound and the strut spring rubbing on the tire I’d say you have a ball joint gone; as in just a heartbeat away from breaking gone.
If this is the case the car really should not be driven until it’s repaired as ball joints are the one item in the suspension that can kill you quickly.
If you absolutely, positively, just have to drive this to get it repaired then I would advise that you stay on the side roads, drive very slow, avoid bumps, and go to the closest shop possible.