Quote from: Chris AThe front struts are far from conventional struts. As such, any clunking is probably from somewhere else. I would suggest checking the sway bar links, ball joints and control arm bushings. The rack bolts and bushings can also cause a clunking noise.
The strut mount has a metal base and a rubber top. If The metal base of the strut mount
starts seperating from the rubber top, you can get an annoying clunk when going over
speed bumps. Since the car is 10+ years old, I would replace the strut mount if it looks
torn in anyway.
And yes, as Chris stated, the tie rod ends, ball joints, and control arm bushings can make
noise. If the ball joints (about ~$30 a piece at Autozone) are original I would certainly
replace them when doing the struts.
If you pop out the tie rod ends, grab the inner tie rods and make sure that there is no
in & out play on the inner tie rods themselves.
You can check the control arm bushings by jacking up the car and looking at the bushings.
The bushings can be weather checked, but the bushings should be equally seperated at
all locations. ie: You should not have a bushing that looks like it has been sandwiched.