i own a 2001 town & country, serviced as scheduled with 55K miles. there was a rumbling and rattling in the front that sounded like the struts. in fact, the mechanic thought it was the struts as well and we just changed shocks all around, inspected the lower ball joints, but dissapointingly, the rumbling and rattling seemed to get worse. so i am wondering, were these bad struts (mopar), or is something else wrong. i look forward to your help. arty
Something else is wrong. Under what conditions does the rumbling and rattling occur?
under normal driving conditions and at almost any speeds, the smallest bumps or any uneven pavement in the road makes this ratttling front end sounds.
There is a chance that the big spring that goes around the front struts is loose. More likely it is the wheel bearing assembly on one of the front wheels. Also, if you have wire hub caps it could be one of, or many of the spokes loose.
gee, im jealous. my 01 T&C has 103000.
the noise you describe sounds sort of like mmine at that mileage. it was the sway bar links.
also, is this a clicking sound?
i have the plastic wheel covers. they have over the years gotten cracked. the cracks click and snap when cornering. it is annoying to say the least. i put the two good ones on front, and at least the clicking noise isn’t right outside the front window now. and the back wheels don’t have such stress on the rims when cornering.
glad to hear i can look forward to another 48 thousand miles. the plastic wheel covers are ok. will check those springs again and take a look at the sway bar links. thanks.
Your mechanic clearly doesn’t work on many Chrysler minivans. I’ll bet you a beer that it’s the antisway bar bushings and/or end links.
Sway bar links. It’s a common failure. It’s not too expensive to have them replaced.
actually the sway bar links and the O2 sensor are the only mechanical parts i have had to replace on mine. but of course brakes, filters and oil changes are a totally different matter.
i feel better having your advice. will take advice and give you feedback. thanks