So I am checking my ball joints and they seem nice & tight. But there is a "thunk" emanating from the front end. None of the balll joints nor steering joints show any play at all. There is slop in the rack but this thunk doesn't sound right. What I did notice was some slop at the top of each strut. They both move up & down about 1/4" - 1/2". I had never noticed that before but never looked for it either. Anyone know if there is supposed to be slop there or is it time for new struts?
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1999 E320-200K 1994 F150 (awaiting a new engine) 1989 560 SL-180K 1994 945T (daughter's)-312K 1986 242Ti (awaiting a B230FT transplant) 1968 GT500KR (under slow restoration) 2007 HD Nightster (son's ride)

Check your sway bar bushings. Very difficult to diagnose but I was finally able to isolate my "thunk" to those bushings being worn. Easy fix.
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94 944 n/a 275,000 miles; 92 745T 150,000; 03 Odyssey for the wife

Movement is in the engine compartment where the upper strut bolt goes through the chassis. No rust on the car. No slop in the control arms nor the sway bar connections.

The struts are dead, lots of front end bounce when brakes are applied (they are original). So they will be replaced.

Thunk occurs on a brake application after a direction change (i.e. reverse, then forward). No thunks after the first direction change. Another direction change will repeat the thunk(s).

I'll be checking caliper & pads next.
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1999 E320-200K 1994 F150 (awaiting a new engine) 1989 560 SL-180K 1994 945T (daughter's)-312K 1986 242Ti (awaiting a B230FT transplant) 1968 GT500KR (under slow restoration) 2007 HD Nightster (son's ride)

Do you think the strut mounts are bad, mine were fine at 20 years of age, but the metal around was seriously rusted. Junkyard ones seem fine after a year and half. Certainly worth looking at, push hard on car while watching mount under the hood for excessive movement (not sure they would clunk though). Clunks can be hard to diagnosis. If your struts are 10+ years old, they are probably dead, like mine were, but mine did not clunk. So, again difficult to diagnose. How about the cone bushings that go out all the time?

What I did notice was some slop at the top of each strut. They both move up & down about 1/4" - 1/2"

Where do you see the movement? Inside the engine compartment where you can see the tops of the struts?

Under what conditions do you notice the thunk? Slow, fast, turning, braking, etc.
Often, clunks are due to play in the control arm bushings or the control arm stay bushings, the conical ones.

Some noises are hard to trace; I rebuilt and/or swapped all the components in one car's suspension and it has a slow speed clunk, that no one has been able to diagnose yet.